TANDOM THOUGHTS: BABY BOY

So, I know that we are all just getting familiar with each other. You have yet to learn all of my weird quirks, but I figured that today is as good as any to let you in on one. I am random as hell. Call it the writer in me or call me crazy, but random ideas and thoughts are constantly going through my mind. I’m always questioning the world and the people in it. Who in the world would actually vote for Donald Trump to be the leader of our country? Why were fitted sheets made without real corners? Most importantly why did Moesha ever go off the air?

The burden of an artist; to be plagued with all of the world’s problems. Most recently I’ve found myself having another tandom (random Tati) moment. I was thinking of the movie Baby Boy. A hood classic, no doubt, but every time I watch it, I feel just a bit appalled. The movie is very entertaining and I can appreciate its depiction of real life people going through everyday struggles. However, the men and women that went on to somewhat idolize the relationship between the two main characters frighten me. 

If you aren’t familiar with the film, I’ll give a quick synopsis. Jody, the main character, is in love with his girlfriend, Yvette, who he also shares a child with. Even though he is in love with her, he can’t seem to step up and become the man that Yvette wants him to be. Meaning he can’t maintain a job, he can’t be faithful, he can’t move out his mother’s house, and he can’t buy a car. What he can do is have another baby outside of his relationship, flirt with Yvette’s coworkers, drive her to the abortion clinic, put rims on her car, sell stolen clothes out the trunk of her car, and fix bicycles. 

Don’t be alarmed because there’s a happy ending! After Yvette receives advice from her friend, who happens to be in an abusive relationship, she finally gathers the courage to leave Jody. Unfortunately, to Yvette’s shock and horror, her home is then invaded by the ex-love of her life turned convict who tries to rape her in front of her son! This propels her back into the arms of Jody who then recruits his best friend to help him murder the man. Of course, Jody and Yvette live happily ever after because they are later seen playing cards in a park. Yvette is pregnant again and wearing an engagement ring.

Now, what part of the game is that, ladies?! Jody is a bum! What is this man doing for a living? How is he supporting all these kids he keeps having? Did he steal the engagement ring off of the same truck he steals his clothes? The only thing Jody manages to do in this movie is get beat up by everybody. He gets beat up by a bunch of teenagers outside of a liquor store because “momma gotta have a life too”, he gets beat up by momma’s boyfriend, even Yvette knocks him around a few times before I guess he decides he’s at his wits end and decides to fight back. So he hits her.

**sidenote** please stop giving your man these boxing ring combo punches if you don’t want to actually box. I in no way condone domestic violence, but in that movie, in that scene ,Yvette was tripping!

I digress, now because this movie is such a classic I have never been in the company of anyone else who actually felt the same way as I do. So, I kept my mouth shut and just chose to keep my black card. Until that is the director himself, John Singleton, did an interview on the Breakfast Club where he says that when he made that movie he was purposely trying to make fun of Black people!! I am not crazy! All of those characters were crazy! But much like me, John Singleton said that because Black people loved it so much, he just went with it. 

He also states that the part of Jody that’s played by Tyrese Gibson was originally written for Tupac before he died. WTF. So baby boy Jody was supposed to be in the lineup of Tupac’s iconic characters such as Bishop(Juice), Lucky(Poetic Justice), and Birdie(Above the Rim)? God works in mysterious ways y’all. He was not going for that.