Drew Wonder
Superstar
I thought he had a pretty unique perspective on the movie while also giving Singleton way too much credit in certain aspects. I do think the movie is a lot smarter than the goofy unintentional comedy a lot of people seem to think it is, but I also don’t think it’s the masterpiece this dude seems to think it is. I can definitely see what Singleton was going for as far as the tone and message but I don’t think he pulled it off as successfully as this dude thinks he did. He also makes a lot of excuses for the movie’s flaws by saying Singleton did it on purpose lol.
Summary of his arguments for those who don’t wanna watch:
Says the movie confused audiences when it came out because it had the visuals and marketing of a typical hood movie but had the awkward/absurdist tone of a Wes Anderson/Coen Bros. movie.
Says another reason why the movie didn’t resonate initially was because audiences weren’t used to an extremely flawed and sometimes unlikable Black male protagonist like Jody.
Says Baby Boy is a modern, male version of “Their Eyes Were Watching God” with intentionally stereotypical characters.
Acknowledges the female characters are poorly written with actions that don’t make a lot of sense. But also argues Singleton wrote them that way to represent the shallow way Jody views the women in his life since it’s from his perspective.
Argues that Singleton intentionally had some of the actors go over the top to go with the absurdist tone of the movie
Says Jody represents the Black men who feel like their sexuality is the only part of their lives where they truly feel like a man when they’re emasculated in every other facet of their lives
Believes Jody and other men like him were sexually abused as children by adult women which he says is an unspoken issue within the Black community. He also says it’s a reason why a lot of Black men like Jody are immature and childlike in so many facets of their lives except for sexuality which they view as their only source of manhood.
Says that like many Black men, Jody’s confidence, swag and sexual prowess mask his insecurity and the trauma he’s gone through (losing his brother, seeing his mother’s ex abuse her, being incarcerated, etc.)
Claims Jody is actually a gigolo who was smashing all the women he was selling clothes to. But Jody views it as a business and not personal which is how he justifies the cheating and why he resists the urge to smash Pandora because that was “personal” and not part of his business.
Says Jody views Melvin as a real man who embodies all the things he can’t attain (Stronger, tougher, has a job, self-made, financially stable, his mama’s attention, etc.) and because of that Jody sees him as a threat and reminder to him that he’s not a real man. Says Singleton conveys this with the way he filmed Melvin (he takes up space or has a dominant position in every shot he’s in)
Says the movie perfectly represents how so many Black men try to perform an unrealistic and unhealthy version of masculinity that ultimately harms them and causes them trauma.
Says Jody and Sweetpea try to exert their dominance and establish their manhood in the scene where they get revenge on the kids who jumped Jody. But they falsely associate violence and pain with masculinity. But Jody then realizes the violence they’re inflicting on the younger dudes is part of the same cycle of violence that traumatizes and breaks down Black boys.
Says Sweetpea and Jody are both caught up in that cycle but Sweetpea is further on the edge of breaking down than Jody, which is why he’s so adamant about staying with his family (his girl and her mom) for emotional support.
Says Yvette being caught up with taking care of Jody, their son and Rodney while also relying on Jody for protection shows how vulnerable some Black women are when they find themselves caught up trying to support or raise multiple Black men.
Says the men in the movie (Jody, Rodney, Sweetpea, Chris) expect women to submit to them under traditional gender roles without having the qualities of a traditional male provider.
Says the scene when Melvin takes the gun away from Jody is a rare moment of tenderness between two Black men showing the level of camaraderie Black men have even when we don’t agree or even like each other. Also shows that all along Melvin didn’t want Jody to fall victim to the same cycle of violence that he once did. Also says it’s a symbolic rite of passage where Melvin is helping Jody become a man. Also says it represents how Black men can support and protect one another because of our unique understanding of the trauma that we go through. But he also says the scene has a tragic irony because it was sparked by Jody murdering another Black man.
“
