Commentary: No, ‘Hustle & Flow’ Isn’t for Kids, but They Can Certainly Learn from It
Date: Tuesday, August 02, 2005
By: Tonyaa Weathersbee, BlackAmericaWeb.com
The other night, I went to see the much-acclaimed indie film “Hustle & Flow,” which chronicles a pimp’s dream to turn his street story into rap glory.
There was a lot about that movie that should have bothered a lot of folks -- among them being that, in real life, there are too many brothers out there like the lead character, DJay (played brilliantly by Terrence Howard), who allow their best years to be consumed by criminality and wake up one day to find that their options for a do-over are gone. But one scene inside the theater worried me almost as much as those unfolding on the screen: the sight of too many adults with small children and adolescents in tow.
I mean, this wasn’t what one would call family-friendly viewing.
Now, I know that minors can watch R-rated movies if they are accompanied by an adult. Problem is, the children and the adults with whom they tag along seem to be getting younger and younger -- and the movies more violent and obscene. As the beginning credits flashed on the screen, I saw one woman walk in cradling a tub of popcorn with one arm and leading two girls, who looked to be about 6 or 7 years old, up the steps with the other.
I didn’t like that.
But if I was in a situation -- and I can’t imagine what that situation would be -- in which I was stuck with having to take children who were old enough to understand cursing and to blush at ****** and s*xual suggestiveness to an R-rated movie, I’d sure as hell turn it into a learning experience.
And “Hustle & Flow” is full of lessons for the younger set.
The first thing I’d point out is that, although DJay is the movie’s anti-hero, they shouldn’t look to imitate him. While I wound up cheering for him because he finally mustered the courage to pursue a legitimate livelihood rather than succumb to his doomed lifestyle, I’d tell the kiddies that it’s better if that courage comes earlier in life than later. I’d point out that DJay has spent his life outside the law and has nothing to show for it except a rust-bucket of a Cadillac with no air conditioning, a shack that he shares with the three needy, addle-brained hookers in his stable and no prospects. The only thing he has left is a lot of confusion and rage and, while he’s able to parlay that into what seemed to be the beginnings of a rap career, that move was spawned by his lack of other legitimate options.
I’d tell the children that it’s tough enough for square black folks -- and square white folks, for that matter -- to start new careers in middle age. So, there’s no way that someone like DJay, a black man approaching midlife with no skills and a criminal record, is going to grow up to be a doctor or lawyer. That ship sailed a long time ago. That left DJay stuck with a long-shot option as his only way out. And his desperation was palpable.
Then there’s that dream DJay pursued.
While being a rapper isn’t illegal, it seems these days that the only people who are successful at it are those who have been caught up in lawlessness and the types of black pathology that usually forms the basis for rap lyrics. So, I’d tell the kiddies that, while someone may be lucky enough to escape the street life by rapping about it, that kind of life and the thug credo that goes along with it usually follows them. It sure as hell followed Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G.
Kids, I’d say, you’d be better off making your money as a nuclear physicist. You’d probably live longer too.
And the kiddies should also understand that even though rap is a genuine form of artistic expression, it still is a sad reflection of the black condition in America when a multi-billion dollar rap industry can thrive on the pain and desperation of black people like DJay, while at the same time, precious little is spent toward alleviating those pains. The culture, it seems, admires the survivors of the ghetto so much that it ignores the conditions that perpetuate ghettoes.
That’s bad.
But the good thing is that in “Hustle & Flow,” pimping and prostitution isn’t portrayed as lucrative or hip, as it was in blaxploitation-era movies such as “The Mack” or as it was in the documentary, “Pimps Up, Ho’s Down.” That makes the task of explaining the movie to children much easier because no one could watch that movie and come out with dreams of growing up to be a pimp or prostitute.
At the same time, I’d tell the kiddies that there’s nothing wrong with rooting for DJay in the end because as screwed up as his life was, it’s hard not to feel the humanity in his longing for something better. It’s a feeling that we all can relate to. The problem was that his decision to pursue that longing came later rather than sooner.
That’s the mistake that I’d urge the kiddies not to make.
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Monday, August 15th 2005 at 10:52AM
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