“Love Jones”

"Love Jones" is a popular film that came out in the late 1990's. It achieved a degree of popularity and recognition as a result of what was seen as a frank portrayal of black heterosexual relationships. The author describes himself as defining his attitudes and actions within such relationships according to what he saw in the film, and also comments that his attitudes changed when he realized how emulating "Love Jones" sold both him and the women with whom he became involved short.

Clothes

Several times throughout the narrative, the author comments on how different sorts of clothing performed different sorts of functions in terms of presenting different images to the world. Even though the specific circumstances he describes are each very different, the function of the clothes remains the same: to serve as a kind of armor, or mask, or deflection of curiosity or judgment...