I want to start this post by thanking Lena Waithe for her “Legacy Talks” series. Season 2 started with Robert Townsend, and he gave me a nugget of information that I never knew I needed. I will now share it with you. One of Robert Townsend’s crown jewels is “The Five Heartbeats.” If you grew up in a Black household, this VHS or DVD was somewhere in your house. If you had a mom like mine, your mom or grandma’s favorite scene was towards the end of the movie where we are reunited with Eddie and Baby Doll singing in church. Below is a still from that scene.
Stay with me here. Troy Byer is the name of the actress who plays Baby Doll. Do you recognize her?
Above is a still from “B.A.P.S” where she plays Mr. Blakemore’s lawyer. Guess what else, y’all? She wrote “B.A.P.S.!” Guess what else she directed?
Thank you, Mr. Townsend for this deep cut. Now, back to the movie. Honestly, I don’t think we talk enough about this movie. Was it the greatest film? No, but it had a lot of heart behind it, and it drove home a fantastic message (that we will get to soon).
“B.A.P.S” is the story of Denise (Nisi) and Tamika (Mickey) who are best friends from Decatur, Georgia. While working at a diner, they dream of more, specifically a restaurant with a hair salon in the back. Crazy, we know, but a dream is a dream. Well, Nisi, the stylist, keeps seeing an audition to dance in a Heavy D video throughout the week. She takes that as a sign that they need to go to LA to blow up after nailing the audition for the video. Spoiler alert, Nisi’ hair ruined her chances of being in the video, but she runs into a man who offers her a “part.” The part ends up being to pose as the daughter of a woman Mr. Blakemore was, we assume, in love with. Antics ensue.
Before this film, for Halle Berry, there was “Jungle Fever,” Girl 6,” and Strictly Business.” After this film was “Monster’s Ball,” “X-Men,” and “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” This is Natalie Desselle’s first film and we all know the film that later followed this–“Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella.” (I know “How to Be A Player” was also in there, but “Cinderella” was a bigger movie for me as a person.)
Another gem Townsend dropped on us in that interview (seriously, yall, watch that interview.) was that Faison Love brought Natalie to him. If you recall, Love was on “The Parent ‘Hood” with Townsend as his best friend. We have to thank Faison for something and this is what I will give him.
You know what I love about this film? The whimsy. Townsend and Byer made sure to make this film feel magical. Imagine, you’re a girl from the hood, and suddenly, you’re in a mansion with your best friend with no worries. What more could someone ask for? Well, for Nisi, it’s not smooth sailing because she starts to feel guilty about them lying to Mr. Blakemore. Spoiler alert, he already knew they were lying to him. Mr. Blakemore was dying and knew his grandson was a snake, so I like to believe that he was waiting for someone to come around to give them his fortune. Not sure if it was important that he trusted them or if that was even his plan, but it worked out so perfectly.
Another thing that’s astonishing to watch is the subtleties in the lighting and the women as they evolve while in LA. The lighting becomes softer. The women hold their heads a little higher as they spend time with Mr. Blakemore. All the while continuing to be exactly who they were before they came. The story isn’t about how these women came to LA to quickly be famous or even about them changing who they were. It’s about them understanding the power and break they were looking for came from them just being the genuine people they already were. Mr. Blakemore just happened to be a fairy godfather, of sorts.
When was the last time you watched this movie and really paid attention to what Townsend put on the screen?
