In what can only be described as the most covfefe’s of all covfefe’s, Baby Boy 2 might actually be a thing. What’s that you say? You didn’t know Baby Boy 2 was even a possibility because why would anybody sequelize (surprisingly, “sequelize” is a real word, in the same vein that Pinnochio was a real boy) a move that many folks didn’t think needed to exist in the first place? I scoff at that assertion.
*scoff*
That’s me scoffing. And why did I scoff (oops, did I do it again)? Because for those people who think the movie is terrible, I implore you, nay, demand you to think of the plentiful bounty that was Baby Boy. It was not just a job, it was an adventure. Seriously, reflect for uno momento about the sheer number of pop culture, hm, things that the original brought into our lives:
Unstable creatures. “Fuck yo’ fort.” The hood nigga (and wrong) explanation of the the macroeconomic GDP model of guns versus butter. “Let me smell your dick.” Omar Gooding, of Hanging With Mr. Cooper fame being a hard-core LA gangster nigga. Dr. Frances Cress-Welsing theories espoused while Tyrese is in a makeshift womb, fully grown. The beat it up good dance. Taraji P. Henson in full DC-accent being a chick from Los Angeles. “I make love to you, I want to be with you, but I fuck other females occasionally.” “Jesus be like: turn yo’ ass around nigga.” Melvin schooling Jody about the Oedipus Complex that he has. Melvin cooking breakfast in the buff. Melvin frog-fucking Jody’s mama. Sweet Pea (Omar Gooding) schooling Jody on the proper way to knock a nigga out with the patented One Hitta Quitta. “I tell those other hoes the truth, I lie to you because I care about your feelings.”
You get the picture. Pun. And that’s not even an exhaustive list! Baby Boy wasn’t just a movie, it was a beacon of Blackness and what love can look like - even if ridiculous - in the hood. If we got even one third of the shenanigans in a new movie, it would pay for itself. Well, Tyrese is either trolling those of us who like good things or there is a God. Tyrese aka Black Ty aka The Professional Misspeller aka The Syntax Slaughterer teased the potential for a Baby Boy 2: Coming of Age movie by posting on IG (and then deleting) what looks to be a mockup movie poster.
In an odd twist, however, Snoop Dogg, who played Yvette’s gangbanger, prison homie, ex-boyfriend Rodney in the original, is on the poster. This makes no sense since His-Name-Is-Not-Walter Rodney caught quite a few hot ones at the hands of Sweet Pea because Jody couldn’t pull the trigger. Sweet Pea tho? Yeah, he did that. He did it like he was doing it for television. Straight west coast style with good form and everything. Point is, I don’t know if Snoop would be in the movie as a ghost or some shit but I mean, who knows? Ya know?
Long story short, I don’t know about you, but the potential of a sequel to what I believe is one of the best Black movies ever made - and I’m dead serious when I say that - has got me thinking about some long-standing questions I've had about their lives since the original that I'd hope might be addressed in the sequel. Such as? Such as:
1. WTF?
Nigga, why? Why are we even GETTING a sequel. Sure, I’m here for it, but I still would like to know why for come this is a thing. It’s only right to ask that. I don’t even care if it’s a good answer. Every movie doesn’t need a sequel. That is a fact. Like, I went to see Best Man Holiday but did it really need a sequel? Not at all.
2. Did Jody and Yvette’s son ever build a fort again?
When Snoop came through and crushed the buildings on the little homey, I felt really bad for him. Mostly because he’s a little kid and getting his fort destroyed might have ruined his esteem for life. What if every time he sees forts he just starts crying. PLUS that nigga Rodney, at some point, never showed up again. MORE PLUS, when Rodney DID show up the first time he just moved into Yvette’s place all willy nilly and was left home with her son, which, let’s be real, is TERRIBLE parenting. I’m just saying, I hope he built another fort.
3. Did Melvin go back to jail?
My bet is yes. He had two strikes, if you’ll remember. I ain’t saying Melvin was a terrible person, but he had kids he wasn’t taking care of “because of their mamas,” etc. It’s entirely believable that the dude who put Jody through a table could end up losing his temper again and ending up back in jail. Just sayin.
4. Did Sweet Pea become a preacher?
He had all the makings of a reformed thug turned preacherman who opens a storefront and cops some Malcolm X glasses and goes full zealot on anybody who will listen. He’s like the corny version of DMX’s charater in Belly.
5. How many more kids do Jody and Yvette have?
They already have three (their son and the one on the way, plus his kid with Peanut) when the movie ends, but you know niggas in the hood do not believe in vasectomies and they didn’t seem to believe in condoms. My money is on two more at least. And because I’m a betting man, I’d wager on him having another outside kid.
6.What does their marriage look like?
It’s implied at the end that Jody had some growing up moments. Yeah, okay. Poor Yvette is how I felt at the end of the movie. You love what you love and like what you like, but I felt like she definitely needed to be barking up another tree. Be that as it may, for their to be a sequel, they’d almost have to be together or else it would be an entire movie about baby mama drama.
7. Does Jody ACTUALLY grow up?
Let’s say that he does actually get some adult about himself, what does THAT look like? Is he a dude with a steady job - say at like the post office - and comes home and takes care of family? Seems like that might make for a short movie.
8. How’s Jody’s mama’s garden looking now?
That thang was looking mighty nutritious at the end of the movie. It must be a jungle back there now.
9. Who dies?
Look, I hate to be that dude, but this is a South Central love story, kind of. If they all made it to 15 years later I’d be surprised. SOMEBODY might don’t didn’t not make it all the way to the sequel. I might be disappointed if everybody does, to be honest. Shit, somebody dies in Best Man Holiday and that was the upper crust, good health insurance, ain’t in the hood crowd.
10. Does Jody ever learn how to properly apply the One Hitta Quitta?
Inquiring minds would like to know.