In honor of the 20th
anniversary of ‘Menace II Society,’ I proudly present this multipart retrospective. The current chapter is posted below. To read the previous chapter, please click
here. Thank you, and enjoy!
Part 2: Countdown To Armageddon
In laying the groundwork for their crime ridden cautionary
tale, the “Tender Trio” didn’t need to look very far for inspiration. They had only to peer out of their living
room windows, or play their favorite rap albums. By 1991, Los Angeles had become a veritable
powder keg of social unrest. The illegal
drug operation birthed by “Freeway” Ricky Ross and his Nicaraguan connection
had mushroomed into a nationwide epidemic.
Throughout the 1980’s, L.A. gangs morphed into heavily armed militias
thanks to the crack trade. A saturated
marketplace soon facilitated their exodus to other areas of the U.S. This was especially true of L.A.’s two
largest Black gangs: The Bloods and the
Crips. Both organizations were born in
the 1970’s, in the wake of the Black power movement. By the early 1990’s, they’d carved up every
square block of South Central L.A. amongst themselves. Battle lines were drawn in accordance with
neighborhood boundaries. Ordinary
civilians became live- in hostages. The
police became just another gang, though one with the backing of city government.
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Todd Shaw aka "$ir Too $hort" |
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Brooklyn's own Just-Ice aka the "Hip-Hop Gangster" circa 1987. |
By the early 1990’s, West Coast Gangsta rap was immensely
popular. Still, its practitioners seemed
to sense something terrible on the horizon.
Their suspicions were confirmed by the beating of motorist Rodney King at
the hands of the LAPD. The City of
Angels was coming apart at the seams, and now there was videotaped evidence of
it. Gangsta rappers weren’t rabble
rousers, but prophets. This was the
story that hadn’t yet made it to the silver screen. Black Angelenos of the early 1990’s had a lot
in common with the European immigrants of Prohibition era Chicago. Both were largely working class groups that
had been marginalized by the American mainstream. Both groups also contained a small subset
that saw crime as a viable option. Both
eras had a particular vice that, once deemed illegal, provided the basis for a
thriving underground economy. With such
economies comes extreme violence. It was
fertile thematic ground that had yet to be sown. The “Tender Trio” sought to plant their flag. Tyger Williams began crafting a screenplay
titled Menace II Society.
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"Doughboy" (Ice Cube) leaning on the hood of his tricked out impala in a behind-the-scenes photo from Boyz n the Hood. |
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Montoya Santana (Edward James Olmos) in American Me. |
The impending release of Boyz
n the Hood had the trio fearing the
worst. Had some bespectacled USC
graduate beaten them to the punch? One
of the first trailers for Boyz sold it
as a “gang movie.” Something like Colors, but told from the perspective of
Black gangbangers. Reports of violence
at opening weekend screenings seemed to confirm that summation. Yet, for all of its R-Rated trappings (Profanity,
sex, nudity, violence), Boyz was
essentially a tender coming-of-age story. Newly emboldened, the “Tender Trio”
proceeded as planned. In March of 1992,
Tyger Williams found ample inspiration in American
Me, a large scale opus about Chicano gang life. It chronicled the rise of Montoya Santana
(Edward James Olmos) from small-time gang leader to the undisputed boss of La
eMe (The Mexican Mafia). Williams
revised his screenplay, turning out a much darker draft. Edward James Olmos had shown him just how far
down the proverbial rabbit hole a modern gangster film could go. Williams was more than willing to take Black
audiences on a similar journey, but would they accept the challenge? Better yet, would any studio be bold enough
to finance such a vision?
TO BE CONTINUED...
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