I’ve been avoiding it for some time now, but I’ve been pushed to the edge. I must admit the movie “Hustle & Flow” isn’t as good as people are making it. I’ve written it, and I’m sure that many people will disagree with me and say that I’m out of my mind. Esteemed critics probably will refute me, but I will give you five things I don’t like about “Hustle & Flow.”
1. Terrence Howard didn’t have a real Memphis “hood” accent.
Though the production notes say that Juicy J was his linguistic coach, Howard must have missed a few lessons to work on his rapping. The actor totally didn’t sound like somebody from North Memphis and even managed to sound more southern than rapper Yo Gotti. I’m from the M and it sounded as if Howard was from the Mississippi delta, not North Memphis. I’m unofficially a Memphis ebonics expert and I’ve heard a plethora of Memphis accents, and Howard was just too country-sounding for the good urban folks of Memphis. If you want to hear Memphis people talk, wait until school starts and just linger around the east wing of Smokey’s. You’ll hear real Memphis accents, filled with obsessive uses of “mane” (which Howard did do well), “junt,” “dats da bizness,” “off the chain,” and also a heavy use of the letter “R” (”mursic,” “compurter,” “Hurmes Hall”). If you can’t wait until then, watch the MTV special “My Block” which chronicles the Memphis hip-hop scene. Al Kapone is a great Memphis hood linguistic spokesperson. I’m not stating that all Memphians sound this hood, but very few Memphians sound like Howard does in the movie.
2. Terrence Howard is the softest pimp I’ve ever seen in my life.
I’ve seen a fair share of pimps in my life, and I’m not talking about the ones on “Pimps Up, Hoes Down” or “American Pimp,” but the ones who, like Howard, are “tryin’ to get the money for the rent when the Cadillac and gas money spent.” In addition to an ebonic linguist, I also double as an unofficial pimp-ologist and for what it’s worth (very little actually), Howard’s portrayal of a so-called pimp was lacking. I’m not saying that his acting (despite the misguided dialect) wasn’t good, but he was never mean enough to be construed as P.I.M.P. Howard had little power over both his women and his environment to be ordained a hard-core, real life pimp. For example, in the scene in which he went next door to ask his neighbor (DJ Paul) to turn down his music, Howard bargained to get him to turn it down. That moment, while it showed his hustling skills, failed to show Howard as a person with a bona fide pimp’s power and street credibility. While I’m not condoning a pimp’s profession, if you’re a pimp in my neighborhood, everybody knows you and respects your hustle. How DJay got out-hustled in the end by Skinny Black and had to rely on his woman to save him was totally un-pimp like.
3. The critics have garnered “Flow” as one of the greatest hip-hop movies of all time.
The movie has been compared to H&F director John Singleton’s first blockbuster “Boyz N The Hood” by rapper Young Jeezy, highlighted the Sundance Festival and received two thumbs up from Ebert and Roeper. While the grittiness, the acting (minus the accents), and the overall feel of the movie makes it bearable, this movie is not in the class of other hip-hop flicks such as “Paid in Full,” “8 Mile,” and “Juice,” which not only had great acting, but a thicker plot. Nonetheless, critics are tripping over themselves to call “Flow” one of the best movies of the summer.
4. This statement by James Hill at BET.com though, makes me a little weary:
“With “Hustle and Flow,” Terrence Howard officially puts himself in a league with Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington. “Hustle and Flow” adds an unprecedented level of grit and redemptive spirit to the classic underdog story.”
While Terrence Howard, with his work in films such as “Crash,” “Ray,” “The Best Man” and “The Players Club,” has pulled himself into the higher ranking of black male actors, to say that he is in the league of Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington is too much. I would put Howard in the same class of actors such as Jamie Foxx and Don Cheadle, but not in the class with veterans of Freeman’s and Washington’s caliber. I fail to place him there not because he doesn’t have the skills, but because Howard has not proven to have the longevity and consistency of actors such as Will Smith, Samuel L. Jackson and Laurence Fishburne. While “Hustle & Flow” shows Howard’s flexibility, I don’t think I’ll place him in the realm of the kings of modern black actors. The lower class of prince should do.
5. One thing the movie does well is show the struggle that southern rappers go through to get out of the hood and into the hip-hop industry.
While some people, such as Wendy Thomas, a writer for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, criticize the movie for not displaying blacks in an accurate form, I can say that it does as far as documenting the status of many Memphis inner city residents. I’ve bashed the movie for most of this column, but if it didn’t do anything else accurately, it provided commentary on the grind in which inner city residents find themselves to make it out of the hood.

— Jeff Cohran is a senior majoring in journalism and political science. He can be reached at jeffcohran@yahoo.com.