Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood is a 1996 film. It spoofs, akin to the Wayans' previous effort I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, black, coming-of-age, 'hood movies' such as Juice, South Central, Higher Learning, Do The Right Thing, Menace II Society, Poetic Justice, New Jack City, Dead Presidents, and most prominently Boyz N the Hood, all primarily released between 1985 and 1995, and also mixes the names of a few of the said titles to form the unorthodoxly long title of the movie.
| Don't Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Paris Barclay |
| Written by | Marlon Wayans Shawn Wayans Phil Beauman |
| Produced by | Eric L. Gold Keenen Ivory Wayans |
| Starring | Marlon Wayans Shawn Wayans |
| Music by | John Barnes |
| Distributed by | Miramax Films |
Release dates | January 12, 1996 |
Running time | 89 min |
| Language | English |
This film teases out the racism inherent in the popularity of 'hood movies' such as the above, irrespective of their supposed "redeeming qualities". The movie suggests that the result of the massive popularity of 'hood movies' was/is that black actors are limited, in an attempt to profit from these movies' success, to similar roles, especially in the 1990s. Menace attempts to comically satirise that sociological phenomenon. Some actors in the film also starred in the films the movie parodies, few even the same scenes and characters.
Cast
Some of the main characters include:
- Ashtray: The main protagonist of the film, the Everyman, trying to make his way through a confusing world, is sent by his mother to live in the ghetto where his father might teach him how to become a man. Played by Shawn Wayans. Based on Tre Styles from Boyz N The Hood.
- Ashtray's Mother: Ashtray's mother whose brief cameo in the beginning is ended with her abruptly delivered quote: "Sorry baby. You know there ain't no positive black females in these movies." Played by Vivica Fox. Based on Reva Devereaux from Boyz N The Hood.
- Ashtray's Father: Ashtray's temperamental role model who dispenses sage advice to his son. According to Ashtray, is only "a couple years older than me." Played by Lahmard Tate. Based on Furious Styles from Boyz N The Hood.
- Loc Dog: Ashtray's cousin. Stoner/Drug Dealer/Criminal. Drives a USPS delivery truck which is loaded in the back with ballistics. Played by Ashtray's real-life brother, Marlon Wayans Based on "O-Dog" from Menace II Society.
- Preach: Ashtray's friend. The former gang member turned 'politically conscious' activist. Has a fetish for white girls. Based on Sharif from Menace II Society.
- Crazy Legs: Ashtray's friend. Was paralyzed in a drive-by. Based on Chris from Boyz N The Hood.
- Dashiki: The object of Ashtray's affections. A 'hood mother' with seven kids all conceived from seven different men. Played by Tracey Cherelle Jones. Dashiki's address is 6969 Penetration Avenue. Based on Brandi from Boyz N The Hood and Justice from Poetic Justice.
Notable Satires
References to Boyz N the Hood include:
- Shawn Wayans' lead character is named Ashtray, as opposed to Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s Tre in Boyz N the Hood.
- Ashtray is sent by his mother (played by Vivica A. Fox) to live with his father (in the original played by Laurence 'Larry' Fishburne, here played by an actor one year older than Wayans himself) to teach him 'how to be a real man', and the sex-talks that Gooding has with Fishburne in the original are parodied. The reason the actor was portrayed as younger than Ashtray himself was because in Boyz N the Hood, Laurence Fishburne plays Cuba Gooding Jr.'s father, but in real life, Fishburne is only 7 years older than Gooding.
- Ashtray has sex with a girl while her mother is at church, the way Tre describes his "first-time" with a girl in "Boyz N the Hood". Humourously, Ashtray's girlfriend's mother comes back from church, only to be clad in a leather dominatrix outfit.
- In a scene from Boyz N the Hood, Tre and Ricky get pulled over by two police officers, one being a black man who happens to dislike stereotypical black "gangsters." In a similar scene, Ashtray and Loc Dogg are pulled over while they are parked, and a black officer—played by Bernie Mac—is racist against blacks.
- In Boyz N the Hood, Gooding's character Tre goes to his girlfriend's house and starts swinging his arms, punching wildly while crying, all out of nowhere. In Don't Be a Menace, the character Ashtray goes to his girlfriend Dashiki's house and does the same, but hitting her children instead of air.
- While sitting in Old School's porch, Loc Dog goes on to say "either they don't know, don't show, or just don't care about being a menace to south central while they drink their juice in the hood. .." In a similar scene, Ice Cube's character, Doughboy, said, "Either they don't know, don't show, or just don't care about what's going on in the hood. .."
- In Boyz N the Hood, the young boys go to see a dead body near the train tracks. In Don't Be a Menace, a group of similar looking young boys(coincidentally, some of the children reprised their roles from Boyz in the Hood) go looking for a dead body, and find the dead body of an Elvis Presley impersonator, face down with his pants pulled down.
- Keenan Ivory Wayans' cameos as a mailman is a reference to John Singleton giving himself a brief cameo as a mailman in Boyz N the Hood.
References to Dead Presidents:
- At the end, Grandma pops out of a garbage can and shoots the gang, with the corpsepaint on her face.
- The DMV instructor navigates Ashtray to a bank and proceeds to rob the bank. This is similar to the scene where Keith David's character asks Larenz Tate's character (who is totally oblivious to David's motive) to drive him to a debtor and proceeds to intimidate him through violence.
References to Poetic Justice:
- Loc Dog owns a mail truck, and there is a line "A road trip in a mail truck. .. that's about the stupidest idea I ever heard of." That was the whole point of poetic justice.
- Dashiki, at one point, recites a poem to Ashtray that involves castrating him if he ever left her.
- Dashiki's appearance is similar to Janet Jackson's character's appearance.
- In one scene, the back of the mail truck has the words, "Janet waz here". Clearly a reference to Janet Jackson's character.
References to Juice:
- Youngster to grandma: "Now you got the Juice, Grandma", which in "juice" a man says to "Q" (Omar Epps)
References to Menace II Society:
- Ashtray and Loc Dog (played by Shawn's brother Marlon) are racially profiled by Korean shop owners who persist on following Ashtray throughout the store.
- "Dave the Crackhead", a beggar looking for change, attempts to offer Ashtray cheeseburgers and fellatio in exchange for money. In Menace II Society, O Dog is confronted by a beggar who is also willing to trade cheeseburgers for money or drugs (who, in turn, may be inspired by a similar character from Dolemite).
- Later in Don't Be a Menance. .., the beggar re-appears, again with the sack of cheeseburgers and is now looking for directions to crenshaw (which is where the crew from Boyz N the Hood always hang out). He offers fellatio to Loc-Dog for the directions, and after a little thought, the scene then cuts to Loc Dog zipping up his pants.
- Slow motion "drug-making" sequence, in which Loc-Dog makes a cake, in Menace II Society, Tyrin Turner's character Kane, prepares crack cocaine in a similar sequence.
- Slow motion 'drive-by shooting preparation' sequence, in Menace II Society, Illena's cousin organizes a drive-by after he is beaten up by Kane and O-Dog
- Dashiki becoming pregnant.
- Marlon Wayans' character, "Loc Dog" takes his name from "O-Dog."
References to Higher Learning:
- Omar Epps appears playing a character named Malik, who's leaving the hood to go to college (where a sniper, "Remy", shoots him).
References to hood movies in general:
- Slow motion 'drive-by shooting preparation' sequence, with spooky music.
- Drive-by shooting sequence.
- "Serious" father-son talks.
Catchphrases:
- Break yo' self, fool! (Loc Dog catchphrase when shooting)
- Message! (Keenan Ivory Wayans' only line (besides "What the fuck is he talkin' about?"), usually said when Loc Dog or Ashtray says something with a good message, that recurs throughout the film. Keenan only appears through the movie to say this, as a postman or a baby)
Goofs
- When Ashtray goes to his fathers house, he greets him with a chocolate bar that is open. When they go inside it is in the wrapper again.
- When Loc Dog's grandmother is dancing in church, she is wearing high heels at first, then she wears flat shoes in a different shot.
- When Loc Dog drives away in his USPS Mail Truck, there is graffiti on it that says, "Janet Wuz Here". In the next shot the graffiti is no longer there.
- When Ashtray gets a haircut by his father, his father writes on the back of his head "Kick Me". In other scenes it is not there.
See also
Trivia
- The late Lloyd Avery II, who played Ricky's shooter in Boyz n the Hood, is sitting behind the driver in the drive-by shooting.