James Baldwin: Still a Man for Our Times

Header: James Baldwin [PHOTO: LITHUB.COM]

Jenkins’ adaptation of Baldwin’s book, “If Beale Street Could Talk,” still in theaters

Written by Maggie Davenport

The countdown to the 2019 Oscar awards and the speculation over the nominees is almost as nail-biting as waiting to see what NFL teams will face-off in the Super Bowl.  Likely owing more to an increase in independent and ethnocentric productions rather than to Hollywood’s inclusivity efforts, the silver screen has projected the greatest breadth of diversity in the Oscar’s 91-year history.  The current line-up includes biopics whose content ranges from the horrific experience of a gay teen who undergoes ‘corrective therapy’ (“Boy Erased”) to the Ruth Bader-Ginsberg story. And, just when you think there is no more rounding up to be done by the former “Rawhide” cattle herder, Rowdy Yates…Clint Eastwood, a master on both sides of the camera, shows how rapidly life can deteriorate with loss of income, in “The Mule,” when the unemployed veteran picks up a drug route for the Sinaloa cartel.  And finally, every list has 2018’s big three Black movies: “BlackKkKlansman,” “Black Panther,” and “If Beale Street Could Talk.”  The latter is based on James Baldwin’s seminal treatment of a heterosexual couple and was adapted by writer/director Berry Jenkins.

With wins in 2016 for “Moonlight,” Mr. Jenkins downplays any thoughts of a similar red-carpet moment.  Adding to the hype that was created a few years ago by the also award-winning director/writer Raoul Peck, the documentary “I Am Not Your Negro” has re-cast the brilliance of James Baldwin for new and likely old generations alike.  The work of this multi-talented and complex artist has been quoted and referenced by former President Obama and a growing number of social justice activists.  As a writer, activist, humanitarian and gay Black man, Mr. Baldwin painted the often dreary, always passionate lives of African-Americans as colorfully as the painter strokes a canvas.  His words resonate as profoundly in today’s racial and social climate as they did when first spoken and written.  The historian John Henrik Clarke believed that Mr. Baldwin revolutionized the essay in much the same way that Fredrick Douglass did the slave narrative.  While his eloquence, style and unparalleled gifts of exposure and delivery are celebrated globally, his work reveals a segment of the general human experience in many instances, and the Black experience in particular and at a very granular level.  His first work adapted for the big screen exemplifies his enduring relevance.

“Beale Street” is based on the real-life experiences of his assistant Tony Maynard, a negro (the term in use at the time) who, as Mr. Baldwin put it “did not know his place” and had been falsely accused of murder in New York in 1967; he was imprisoned and coincidentally released the same year the novel was published.  In addition to portraying the injustices and horrors of a contrived and illegal system, “Beale Street” is also a profound depiction of a love story between Tish and Fonny as well as of familial love and deep parental commitment as both their families work to free Fonny from the vice-like grips of an inherently racist legal system. 

From Harlem to Hollywood

Mr. Baldwin’s foray into Hollywood was in 1968 when he worked on the screenplay of the life of Malcom X.  The project was aborted after lengthy struggles and Mr. Baldwin’s insistence on doing it “my way or no way at all.”  This experience was, by all accounts, a disaster; the work was later directed and co-written by Spike Lee, using Mr. Baldwin’s work as its base.

Mr. Jenkins began adapting the “Beale Street” screenplay at the same time he was working on “Moonlight” – and before he was given the rights to it by Mr. Baldwin’s family.  He has commented that the story of Black love was especially meaningful to him; further, that it was important that Tish was dark skinned as Mr. Baldwin had made her in the novel. 

On Screen

In adapting words to the big screen, the task of capturing the lyrical descriptions, emotions, and environment is monumental.  How to convey the intense emotionalism or deep digs into the psyche that Mr. Baldwin delivers in his characters’ stream of consciousness?  For example, when in the book Tish thinks and feels:

“I was in his hands, he called me by the thunder at my ear…I was being changed; all that I could do was cling to him. I did not realize, until I realized it, that I was also kissing him, that everything was breaking and changing and turning in me and moving toward him.”

Their first love scene needs no words to describe this emotion.  The orange/pink hue used throughout the film creates a mushy, dreamlike quality and shows intimate interaction between characters - of the characters with themselves in many instances; the cinematography creates a stage upon which emotions dance and connections are made.  The extensive use of close-ups and prolonged time in a scene bring a sense of urgency to the messaging, making the fear that Daniel describes in prison palpable as he almost relives it during the bonding scene when he and friend Fonny share a beer.  When Sharon pulls the stocking cap over her head, you can almost feel its band tightening around your own.

Enduring Legacy

In one of his interviews, Mr. Jenkins shared that what the audience will see is “…a story of Black love, family and joy, but you’ll also see that at any moment that joy can be taken away from you.”  When he speaks of working on the movie, his love of Mr. Baldwin and gratitude for the honor of bringing this message to (new) audiences is apparent.  A consistent urgency of Mr. Baldwin’s was to “bear witness” as he called it – being raised in the church and having spent three years as a teen-aged preacher, it seemed only natural.  Combined with his later belief that it was the duty of the artist to “tell the truth, as much as one can bear” and then some, leaves “Beale Street” audiences with the complete realization that Mr. Baldwin’s desire to be “…an honest man and a good writer” was achieved many times over and was projected on the big screen in fine fashion.

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