Menace II Society Ts - A Current Fad?
I’ve noticed recently that a lot of young folks are rocking Ice Cube and Tupac shirts. Another graphic that I’ve commonly seen on kids’ shirts is Menace II Society. I’d seen this movie years ago and I rewatched it for one reason. I’m curious, culturally, if they are wearing these shirts as part of a fad or if they really know the film. The next time I see a young man or lady wearing something branded with this film title, I’m prepared to have a conversation with them now. As soon as they don’t know the name “O-dog”, I can be sure it’s a fad. Let’s jump into my perspective on this snapshot of 90s Los Angeles, California.
My Ganglife Resume
First, let’s review my qualifications to talk about Los Angeles California, and or gang life. I have read a very informative book by a fellow well qualified to talk about this lifestyle called Monster. You can read the blog on this piece of literature here. I have watched many documentaries on varying gangs because I’ve always been interested in these “brotherhoods” amongst many others. Finally, I grew up listening to Pac, Cube, Snoop, and Dre. So, really, I have no qualifications and no claim that I have ever experienced firsthand any of this lifestyle. Based mostly on Monster Cody’s book, because I do consider this factual, I think this is an accurate representation of gang life in Los Angeles and other areas where gangs are prevalent.
Nature VS Nurture & Menace II Society
It’s me folks so, I’m not here to talk about the details of the plot. You can read more about that here. I want to give my takeaways from Menace II Society. In this case, it’s hard to do that without somewhere indirectly covering the plot of Menace II Society from a bird’s eye view. Menace II Society basically follows a cycle that unfortunately still occurs today. It’s a problem in our society that needs to be addressed and mended. A young man is born to parents who live a street life and indirectly teach it to him. He is then raised by his grandparents after his parents die because of their lifestyle. The grandparents must kick him out because he begins to live the life of his parents. Female companionship finally changes his mind but, it’s too late because he must pay the karmic debt of his past.
While I attended Psych school at Clemson University, I learned the idea of nature vs nurture. I personally think that much of this is true. We are born with certain genetics and some of us may have a predisposition to certain habits and lifestyles. When you mix this with an environment that feeds them, you often see a pattern occur. How many people are in prison today because of this? Even worse, how many people are dead today because of this? Menace II Society paints this cycle very well. It is even narrated by the main character, Caine, which helps to drive this point home. To touch on one piece of this cycle, there are many statistics out there about the damage of fathers being absent in a home and its impact on a child’s life. You can read all of those you want to here.
Caine is Different Than the Other Homies
In Menace II Society, and I realize this is a movie, you do see some sides of Caine that other characters don’t have. For instance, he is indebted, he feels, to the father of what becomes his girlfriend’s son. This character, named Pernell, essentially raised Caine, and taught him how to survive in the street. This was certainly not traditional fatherhood but, as a young man Caine was looking for this and found it in Pernell. The movie progresses and Pernell is in prison for life. Caine has promised to take care of his son and his girlfriend out of a sense of duty a.
O-Dog who is Caine’s friend, makes it clear that he is heartless and will kill anyone including women and children. Caine does not feel this way and shows this as his body is riddled with bullets while diving on Pernell’s son to protect him in the final scenes. This is not the only case of irony in Menace II Society, but one. Caine clearly is against killing children but, the people after him think similarly to O-Dog. It is ironic that O-dog survives the drive-by shooting.
Pay That Karmic Debt
As Menace II Society unhappily ends, we see the idea of karmic debt played out. Caine, although in love with Pernell’s girlfriend, impregnates another woman. Caine refuses to accept responsibility. The lady sends her cousin, who lives a lifestyle like Caine, to frighten the main character of Menace II Society. Quickly, Caine and his friend stomp the man. As fate would have it, there is always someone worse than you, and Caine doesn’t realize that he had just met this person. Monster Cody talked about different groups within “the hood” getting better and better weapons. As the car with the cousin inside rolls by the house with Caine and O-dog, we see this. O-dog and Caine address the car with their 17-shot pistols, but the cousin and his crew are double-fisting extended magazine pistols and Mac-10s. Needless to say, Caine and one other lose their life.
In these final scenes, we see the theme of Menace II Society plainly. Caine narrates and explains that he knew when he stomped the cousin that he would have to pay for it. Our narrator says that he never thought it would come back like this though. Did stomping the cousin warrant the murder of two people? In the cousin’s eyes, it did. Going back to the cycle I mentioned early, we see it come full circle. Caine’s father died to the street life and so did he.
How many times does this happen every day? Young men and women change their life and must pay a karmic debt which terminates their new life before it begins. We truly reap what we sow. I don’t know that Caine had a lot of faith in the change though. He even says that moving to Atlanta keeps him in America so, he doesn’t expect anything to be any different.
Final Thoughts On This Cultural Snapshot of 90s LA
Menace II Society certainly isn’t the norm for me. I do enjoy watching what I consider to be culture snapshot movies though. American History X is another snapshot of a subculture in America. Here again, we see karmic debt play out with unhappy consequences. Know going into Menace II Society that there is a lot of bad language and slang. If you don’t follow slang well, you will get lost in some of the dialogs quickly. Menace II Society has a few well-known scenes in it. The most notable involves a crackhead and some cheeseburgers. The movie holds your attention and if you like this kind of movie is easy to watch. Gangster rap and soul music make up the soundtrack and it fits great with the movie. I’ve seen this one before and would watch it again.
Leave your thoughts on this movie below. Are there any other good movies that illustrate gang life accurately out there? Let me know in the comments. While you’re messing around on my site, check out my artwork and thumb through my photography here. You can read more of my blogs here and follow me on all social media here. All likes, shares, subs, and follows are appreciated.