‘JASON’S LYRIC’ AND BLACK LOVE ON-SCREEN

[I wrote this piece a couple months ago for an old friend of mine and the very well-known website he works for. Even though I got paid for it, it never got published. Long story short, he gave me the go-ahead to publish it here. — CDL]

Once upon a time, the sight of an African-American couple locked in a loving, intimate, sexual embrace freaked people out.

It’s sounds crazy, but it did memorably happen once 25 years ago, when the movie Jason’s Lyric hit theaters. Any person who’s seen the film will tell you it’s a standard-issue “‘hood movie” straight from the ’90s, where ‘hood movies were at its prime. But this film is a more romantic look at inner-city life. A young, pre-Will Smith Jada Pinkett stars as Lyric, the beautiful sista who wins the heart of Allen Payne’s sensitive, young working man Jason. Despite finding a gal who makes him strive for the finer things in life, dude is unfortunately having a hard time breaking away from his ‘hood ties, especially since he feels he has to keep an eye on his volatile, ex-con brother (Bokeem Woodbine).

Before the movie came out, the filmmakers got into a heated back-and-forth with the Motion Picture Association of America, whose ratings board declared the movie needed some cuts in order to get an R…