The Lasting Impact of the Black Coming of Age Film, and Why We Need More of Them

During my teenage years, my friends and I would watch Love and Basketball back to back. The film featured a young Monica (Sanaa Lathan) and Quincy (Omar Epps) as their love for basketball coincided with their love for each other. Monica and Quincy were more than characters on a screen. They both dealt with issues that many young Black Americans deal with today. Gender stereotypes, overbearing parents and sex were all pervasive themes throughout the film.

Love and Basketball, Poetic Justice, and Crooklyn were all Black, coming of age classics which were popular in the 90’s. As a teenager, I looked at these films to get me through tough times. Later I realized that they were released the year I was born. The gap between the coming of age boom in the 90’s created and the influx of similar films recently has created a cultural gap in cinema. Although coming of age films are entertaining, they also reflect the cultural of their release. Without them, young Black Americans are robbed of seeing their experiences onscreen. Although there seems to be an influx of coming age films in the past few years, the plot lines of today rarely place Black women in the center. As our visibility continues to increase in film and the arts, I would like to explore the lack of Black, coming of age films and the essence they provide for young Black Americans.

Though there appears to be an influx of coming of age films, very few have diverse plot lines. A number of films that plan to release this year like The Hate U Give center young Black American experiences around pain. Looking back at the opening scene of Poetic Justice, these narratives are normalized. By centering the young Black life around trauma, we rob ourselves of the creative possibilities of the sub-genre. Coming of age films are rarely centered around the diverse lives of Black girls. In fact, these trauma filled stories often normalize the idea that young Black Americans can handle such trauma at a young age. This is clearer when looking at the societal perception of the demographic. Last year, the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality released a study regarding the “adultification” of Black girls. and found that they are widely viewed as “less innocent and more adult-like than white girls the same age.” Black coming of age films are needed for this specific reason because its one of the few ways the image of young Black girls can be impacted in a positive way. 

To me, there seems to be a misconception about the essence of these films. In Variety’s review for John Singleton’s Poetic Justice, the film was criticized for its lingo. It read: “Singleton’s periodically loses sight of audiences unfamiliar with the colorful lingo.” Reviewer Leonard Klady goes on to say that this “flaw will be a major stumbling block towards wide appeal and overseas prospects.” The lingo, the fashion and the experiences shown onscreen are a reflection of the trends and culture that Black Americans have created for themselves. The consumption of Black culture is meant to be understood not for the approval of others, but to shed light on the impact they have.

One of the most influential characters that the sub genre produced was the Black Bombshell, which carved a space for Black beauty in pop culture and film. Women like Janet Jackson, Gabrielle Union and Nia Long created legacies that lives on today. In 2015, young Black women renamed the classic ’box braid’ as Poetic Justice braids. Even artists began referencing women like Long in songs like Bandz A Make Her Dance. It’s important that we understand the impact these women had to popular culture to know why we need more (and varied) Black women-centered coming of age films. 

 

About the Author

Taylor Black is a filmmaker, freelance writer and student. She is the founder of Black Balance Productions which focuses on empowering, educating and liberating black women through storytelling. You can follow her @iamtaylorblack and visit Black Balance at blackbalance.org.