Celebrating 28 Years of Don't Be A Menace

Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans in Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood

By: Deion Higginbotham

My connection and memory of the release of Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood back in the day involves noting a brief but intense burst of popularity surrounding it at the video store where my brother worked. He and his friends were so excited when he brought it home. I remember my mom saying I couldn’t watch it because it was rated R. I cried hard that day. I recall how popular the Wayans were at the time. My older brother sneaked me into the room just so I could watch it. I remember dying laughing at the scene where the Shawn Wayans character is doing foreplay with Dashiki with food. Watching it years later as an adult, that was a top-of-the-line comedy.

The field was certainly ripe for parody after a flood of urban-centered movies hit theaters in the ’90s. All of them had something important to express, but even so, certain shared tropes emerged and trends solidified. That was a perfect storm for a spoof. From Higher Learning to Boyz in the Hood and Menace to Society, we, as a culture, were flooded with trauma movies. Someone had to make us laugh, and the Wayans did just that.

Unlike other coming-of-age films with largely positive themes, this flick taps into black cinema’s exploration of hard lives in crime-ridden neighborhoods. It’s mean and rude almost all the way through, but in a winking way to say, “If it’s satire, that makes it all right.” The Wayans brought us the spoof at the right time for the culture and continue to do so in today’s time (Marlon Wayans' 'Haunted House' franchise). All in all, 'Don’t Be A Menace' is still a household name with quotes that I use to this day. It’s part of black culture and will go down in the Comedy Hall of Fame.

Rating: 8.5/10

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