Baby
Boy begins with a voiceover that quotes a psychological
theory that racism has made black men into babies, citing
three reasons: (1) They call their spouses "mama." (2) They
call each other "boy." (3) They call their home "the crib."
However, no such terminology emerges in the film, which is
directed and written by John Singleton, who won two previous
Political Film Society awards – for Boyz ‘n the Hood
(1991) and Rosewood (1997). Instead, Baby
Boy conjures images of the famous Moynihan Report
of 1965, which argued for the War on Poverty on the basis
of a finding that the Black community has a fragile family
structure. Whereas the Moynihan Report was attacked for racial
stereotyping by many scholars at the time, Baby Boy
brings to the screen the most vivid portrayal of dysfunctional
Black families ever. The setting is Los Angeles, and according
to Singleton Baby Boy is a "companion piece"
to Boyz ‘n the Hood. Jody (played by Tyrese
Gibson), the central character is the baby boy of the film.
He is an irresponsible, anomic 20 year old, has served some
time, lives with his Mom Juanita (played by A. J. Johnson),
has no proper job, has fathered a child with Yvette (played
by Taraji P. Henson) as well as Peanut (played by Tamara LaSeon
Bass), refuses to marry either doubtless because he has no
legitimate income, fools around with other women, and his
best male friend, Sweetpea (played by Omar Gooding), is a
punk. From time to time he visits his son and Yvette, whom
he drives to work and picks up from work in exchange for fixing
up her car; but she is unhappy that he cannot settle down
with her. Along comes Melvin (played by Ving Rhames), who
carries on a love affair with his Mom and moves into the house,
causing Jody to fear that he will be evicted. There are plenty
of conflicts, in other words, especially when Melvin keeps
telling Jody that his a "baby boy," and Yvette refuses to
see Jody and let him use her car because he is fooling around
with other women. The conflicts are expressed through a range
of behavior from verbal profanity to hysterical scenes to
brutal violence. Restricted to using a bicycle, Jody goes
to a convenience store one day for some wine, only to be roughed
up by a gang of teenagers, and his revenge comes when he teams
up with his punk friend, gets guns, and terrorizes the gang
members. Strangely, Yvette admits former boyfriend Rodney
(played by Snoop Dogg) to stay with her after he is released
from jail, and Rodney is eager to rape her. When Rodney realizes
that she will not submit to his authority because she loves
Jody, he administers a drive-by shooting to the "baby boy."
The shooting traumatizes Jody, so he and his punk friend go
after his assailant. Jody does not have the indecency to kill
Rodney, but his punk friend does, and Jody is again traumatized.
After Jody goes home, Melvin sees him in shock and pries the
gun from his hand. Thereafter, Jody grows up. He makes his
peace with Melvin, and he has the maturity to marry Yvette.
Most reviews of Baby Boy appear after a press screening, but
I preferred to attend at a cinema where a substantial number
of African Americans were in the audience. Clearly, they saw
themselves accurately portrayed in the film, confirming the
genius of John Singleton. Among the themes is the fact that
every single African American male in the film has either
been in prison, is in prison, or would be in prison if police,
absent in the film despite many violations of the law, were
more prevalent; all are what Eldridge Cleaver called "supermasculine
menials." All African American men and women are starved for
love, often solving strident lover’s spats articulated with
a lot of profanity through the tenderness of sensual and amorous
sex. However, the homeboys at the cinema not only cheered
whenever brutal violence appeared on the screen but also laughed
at some of the saddest scenes, which they considered to be
exaggerated or mushy. Clearly, another film could be made
of how homeboys view Baby Boy, one that would
be far more surreal than Baby Boy’s message.
If Singleton were to write a third film to complement both
Boyz 'n the Hood and Baby Boy,
the focus would doubtless be on how the African American men
in both films receive their real education in prison, as LA
public schools nowadays provide neither textbooks nor homework
nor job skills for them to become grown-up, income-earning
adults. Meanwhile, the Political Film Society has nominated
Baby Boy as best film exposé of 2001. MH
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