This line was stated matter of factly by his ex-wife to Mr. Styles, played by Lawrence Fishburn in the movie Boys N the Hood. She was referring to his lack of initiative in the past when it came to helping to rear their son, Tre Styles (played by Cuba Gooding, Jr.). Of course, I thought she came off as a tad bitchy saying that, because Tre chose to stay with his father who obviously cared for him a great deal and did many things to teach him well in his young adult years, even if he was somewhat absent during earlier times; something we didn't get to see but is implied throughout.
Not to mention the fact that earlier in the movie, there is a scene in which Tre explains his embelished 'first time' to his father and admits that he didn't use a condom. Mr. Styles' disappointed reaction to that includes him saying, 'any fool with a dick can make a baby but only a real man can raise his children.'

Regardless of its implications in this particular movie, the phrase is precisely true and unconditionally pertinent in real life. Obviously most males are capable of producing the sperm that will create a child...but does that mean that they will stick around to be involved in the resulting child's life? And, even if they do stick around, will they automatically be a caring and fair father to this child? That takes what Ms. Styles called 'a real man'...translate it to what you will...the point is merely that so very much more goes into being a father than simply using your male anatomy to create life.

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.