In contrast, Boyz N the Hood presents a sharply different context where the protagonists face violence, racism, and poverty. The film’s opening, with a series of sounds including verbal abuse, brakes, gunshots, screams, police, cries, sirens, and helicopters, coupled with statistics of high murder rates among black American males on a black screen, immediately introduces the audience to brutal and prevalent violence that defines lives of the protagonists in the African American communities. This is confirmed by Turan in his article about the film in the Los Angeles Times: “Though it is often in the background and rarely emphasized, we see… the frighteningly casual, ever-present violence of a world where college recruiters are mistaken for drive-by shooters and guns are pulled almost without a hind of provocation” (Turan 2). In this world, demonstrating strength through violence is often about survival rather than asserting masculinity. The scenes following Furious firing two shots at the burglar in self-defense serve as a good example. After ensuring the burglar is no longer around, Furious looks surprised and almost regretful as he notices the shoe the burglar left behind (00:15:14). The camera then employs a shaky dolly-in shot on the shoe, symbolizing the internal turmoil he experiences (00:15:16). These scenes suggest that Furious’s engagement in violence was a reluctant act of survival instead of a display of masculine retribution. This is later confirmed when Tre says Furious should have blown the head of the burglar off. Furious replies, “Don’t say that,” twice before adding, “It just would have been contributing to killing another brother” (00:15:32). Racism and poverty stemming from systematic inequalities are both the root cause and the catalyst of violence in marginalized communities, instilling in young African Americans a misguided perception that men gain power and respect by exerting physical strength. In the sceneplot involving young Tre and school, the teacher is shown to be incompetent and racist, evidenced by her inability to manage misbehaviors and conflict, as well as her prejudiced stereotypes about the parents of students being unemployed and uneducated. The lack of educational resources caused by racism and poverty restricts the development of young African Americans, aggravates violence, and perpetuates social inequalities.

Despite vastly different social contexts, the protagonists of Fight Club and Boyz N the Hood often consider violence a necessary and empowering solution to their challenges. While the protagonists initially gain a false sense of control and justice, their violent activities ultimately fail to overcome their challenges. Moreover, such activities result in unintended consequences, entrenching the protagonists in cycles of destruction and turmoil. In Fight Club, after the narrator discovers that escaping to support groups where he doesn’t belong is no longer helpful, he turns to violence, regarding it as the most potent measure to regain his sense of masculinity. With Tyler, his alter ego, he creates the fight club and enjoys a brief and illusory moment of identity reclamation, while his alter ego gradually takes control of his psyche. As Tyler gains more power, it becomes clear that the validation the narrator seeks can not be satisfied merely by the superficial identity gained from displays of physical force. Attempting to offer such validation, Tyler, with his ideology centered around violence, eventually leads the narrator down the path of self-destruction and destructing society. In the book, the transformation takes place through the recurring idea of “hitting bottom.” The first mention of the concept comes from Tyler: “Tyler says I’m nowhere near hitting the bottom, yet. And if I don’t fall all the way, I can’t be saved… I should run from self-improvement, and I should be running toward disaster” (Palahniuk 44). This quote underscores the hypocrisy of Tyler’s philosophy, which tries to disguise self-destruction as an essential path to benevolent redemption. The notion reappears when Tyler burns the narrator’s hand with chemicals and congratulates him, saying, “You’re a step closer to hitting bottom” (Palahniuk 51). This sarcastic compliment symbolizes the escalation of the narrator’s self-destruction, highlighting his further loss of identity and exacerbated inner conflict. The last time the concept appears is in the narrator’s decadent wish: “I wanted the whole world to hit bottom” (Palahniuk 85). By that point, the narrator has lost his true self and embraced the destructive nature of Tyler, desiring to “destroy everything beautiful I’d never have” (Palahniuk 85). The death of Robert Paulson becomes a wake-up call for the narrator, revealing the tragic consequences of Tyler’s ideology. When the narrator witnesses Tyler’s followers yell, “His name was Robert Paulson,” he comes to realize that they have become zealots who dehumanize a deceased individual as a sacrifice for their cause (Palahniuk 130). He tries to dismiss the club and halt the project, only to find himself losing his identity and control, trapped in a desperate nest once again as the followers throw him out of the club and continue without him. In the end, the narrator kills Tyler even if he has to shoot himself in the cheek, demonstrating his determination to reject engaging in violence to reclaim masculinity and urging the audience to reflect on paths to true self-discovery and empowerment.