By TUREKA TURK
Mlch" n Cltlan
"There i no African American
renai ance in film; mo t of tho
films are wack. ow they want to
make musicals, but we've been ing
ing and dancing t .> long. We need
mething with depth to it. People
have to love what they do, not just do
i-, for the money," aid filmmaker
John Singleton.
Emerging from the dark esca
pad of wack Black whodurmi ,
Stephen Fetchit mee the , and
whitewashed Shaft come the
young John Singleton.
Coming a long way from being a
ktnny kid with coke bottle glasses
watching and rewatching Martin
Scorce e and Steven Spielburg
fltc ,Singleton has incorporated
the true art of film into his constitu
tion.
1fI love movies. Period. Cl ic
structure. Classic characters," he
says emphatically.
THE BLACK AUDIENCE has
witnessed what happens to Black
filmmakers that don't love the cin
ema. Hey, Mattie Ritch, wer n't you
on your way Straight Out of Brook
lyn with your hour and a half episode
of modem day Good Time.t? Blae
U.a.D'v� t
motive and a reali tic solution. They
want a filmmaker to tell their story.
'Singleton, at 23, has let his love
of film make history. With two
Academy Award nominations, he
was the first African American
nominated for Best Director and the
younge t person ever to be nomi
nated for the award.
Boyz N the Hood was a Black
urban common ense tale of growing
up in South Central Los Angeles.
Perhaps most of its popularity came
from the fact that, although it was an
obvious peek for young Black men,
the tory i elf had never made it to
the reen in an almo t pure form.
"I'm my harshest critic. Boyz
w n't a p rticularty great film, but
it had a beginning, a middle and an
end. Boyz w ucc ful beca e it
had a traight up Afrocentric per-
p ctive; it w uncompromi ing
and. it had a good story."
There i little doubt that Single
ton' upcoming release Poetic Jus
tice will have the ame, if not more,
of the effect Boyz did.
"TH TRONG TW M
hav th ofte t id . On of the.
rul I live by is write what I know.
Some of the most, complex' sexy,
diverse, three-dimensional women
I've ever seen in my life carne out of
my neighborhood. They all had a
certain mold of ubstanee," Single
ton ay .
r ult.
But all anticipation shouldn't just
b how J ckson, who hasn't really
acted ince the televi ion eries
Fame, nd Maya Angelou' poetry
fare� .
All ey hould al 0 be on Single-
ton' ability to pen tori of African
American ' lives and dream. Re
m mber the Time with Michael Jack
'on? What other director/Writer
would think to make a mini-film
about an afrocentric ancient Egypt
starring the fair- kinned dynamo Mi
chael Jackson (aside from all of the
debate, he w born Blackl), Eddie
Murphy a pharaoh,. Iman as a
queen, aoo Magic Johnson a ser
vant?
THE AM DIRECTOR who
took a ri k on trusting the acting tal
ent of hi former high chool mate,
Black audiences
want more than
to see themselve
ufferi
The result of his keen observation
of women? Poetic Justice.
The film has already gained excit
ing anticipation from reviewers,
audiences, and th e in the industry.
With Singleton's decision to cast
Janet Jackson as the lead character,
Ju tice, and to use the poetry of
Maya Angelou, the public has every
right to hold their breath to ee the
Janet Jackson, i the very arne who
would take a risk on another Jackson
starring in an Eygptian empire. Al
though they were in the same school,
they never really knew each other.
Now, 'in 1993, the two have the
friendship they missed out on be
cau e of not being in the same
"clique".
"I'd just met director Francis Ford
Best friend Justice (J. net Jack on) and Ie h (Regina King). togeth r on road trip from
South Centr�1 Lo Angele to 0 kland in ·Po tic Ju tic.·
Jan t Jackson tar • Ju tice and Tupac Shakur a Lucky in • Poetic Ju tice.· a mod rn day
treet romance.
Coppola," say Singleton. "I was The cast al 0 includes Tupac
coming from his office and then I Shakur, straight from hi debut in
met Janet. I was workin on the Ernest Dickerson' Juice, the a-
'Poetic Justice , cript and I was tak- Ion' po tman who wants renew Jus-
ing with her. But I decided not to rice' faith in love. A road trip will
mention the cript to her at first." change all of their liv for good,
. The two developed' a friendship While the alon itself i the mecca
over ix months, not di cussing the of Black female humor and sister-
idea of working together. Finally, hqod, it is also vi ual evidence of the
Singlet n gave the criptt Janet to tandard of Bla k beauty.
read, trictly for an opinion. "I repre ent a minority who. ha-
"I asked him if h wanted my ven't seen themselves on reen,"
opinion as a friend, and he aid Tyra Ferrell ay, "and that's Black
'Yeah, just tell me what you think. women wh9100k Black."
I read it and told him it was great," Don't mi take Justice for being a
Janet aid. J Girlz N the Hood. Incorporating
But Janet' approval of the script me footage from the Rodney King
wasn't the key factor in.siDgleton' upri ing, the film i a portrait of a
casting of her in the tatnng -role. young Black woman who wants
more than she' expected to get.
"I could alway be working at
uper Shuttle," he Igrs, recalling
the van-driver job he held in college.
"That' what I tell myself when
thing get hectic.
And thi ngs often do get hectic,
pecially on a three month hoot,
which includes an on-location s .ot
that involved ix day a week of
hootin for ix weeks.
But Singleton i confident that"
Justice will end on a good note, i
hi baby. And then he will go on to
anoth r project.
"I hate people who do one film
and talk about it for the next three or
four yea "he ay . It may not be
Sin lcton who will talk aboutJustice
for thr or four years. It will prob
ably th e wh prai e the film
i eir.
Me nwhile Singleton will move
n justly.
A TORY 0 THAT magnitude
could take a lot out of any director,
even Singleton ..
-- -=- --==--=---- - -� -- --
JANET HAD TOLD Singleton
a story about a group of girt ap
pro chi ng her for an autograph at the
zoo. While Janet was igning th
autographs one pecific girt w to
tally unimpre ed.
"Let' ," th girl aid. "She
don't pay my rent. She ain't all that."
Singleton, although laughing
now, aid when Janet imitated the
girt at dinner on night, he knew that
Janet could handle the role.
The role that Janet w taking on
was one that definitely had a differ
ent background from the Jackson
ibling. But Janet aid sh could feel
Justice' pain.
Justice i a young woman, up
porting herself through hairdres ing,
and living through her poetry. Hav
ing 10 t everyon he truly lov d, he
find that poetry y the things her
voice cannot let h r ay.
TH FIL I1A bevy of
young Bla k women with Tyra Fer
rell (Boyz In th Hood, White Men
Can't Jump) a the alon
owner/older i t r Justice nev r h d,
Regina King (Boyz televi ion how
227) J tice' around-th -way-
i ri, her t fnend I ha.