commentary – Artistic Apathy

A Commentary On Menace II Society (1993)

Warning: *spoilers ahead*

The film Menace II Society takes place in the city of Watts during the 1990s. The riots are over, drugs have made their way into neighborhoods and now gangs and violence wreak havoc in the streets. It’s the perfect portrayal of the American nightmare. A haunting tale about the cycles of poverty and violence that grip neighborhoods all across America. This movie is still relevant today, covering major issues in the urban black community which are explored throughout.

The opening scene gets right to the nitty gritty when O-Dog and Caine walk into a store hoping to buy beer and end up involved in a crime scene.

Such seems to be the life of poor Caine who from a young age saw death and corruption around him. His father was a drug dealer and his mother was a drug addict. Needless to say they didn’t play a very active role in his life. He’s sent to live with his religious grandparents, who just can’t seem to get through to him. His grandfather even asking him if he cares whether he lives or dies. Caine is deep in the streets. Has been ever since he came out on that stoop when he was young and got initiated by Pernell.

Pernell brought him up on the G code but was absent in his life when he got sent to prison.

Caine manages to graduate high school. An extraordinary feat for someone like him. Everything seems rosy for a while but as others would be knee deep in books, Caine is getting knee deep in the streets. He gets involved in a cycle of hatred and violence so hopeless and never ending. Violence being a common theme in the movie portrayed in a gruesome, raw, and unfiltered way. Caine and his comrades are desensitized to violence. As a result they have no problem taking a life or parading around a stolen tape of a murder they were involved in.

I just knew I could kill somebody. If I had to I could do it again. – Caine

This is the environment that Caine is growing up in. After going to a house party, him and his cousin have an altercation that lands him in the hospital and his cousin dead. Caine is lucky to be alive. This isn’t the first time he ends up in the hospital either. The difference this time is that he came close to dying. You would think Caine would turn over a new leaf after coming so close to death. Still, he can be seen watching old gangster movies in the hospital room. One of many foreshadowings in the film.

Another one being when later in the movie, the son of Caine’s love interest, Anthony, asks if Caine is going to die.

Caine even ends up in jail albeit for a short period of time. This still isn’t enough to set him on the straight and narrow. They bring him in for questioning. In the interrogation room we can see two types of light coming through the windows. On one side there’s red. Which could easily signify peril, doom, fatality and on the other, a brighter more lighter shade. Caine is at a crossroads for most of his life.

There are many voices of reason throughout the movie. Sharif, one of his closest buddies is a converted muslim and very pro-black. He doesn’t want Caine to go down the wrong path. And although he’s different from Caine and the rest of them, he’s kept throughout the movie. Caine even narrates as someone who sounds like they are reflecting on their choices. There are subliminal messages throughout the movie as well.

Another voice of reason is Ronnie or Pernell’s girlfriend. Ronnie sobered up after having Anthony. The connection between Caine and Ronnie is more than Pernell however. There’s love interest brewing here too. Caine gets even more-so attached via her son Anthony who is exactly like him when he was younger. Anthony is meant to symbolize Caine in a lot of ways. We even see things come full circle when Anthony comes out on the porch to hang with the grown folks much like Caine when he was younger.

No father, growing up in the hood without a role model. In the movie Caine is being asked to step up and be a man, if not for Anthony then for himself.

This movie’s core theme seems to be cycles in the urban communities. Caine is just being the way he was brought up to be and Anthony is mirroring what’s in the environment around him. There’s a certain street code you follow and that often leads to more violence. Caine is provided with an out on various occasions. Eventually he accepts to go away with Ronnie to Atlanta although reluctantly only to end up another victim. In a tragic irony, he does leave the life but not in the way we had hoped. Sharif is shot dead as well as Caine. Leaving O-Dog to grapple with the reality and possibly continue the cycle of violence.

The theme comes full circle with this quote as Caine narrates:

I guess in the end it catches up to you. My grandfather asked me one time if I care whether I live or die. Yeah I do and now it’s too late.

The final words at the end convict the viewer and cause them to reflect on all the past events that led to this young man’s fatal demise. It seemed like he was doomed to repeat his mistakes or suffer the consequences for his actions from the very beginning.

The Deal With Posthumous Releases

In a day and age where late rappers are becoming a norm, we are seeing more and more of the release of posthumous work (i.e. work released after death.) A few prolific rappers stand out in this conversation, including Lil Peep, XXXTENTACION and Mac Miller.

All at the height of their success when they passed. It’s truly unfortunate we couldn’t see the further development of these artists especially when they were so ambiguous in their work and so promising.

Often when these artists die there is still a plethora of music left behind, yet to be released. In the case of Lil Peep, the rising emo rap star, there was an immense amount of work unreleased. The label partnered with frequent collaborators of Lil Peep to bring about projects that the fans could accept. Following the release of the polished Come Over When You’re Sober collection, label heads, with input from Peep’s mom decided to release the more raw and authentic Everybody’s Everything. Which doubled as a soundtrack to the documentary on his life.

A lot of controversy was stirred when the label continued to release music under Peep’s name but rest assured his mother Liza was behind it every step of the way. Saying:

“What do you do when a young artist dies long before his time, leaving behind a legacy of finished and unfinished work, and a legion of heartbroken fans?”
– Liza Womack

It seems like the honorable thing to do to honor the late artist and put out a body of work that most closely emulates what the artist in mention would have wanted.

Like stated before, this isn’t without its controversy as the bodies that distribute this late work are often met with backlash. Like when the BMW that XXXTENTACION died in was on display at an album event.

This begs the question of if an artists’ legacy is best left alone. Of course the family and friends of the artist have an idea of what the artists would have wanted in a project, single releases, etc. but the artist isn’t there to provide input.

Prior to his death, Mac Miller was busy at work on a follow up to his album Swimming. The album featured production from one producer named Jon Briar who later went on to finish the album keeping in mind the vision Miller had for it.

Again, it is nice to still get new material from an artist after their death but it often spurs a slew of questions about how exactly these releases are being handled. It seems that the ones in charge of these releases put immense thought into the given project before releasing but without the touch of the artists in question something is somewhat lacking.

That being said, you can’t please everyone. Especially on the internet. Someone will always have an opinion. Admittedly it is nice to see songs that didn’t have a proper release get one finally and for unfinished projects to see the light of day but the motives of the people at hand are often in question.

Sorry to say, these artists are gone and all we have left of them is the music. If we can continue their legacy going even for a short time, then maybe the details don’t matter so much.

Imaginary Monster

Social anxiety for a long time was something I had long suffered with.

It held me back in so many areas: Socializing, working, going outside, etc.

My social anxiety was very mild at first. When I was younger, I moved schools a lot and always found myself in a new environment with no new friends and no familiar faces. In the beginning I always made an effort to make friends but the more I moved the more withdrawn I became. I learned to just keep to myself and not to bother with making friends. After all, who knew when the last time I would see them would be.

The more withdrawn I became, the more I developed my own little world where I was the center of it.

My biggest fear was someone disrupting this world so oftentimes someone “intruding” would trip me up and make me nervous.

First it was being socially withdrawn then after high school it translated into a fear of big crowds. I became overly obsessive about what people might think of me that it made it hard to even function like a normal person. Who knew though, all along I was the only one judging and no one outside of me was pointing a single finger!

For a while I was unemployed just for the reason that the anxiety grew to the point where I didn’t want to even go outside. I didn’t want the world to see me. I had judged myself. Since I went out of my way not to see people, I quickly became depressed out of a need to be seen. It was a conflict between needing to be seen and not feeling worthy enough.

I had few jobs that required customer service skills and the anxiety was so huge for me that I just quit each time. It wasn’t until much later that I found a job that would crack my shell completely.

Living with social anxiety was a nightmare and a hell for me. I tried everything, forums, online videos, medicine, therapy. Anything for me to be normal again but all it took was for me to step outside of my head for a moment. All those things were in my head. If I had just known how powerful your thoughts can be then everything could have changed for me. Now when I sense those thoughts creeping up I just tell myself it’s my irrational self crying for attention.

And I don’t pay attention to it.

Why Nothing I Have to Say Really Matters

Nothing.

I used to want my opinion to matter but now I’m not so sure.

My opinion is always changing. I’ve gone from religious to atheistic to religious again and then spiritual.

So if my viewpoint is always changing why should anyone take it serious or even literal?

They shouldn’t.

I’m starting to feel that no one should take anything I have to say seriously.

It’s true what they say about your opinion being the only one that matters.

And it’s true because your beliefs and views shape the world around you. If you let outside input determine the way you look at you and the world, you will end up with a distorted perception. Which is what most people have anyway.

A hundred years from now, I’m sure no one will remember the things I had to say. Unless I’m somehow immortalized. Even still I can’t see it mattering much in the long run.

I’m sure this post will probably even fade from your memory in time.

So why say anything at all?

Well, there’s no real reason to say anything. Still, we have a lot of opinions.

Sometimes we can say something that will uplift someone or make them laugh or smile. So the things we say do have a impact but does everything have to be taken so literal? I think not.

A lot of times people don’t know what they think for sure (including me) and their recall of events is somewhat shot as well.

It seems what most people say out loud is not dependable.

Everything should be taken with a grain of salt. Even words from people who are known gurus or known to be smart or intellectual.

Don’t let anyone be the single determiner of your thoughts and feelings. That all lies on you. It falls on your shoulders to find the truth for yourself or simply what works for you.

So yeah, don’t even take this post serious. That is, unless you want to.

It is the process of freedom.

Ping!

Time after time, I check my results.

So much it begs the question “who am I really doing this for?”

Am I still finding that my sense of acceptance must come from outside of myself?

If so I am illusioned.

On the one hand, I understand that a desire for approval is almost innate in human beings.

From the moment we are born we learn to depend on our parents for everything. So much that we even begin to depend on them for our emotional well being. Thinking that similarly flawed human beings hold the key is backwards thinking.

Parents can teach you a lot. But something you must learn to do on your own is love yourself for who you are.

Despite everything.

As long as your self-esteem is dependent on the likes and comments you receive in this ensnaring digital world, you are a slave to perception.

Perception is subjective and therefore how you feel about you becomes subjective.

I’m not saying it’s easy to escape this cycle but by understanding it a little bit more each time you slowly weaken the choke hold that it has on you and your self-esteem.