Father Figures in Boyz and American History X

15 Pages 3836 Words

s true paternal figure can’t be found in a school, can’t be found in even a respected female, but can only be found in one person – Furious Styles, his father. It is with this already clear idea that Singleton introduces us to Furious and, for the rest of the film, makes it obscenely clear that he is the ultimate power, influence, authority, and father to Tre. Our scenes are filled with 2 shots of Tre with his father, not coincidently, above and behind Tre. While the filmmaker never entirely takes the focus off of Tre by leaving him in the center and foreground, when Furious is involved with the scene, a great deal of attention is drawn, whether through action, light, color,!
or camera movement, to Furious and the fact that he is constantly looming behind and, most importantly, above his son. From the first interaction on the lawn outside their house, where Furious stands over him and tells Tre to rake the leaves (a job we just saw him offer to pay the other kids to do) because it is his responsibility, to the scene when Tre watches...