

The movies’ poor, however, were not just any poor. Gwendolyn Brooks, “The Blackstone Rangers” PrologueĢ“For the poor always ye have with you” (John 12:8), cautioned Jesus, and early moviemakers took this maxim to heart, using the plight of the poor as the core of numerous films. “Living in the richest country in the world, wouldn’t you think you’d have a better life?” Subsequent white underclass movies followed this pattern, but more recently the American Dream has reasserted itself in popular underclass films, sounding a more positive note. During the silent and Depression eras, movies featured the urban poor prominently, but afterwards their role drastically shrunk and did not regain its place until the black underclass films of the 1990s, which, in a softened version of ‘60s radical critiques, redefined the deserving poor as rejecting the dominant socioeconomic system in favor of an often hedonistic rebellion. Movies have tended to portray poverty as environmentally caused and sustained, often directing ambitious characters toward criminality with a to-understand-all-is-to-forgive-all logic. The New York Times.“Menace II Society?” investigates cinematic portrayals of American urban poverty and the urban underclass as part of an ongoing public discourse on the nature of the urban poor, the causes and conditions of their poverty, and the appropriate responses from society. Menace II Society (1993) Review/Film Teen-Agers Living Under the Gun. In the end of the movie, Caine is shot repeatedly by the man he assaulted, and he is shown having flashbacks about his evil actions as he dies. As a result of this action, Caine is forced to leave his house by his grandparents.
#Movie menace to society movie
Caine is also shown in the movie brutally assaulting his ex-girlfriend’s cousin, who accuses him of impregnating his cousin. Sex violence is also shown in the movie when Caine murders a man in the club who tries to advance sexually on Cain’s girlfriend. Caine and his friend get assaulted by the racist police officers, as a result of which they are again taken to the hospital. Later on in the movie are shown various burglaries performed by Caine, which depict his marred psychological state and criminal tendencies.Īlso shown in the movie are the racist attitudes which are highly common in the urban society.

They wait until night and brutally kill all the gangsters for getting revenge. Revenge also forms an important element of the societal structure which is depicted in the movie as Caine and his friends discover who the gangsters were who killed his Caine’s cousin. The growing incidence of crime and violence is something very common in the urban society. The viewers cannot help but relate to the story shown in the movie because every scene is actually based on the brutal facts of life. As a result of resistance shown by Caine’s cousin, he got murdered by the hijackers and Caine got shot in the shoulder as a result of which he is rushed to the hospital. In this scene, Caine and his cousin are forcibly stopped by a van. Further in the movie, another scene underlying prevailing antipathy and inhumanity in the society is shown. This movie also depicts Caine’s irreversible plunge in the silken snare of crimes. This scene illuminates the reality-based zero tolerance behavior that forms the hallmark of the urban society presently. Owing to the display of rude behavior, the shopkeepers expressed sympathy for Kevin’s mother and in the response, Kevin shot down one of the shopkeepers. On entering the store, Caine opens a liquor bottle and his friend Kevin starts railing against the shopkeepers, on which the two friends are told to pay and leave the store.

The movie begins with showing Caine, who plays the lead role, and his friend Kevin entering a local liquor store. This movie is considered to be “an urban nightmare” by (Bredy, 2011) and chronicles many days from Caine’s life. Menace II Society is a globally successful and critically acclaimed movie owing to the astounding and powerful manner in which myriad obscured messages are conveyed regarding urban violence. As the title indicates, this movie basically depicts menace of the society. It is worth mentioning about this movie that it gained a notorious view after its release because of the heavy display of vehemence, violence, action, profanity, and bloodshed. Menace II Society summary: This paper is based on the comprehensive summary of the movie Menace II Society set in Los Angeles.
