Being a Man, and a 'Real Boy'

by Esther Iverem
SeeingBlack.com Editor and Film Critic

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"Baby Boy," directed by John Singleton
"A.I.," directed by Steven Spielberg

John Singleton's latest film is a scathing and at times hilarious critique of male immaturity and our dysfunctional relationships. He asks us to consider, how is a man made? And what, exactly, is he supposed to do with himself?

The macho veneer of many film roles for Black men is replaced in "Baby Boy" with a more complex persona that reveals the fear, lack of direction and lack of education plaguing so many young brothers. The main character Jody (singer Tyrese) is jobless and still living at home with his mother Juanita, (Adrienne Joie-Johnson). Yet he has two children by two different women and drops in like a hotel guest to see his main babymama, Yvette (Taraji P. Henson).

Yvette is also young and maybe not so smart but she is mature enough to keep a clerical job, pay for a small garden apartment, take care of her son and make a car payment. It is primarily through Jody and Yvette's relationship that Singleton explores the multi-layered issues of unwed mothers, absentee fathers, and how the Black family and, in particular Black women, have become competitive fodder in the hunt for "getting a man." As exhibit A, Singleton presents a man who particularly does not seem worth the fight, especially since it takes a life-or-death scenario for Jody to summon the will to protect his woman and child.

Tyrese brings just the right vacant swagger to the crises confronting his character. Singleton, perhaps rightly, has been criticized for continuing (and perhaps even initiating) Hollywood's choice of Black singers and rappers over studied Black actors for such lead roles. I think while Tyrese scores in this role, other upcoming and seasoned actors could have made a slam dunk. Henson is an expressive around-the-way sister without all the neck- and eye-rolling. She plays to a tee in one of the very energetic sex scenes here, as does Ving Rhames, as the new man in Juanita's life. After the low-level libido of his past films, including last year's hit, "Shaft," Singleton has finally gotten himself some (on screen).

But even the sex here, in all its delirious hoopla, seems to only underscore the fragile and very human predicaments the characters find themselves in—up until the very end—as they try to live their lives, and try to love.

The same sense of fragility is present in "A.I.," which stands for artificial intelligence. This futuristic science flick presents life as tense and freaky. Each moment feels like a collision waiting to happen. It asks us if there is a difference between a human and a machine created to feel like a human. It tells what happens when humans teach a robot to love and poses the ethical and moral question: What if the robot is not loved back?

In the future, a robotics company devises a robot child to answer the prayers of the childless. The little boy, David (Haley Joel Osment), is programmed to have a human love for his new "mother." But the couple, Monica and Henry, who receive David, cannot adjust to him. Later, they are emotionally torn when their biological son, Martin, recovers from a coma and comes home. The emptiness they once felt is filled again. David is no longer needed and instead of being loved, he is feared and taunted by other children.

David is forced to fend for himself in the world, all the while seeking to be a "real boy" like Martin so that his mother will love him. On his journey, he realizes that he belongs to a class of subhumans readily and easily destroyed.

This film is a project that Spielberg inherited after the death of director Stanley Kubrick and some of it feels like one man connecting another man's dots. The final one-third of it also slows to a crawl. But despite these deficiencies, Osment delivers a brilliant performance. The scenes are well-crafted. There is a fine balance of humor versus horror and the filmmakers have created an imaginative science-fictional landscape where the mind clearly has overruled the heart.

Related Sites:

• http://www.spe.sony.com/movies/babyboy
• http://www.aimovie.com

-- June 29, 2001

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