美国国家公共电台 NPR John Singleton, Pioneering Director Of 'Boyz N The Hood,' Dies At 51

 

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Filmmaker John Singleton has died after suffering a stroke. He was 51 years old. Singleton wrote and directed the 1991 film "Boyz N The Hood¹," and he made history by becoming the youngest person and the first African American nominated for a best director Oscar.

NPR's Mandalit del Barco has this remembrance.

MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE²: John Singleton was just 23 years old and fresh out of film school when he made "Boyz N The Hood," an ode to the impoverished³ and notorious neighborhood where he grew up, South Central LA.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BOYZ N THE HOOD")

ICE CUBE: (As Doughboy) We got a problem here?

DEL BARCO: He showed South Central's young black men trying to make sense of the gang violence around them.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BOYZ N THE HOOD")

CUBE: (As Doughboy) That's why fools be getting shot all the time - trying to show how hard they is. Ignorant.

DEL BARCO: The film starred rapper Ice Cube as the character Doughboy, whose brother is gunned down...

(SOUNDBITE OF GUNSHOT)

DEL BARCO: ...And a young Cuba Gooding Jr., who plays Doughboy's friend, Tre Styles.

The film showed audiences some of the conditions that would lead to the LA riots the following year.

When the movie came out, Singleton told NPR that, growing up in the hood, he was always afraid of getting shot and that joining street gangs was a rite⁴ of passage.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

JOHN SINGLETON: If you have the absence of a father, then people create their own rituals, and joining a gang is one of them.

DEL BARCO: Singleton was born in LA in 1968, the son of a pharmaceutical⁵ sales rep and a mortgage broker⁶. Like his main character, his mother sent him to live with his father so he would stay out of trouble.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

SINGLETON: My father, you know, just did what he could do to set me straight and, you know, because there's only so far you can go, you know, with your mom. Moms will just, like, will rationalize with you - but pops will say, no, you do this because I said do this. You know? And a lot of my friends didn't have that.

DEL BARCO: Singleton urged other black fathers to man up.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

SINGLETON: Brothers have to be responsible for their children. That's all we're saying with this film - you know, that we have to, you know, nurture⁷ - especially our sons - you know, nurture them into manhood.

DEL BARCO: "Boyz N The Hood" depicted⁸ all of this and was a hit among critics and audiences. Singleton made Oscar history with his best director and screenplay nominations⁹.

In a talk he gave at Loyola Marymount University in 2014, Singleton reminisced.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SINGLETON: "Boyz N The Hood" wasn't made for everybody. It was made for, like, a young black audience that buys hip-hop records. But I knew that if I got as universal as possible, it would cross over.

DEL BARCO: John Singleton went on to make other films. "Poetic¹⁰ Justice" starred rapper Tupac Shakur, whose biopic Singleton planned to make one day. It also starred singer Janet Jackson. Singleton directed a 1992 music video for her brother, Michael.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "REMEMBER THE TIME")

MICHAEL JACKSON: (Vocalizing).

DEL BARCO: Singleton also directed the 2000 remake of "Shaft¹¹" with Samuel L. Jackson, and he produced the 2005 movie "Hustle¹² & Flow." For television, Singleton directed episodes of "Empire" and "The People V. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story." And Singleton co-created the series "Snowfall" for the FX network. In 2016, he told the Television Academy Foundation he was happy with his career.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SINGLETON: I've been in this business for over 26 years, and I haven't lost my soul (laughter).

DEL BARCO: But he never stopped challenging the industry to be more diverse.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SINGLETON: Everybody's so interested in black culture, but they ain't letting the black people tell the stories.

DEL BARCO: At least John Singleton got to tell some of his. Mandalit del Barco, NPR News, Los Angeles.

(SOUNDBITE OF GABRIELLE CHILLMARK'S "FOREST AIR")

1 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 rite   

n.典礼，惯例，习俗

参考例句：

• This festival descends from a religious rite.这个节日起源于宗教仪式。
• Most traditional societies have transition rites at puberty.大多数传统社会都为青春期的孩子举行成人礼。

5 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

6 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

7 nurture   

n.养育，照顾，教育；滋养，营养品；vt.养育，给与营养物，教养，扶持

参考例句：

• The tree grows well in his nurture.在他的培育下这棵树长得很好。
• The two sisters had received very different nurture.这俩个姊妹接受过极不同的教育。

8 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

9 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

10 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

11 shaft   

n.(工具的)柄，杆状物

参考例句：

• He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
• This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。

12 hustle   

v.推搡；竭力兜售或获取；催促；n.奔忙(碌)

参考例句：

• It seems that he enjoys the hustle and bustle of life in the big city.看起来他似乎很喜欢大城市的热闹繁忙的生活。
• I had to hustle through the crowded street.我不得不挤过拥挤的街道。