2011 Black History Month: #27 Black Actor Performance
Laurence Fishburne as "Jason 'Furious' Styles" in "Boyz n the Hood."
It's hard being a good father. It's even harder being a good father raising a son by yourself. It's almost impossible to be a good father while raising your son by yourself in a Los Angelos ghetto. Despite having all those odds stacked against him, Laurence Fishburne portraying Jason 'Furious' Styles did just that in the 1991 film, "Boyz n the Hood."
This ground-breaking movie had several performances that I could have picked, including Cuba Gooding Junior and Ice Cube, but when I thought back to this film it was Fishburne who came immediately to mind. Furious Styles is a smart man, one who instills patience, responsibility, and discipline to his younger son Trey. As he tells his ex-wife, "I'm the one who can teach him to be a man." And teach him Styles does. It's a little ridiculous to think that Fishburne is actually only six years older than Cuba Gooding Jr. (who plays his son), but again, the performance is so good you don't even realize the age gap for one second.
What I appreciated the most from Fishburne's character was that he wasn't removed from reality. He knew who his son was hanging out with, knew what the culture was like, and knew the issues his son was dealing with on a daily basis. He understood that guns were prevalent, but taught Trey when and how to use them. He knew teenagers were drinking and having sex, but taught Trey to be cautious and to always wear a condom.
The director, John Singleton received an Academy Award nomination for Best Director at the age of 24, making him the youngest ever to obtain a nomination. Singleton actually met Fishburne for the first time back in 1986 when he was a PA for "Pee-wee's Playhouse." Fishburne was none other than "Cowboy Curtis" on that beloved show. Small world.
Fishburne is probably best known for his role of Morpheus in the Matrix Trilogy, but I never really understood nor particularly enjoyed those movies. He also earned a 1994 Best Actor Oscar nomination for the film "What's Love Got To Do With It?" but I have never watched that one, so it didn't qualify. That being said, this film and this actor needed to be mentioned on this list.
Memorable Quotes
"Any fool with a dick can make a baby, but only a real man can raise his children." - Furious Styles
"Rick, it's the Nineties. Can't afford to be afraid of our own people anymore, man." - Furious Styles
"Trey, your pops is like mothaf***in Malcolm... Farrakhan." - Doughboy
"Either they don't know, don't show, or don't care about what's going on in the hood. They had all this foreign shit. They didn't have shit on my brother, man." - Doughboy
Hint for #26: Dramatic movie, late 1990s, this actor is the first on the list to get an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor ... movie set in the early 1930s.
Until next time, "read it, roll it, hole it."
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