Articles describe the genre of hip-hop cinema and how members of society viewed it during the time period. In the article “Producing Ghetto Pictures” by Craig Watkins he explains that “the popular rise of the ghetto… the film cycle illuminates the complex relationship between the social transformations characterizing post-1960s black youth culture and the changing production of popular media” (171 ). It is suggested that this new wave of films was an attempt to promote change in the changing moog and ideologies created by the civil rights movement of the late 1960s. Watkins argues that “the industry's sudden interest in and exploitative turn to ghetto narratives was a rapid response to new market opportunities and popular appetites made possible by currents of social change” (172). Not only that, but these films were helping the industry make a lot of money thanks to young viewers. Watkins states that “the language, fashions, cultural productions, and supposedly nihilistic lifestyles associated with ghetto youth appear to give rise to the production of new trends in popular culture in the United States” (175). Despite the popularity and commercial success of the genre, Watkins refers to the period in which these films originated as the Blaxploitation era due to the exaggerated configurations of darkness (172). The films Boyz N the Hood and Menace II Society are two examples of ghetto films. that one might believe that they exploit the conditions and lifestyle of those who live in the neighborhood. These films depict the lives of young African American males and how their lives are affected by living in violent areas with people whose lives are affected by drugs and alcohol. Celeste Fisher conducted a study in which students of all races with...... middle of paper ......defined the ghetto film movement throughout the time period and the beliefs that members of society applied to these films and to African films -The Americans portrayed in these films. Works Cited Fisher, Celeste A. “'America's Worst Nightmare': Reading Menace II Society.” Black on Black: Films for Urban Youth and Multicultural Audiences. Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2006.Fisher, Celeste A. “‘Increase the Peace’: Reading Boyz N the Hood.” Black on Black: Films for Urban Youth and Multicultural Audiences. Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2006. Reid, Mark A. “Black Comedy on the Verge of a Collapse.” Redefining the black film. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1993.Watkins, Craig. “Produce Ghetto Pictures.” Representing: Hip Hop Culture and the Production of Black Cinema. Chicago: University of Chicago P, 1998. 169-195.