'One record is worth one thousand of my speeches, one movie is worth ten thousand of my speeches' were the words passionately spoken by Minister Farrakhan during last week' s Hip Hop Summit. They were words that were heartfelt and taken seriously. Maybe it was that rise in consciousness that had me looking at John Singleton's new movie 'Baby Boy' in absolute disgust. Yeah, I read what he wrote about how the movie was personal for him..and how he employed all sorts of family and friends. Here are his exact words as they were written on Rapstation.com

"I thought that I was going to make a film about a 12-year-old kid and his single mother and how this new boyfriend comes along and changes the dynamic of their relationship. As the idea germinated over the years, I thought why not make this 12-year-old 20 and that way he's in between being a boy and a man so that when the boyfriend comes in the whole dynamic is different. I set about writing the screenplay and thinking about all the cats that I see hanging out at the mall, with their pants sagging down, open shirts, talking to the 16-year-old girls but they're 20. They got 2 or 3 babies by 2 different women, in and out of jail, basically living their life day-to-day, having a good old time. But in the back of their mind they're afraid of the fact that they could turn around the corner and get shot at any moment. So I thought why not make a film about a guy that's having the time of his life but all the joys and the great things he's doing are motivated by his fear of dying."

While there is a lot to appreciate about Singleton's attempts to chronicle the life of a wild manchild, he seemed to do so at the expense of sistas. Almost all the women were depicted as 'desperate', 'man hungry' and suffering from 'low self esteem'. All types of crazy stuff was allowed to happen and the women in Singleton's movie and the women accepted it. If they got slapped, they were accommodating. If they got cheated on, they remained loyal. If the man was thugged out with no common sense the women still loved them. Heck...one set of sisters were so desperate that the mother and daughter shared the same man who at one point threatened to beat their asses. Here's what Singleton wrote about the female characters..

I also want you to know that what I love about the movie is it has the most in-depth 3-dimensional female characters that I've ever had in any film I've ever made. All the women in my life -- my mother, my girlfriends, my friends, or whatever -- they all had input on all these characters. I made sure of that

Now don't get me wrong. There are definitely women out there who allow themselves to get shitted on day in and day out. The problem I had was twofold. First, while Singleton allowed the troubled male characters to resolve their issues, which revolved around growing up and maturing, he never did so with the women even though they were given equal screen time. The movie ended with the women still willing to love and stick by their men in spite of all the nonsense they were being put through. The second thing that disturbed me was the reaction by the predominantly Black audience that was in the movie theater. Cats were cheering when the sistas got smacked or were threatened...and seemed to not miss a beat when Tyrese and others pulled their cheating antics. My fear is that a lot of young women who are attracted to Tyrese or Snoop will go and see this and come away confused or not sure how to view men. Should they stick by their men no matter what? Should they take all the abuse? Is life worthless without a man? Should they expect regular beat downs from the men in their lives?

I think Singleton wanted to make some salient points about life for a segment of Black society. Unfortunately, I think he further perpetuates stereotypes and disturbing behavioral patterns that exist within the community. If folks see the movie they should use the film as a springboard to conversation about relationships and family dynamics. The other thing that needs discussing is the relative disregard for Black life. I won't reveal the plot but the Black on Black abuse was rampant and disturbing. It would be a good exercise for any youth group, church or community center to undertake a heartfelt, candid discussion centered around the issue. I know we intend to take up that challenge on our radio shows. If it was Singleton's intention to place a mirror in front of our face and have us cringe, then he gets props. But I'm not quite sure if that's what he intended. No matter what, this is not the type of film for young kids...so be warned.. Normally I would call for Singleton to do a more positive movie...but I recall when he did the movie Rosewood, we stayed away in droves....