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John Singleton, 33, grew up in South Central Los Angeles. In 1992, Singleton's semi-autobiographical debut film, BOYZ 'N THE HOOD chronicled the vicious cycle of black on black violence in the inner city of L.A. with shocking clarity and frankness. Since then, Singleton has written, produced and directed a handful of other critically acclaimed films about life in the inner city, including his latest film, BABY BOY. TheBIGPictureDVD.com was pleased to spend a few minutes with the young director to sort out some questions we've had about the meaning and intent of his work behind the camera.
TBP: I know that you are here to promote BABY BOY and I'd like to discuss it with you in the time that we have, but I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up BOYZ 'N THE HOOD, because comparisons between these two films are going to be inevitable. There are only a handful of films made in the last 10 years that have had as meaningful an impact as that film, I think. What's the general reaction been to BOYZ 'N THE HOOD from the mainstream since its release?
JS: It's been basically great, I mean, it's been accepted as kind of a classic film, you know? The film gave a voice to a generation that hadn't been heard, except in music. A generation that hadn't been heard up till then. So I'm proud of that film, it was my first film right out of college... and ten years later I'm happy to say that I still have a career as filmmaker.
TBP: It is a landmark film. I know it probably wasn't intended for white audiences, particularly, but I want to tell you as a white male that it had a tremendous impact on me emotionally. It was a powerful story with some wonderful moral lessons contained within that story.
JS: Thank you.
TBP: What's your primary motivation to write and direct a film like BABY BOY? Are you just comfortable in the inner city groove? Trying to top BOYZ 'N THE HOOD? What's the message you're really trying to convey here?
JS: Well it's just -- well, it's just that I'm from the inner city, you know? I was born and bred in South Central Los Angeles so it's easy for me to give voice to that part of town, just like Martin Scorcese does Little Italy or Woody does the upper East side of Manhattan... It's where I'm from, you know? Basically, its my territory ...and I can mine it best.
TBP: Where did you find Tyrese Gibson? And did you meet Omar Gooding through your work with Cuba Gooding Jr?
JS: I met Tyrese many years ago when he was like 16 years old and he'd always ask me to 
put him in a film or "do something" and everything... and it wasn't too many years later that I met him again and we started hanging out and I thought he was a possible movie star.
And Omar, yeah, I met Omar through his brother Cuba. I met Omar when he was like what - 13? (chuckles) ...about ten years ago, and he's just like a goofy little kid you know, and did all those little TV shows and stuff and I had seen him on a cable movie where he was -- and I hadn't seen him in years -- and I said is that Omar?? Look how much older he is now and intense and I thought wow, wouldn't it be cool if Omar could come in and read for this role and get it, you know? So I called up -- I know the family -- so I called up his mom up and said "gimme his number.".
TBP: That was quite a break for him. Are there any autobiographical elements in both BOYZ 'N THE HOOD and BABY BOY as far as you're concerned?
JS: I think BOYZ 'N THE HOOD is more autobiographical than BABY BOY 'cause BOYZ 'N THE HOOD is taken right from my life. I wrote that script when I was 20 years old, basically about my own experiences... And how my life changed from moving from my mother to living with my father, and my friends -- what they went through.
TBP: Having grown up in Pasadena myself -- I'm a little older than you, John, but not that much older -- but I grew up and Pasadena and hung out with a lot of black guys who became very, very close friends and I was able to get a view of--
JS: What High School did you go to?
TBP: John Muir
JS: Oh, you went to Muir! Hey, you know I escaped from L.A. the last few years of my High School. I went to Blair.
TBP: Oh did you?
JS: Yeah, I went to Blair my last year.
TBP: South Pass...
JS: Yeah.
TBP: Yeah, well, at Muir, I was able to experience the black culture by hanging out with my friends in their homes, a perspective which frankly, a lot of white guys aren't exposed to. The thing that really knocked me out about BOYZ 'N THE HOOD and I think why it had such an emotional impact is because I could see the truth and the accurate reflection that you were giving that community and that was one of the things that really drew me to it.
JS: They say that the more culturally defined the story is, the more plain the human truth comes out -- in any story.
TBP: That's true ...and I recognized that truth. A lot of those characters reminded me of 
guys I knew. Guys that I hung out with, played football with and had a lot of fun with beginning when I was in high school...
Now where Trey and Ricky had an inherent inner nobility and desire to break free of the cycle of violence in BOYZ 'N THE HOOD, Jody and Sweetpea seem quite content to remain where they are. Jody sells for a living---
JS: Yeah, Jody tries to avoid being that way, you know what I mean?
TBP: Well, he sells for a living, but his inventory is stolen, you know what I mean? His best friend is a killer who seems to believe he can wash away his sins with prayer beforehand and a baptism after the fact--
JS: Uh-huh...
TBP: So BABY BOY seems at least to me to suggest that you've lost your "moral compass" somewhat from the time you created BOYZ 'N THE HOOD. Have you?
JS: No I don't think I have. I think I've just changed as a person. I think BABY BOY is a much more profound film...
TBP: How so?
JS: Well, in the end, Jody reconciles with everyone in the film because of the wrong reason, but at the same time... Because everyone believes he's done this... he becomes a man in their eyes. In his girlfriend's eyes, in his mother's boyfriend's eyes. But, he actually -- is he a man, you know?
TBP: Yeah, but what kind of a man?
JS: So you're still left with some profound questions.
TBP: That's true, there are some profound questions. At the end of BOYZ 'N THE HOOD I had no doubt that Trey was going to follow in the footsteps of Furious and have a real positive impact--
JS: You don't know if Jody's going to get killed, or what...
TBP: Questions remain, but it's very interesting nonetheless. Another shift I noticed from BOYZ 'N THE HOOD is that women are no longer referred to as "bitches and hoes" and the thought of violence against them is all but taboo. In BABY BOY, they're the ones who are more in control and receiving a bit more respect from their male counterparts--
JS: Yeah, I really wanted to make a film that the women would really like, you know? I think the women characters in this film are the best in any film I've ever made...
TBP: Does this represent a real shift in the African-American male attitudes regarding black women today, versus ten years ago?
JS: No, it just reflects me (chuckles).
TBP: Don't get upset with me here, but does perpetuating the myth of black men as superman lovers and black women as promiscuous slaves to their sexual desires advance the storyline in your films or do you have some other motivation for including these themes in many of your films? My wife's always said the more someone talks about it, the less they're really getting, so--
JS: Well, that's not true.
TBP: How's your love life, John, pretty good?
JS: Yeah, my love life is pretty good.
TBP: I know that sex plays a real heavy role in some of your films, particularly BABY BOY and I was just wondering--
JS: Sex is the only thing that these men have over the women. I mean, they have no economic power, they have no political power in the home, they move in with the women and the women have all the power so the only thing they have is this machismo...
TBP: Yes. And the "L.D."
JS: It's like every guy is moving in with every girl in the film and they're talkin' about, "this is my house", you know? And there's a lot of humor in the film, but it's all ironic humor, you know? It's not that slapstick humor that's more prevalent in American film. It's kind of a hip, urbane humor -- an inside joke thing...
TBP: My 17-year-old son, heard me laughing from the other room and as he walked through the screening room, he asked if I was laughing because of the cultural differences or because it was "supposed to be" funny. He'd seen the theatrical trailer and said it "didn't look like it was going to be very funny" to him. But then again, his life experience so far has been very different than mine growing up in Pasadena, you know what I mean? I'm pretty sure that the humor was very intentional and all who can understand it are welcome to it, yes?
JS: Yeah, that's true. It's just like a Woody Allen movie... You have to have a little bit of knowledge of where he's coming from to get the humor. In here, you have to have at least some type of rudimentary knowledge of the setting to get some of the inside jokes, you know?
TBP: Yep. You mentioned Martin Scorcese earlier and one of the things I think he's done so well over the years -- Quentin Tarentino too, and others -- is to incorporate popular music from the past into these current films and I've noticed you blend some contemporary music with older classics. Like in this one, "Summer Madness" by Kool & The Gang, Billy Stewart's "I Do Love You" and all of that. Are you trying to bridge a gap with the variety of the music you use in your films?
JS: I just use what I'm interested in, you know? What feels good for the scene. What feels good for the characters moving the story along.
TBP: It's as simple as that, huh?
JS: It's as simple as that.
TBP: Ving Rhames provides one of the most intense and intimidating performances I've seen from him since PULP FICTION in Baby Boy. In fact, I thought the scenes between he and Tyrese Gibson were riveting. Can you tell me the difference between working with someone like Ving and say, Samuel L. Jackson when you worked together in SHAFT or Lawrence Fishburne in BOYZ 'N THE HOOD?
JS: Well, it's different because they're all different people. You have to gauge their personalities and that dictates how I direct them.
TBP: Do they approach their roles very differently in terms of preparation?
JS: They all have different preparation, but they're all very professional. Did you see the outtake scenes?
TBP: Not yet.
JS: You gotta see the outtake scenes and the gag reel. It's on the DVD. There's some really funny stuff in the extras.
TBP: I just watched the film last night, so I haven't had the chance to see them yet, but I look forward to it. Your films tend to attract a lot of praise and critical acclaim, whereas Spike Lee generates as much controversy as accolades. Maybe more. You're both talented and powerful young filmmakers eager to advance or at least create a better understanding of the black experience in America. What sets your work apart from his and how are your goals different, or are they?
JS: We're two different people, you know? We're totally two different people. He's from New York and I'm from L.A. so.. I think every film I've made, it can compared to being a Western, because I have very Western sensibilities. In the sense that I'm from California, I grew up here and I'm very influenced by Westerns, you know what I mean?
TBP: What are some of your favorite Westerns that you watched growing up?
JS: All the Leone films, everything that John Ford did... If you look at my films, you know they're very counter-culture but they're also very wholesome at the same time. In terms of the family or the dissolution of the family, or the acceptance of a non-traditional kind of family. I mean, I have the same kind of themes in BABY BOY as THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE, you know? It has the same ending... Everyone thinks that Jody did something at the end, but he really didn't do it. He gets the legend, you know?
TBP: Are films like BOYS 'N THE HOOD and BABY BOY designed to effect change in communities like South Central Los Angeles, or are you merely trying to reflect what you see there with the rest of the world?
JS: No, I just desire to make people have a good time at the theater and hopefully they'll leave the theater with something extra, too.
TBP: What can we expect from you next?
JS: I'm just daydreaming trying to figure out what to do next. Between SHAFT and BABY BOY it was like a year, you know what I mean?
TBP: I'm enjoying the popcorn with the movies, John, and I wish you great continued success. I think you're a very important filmmaker not just in the African American community but in the community at large. I think your films have a lot to offer and they have a lot to say. Sometimes the message may not always be clear to everybody, but I think anyone can take away something of value when they see your films.
JS: Thanks, man.
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