Blaxploitation
From Freepedia
Blaxploitation is a portmanteau of the words “black” and “exploitation”. It is a film genre which emerged in the United States in the early 1970s when many exploitation films were made that targeted the urban African American audience. The films featured primarily black actors, and were the first to have soundtracks of funk and soul music. Although criticized by civil-rights groups for their use of stereotypes, they addressed the great and newfound demand for afrocentric entertainment, and were immensely popular among black audiences.
Almost all blaxploitation films featured exaggerated sexuality and violence. When set in the North of the U.S., they tended to take place in the ghetto and deal with pimps, drug dealers, and hitmen. When set in the South, the movies most often took place on a plantation and dealt with slavery and miscegenation. Controversy was heightened by the fact that these films were often written and directed by white men, although movies created by African Americans with similar themes have also been labeled as “blaxploitation.”
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the Urban League joined together to form the Coalition Against Blaxploitation. Backed by many black film professionals, this group received much media exposure and quickened the death of the genre by the late 1970s. Though still regarded as racist by many, some film scholars defend the cinematic genre as instrumental in bringing greater screen presence to African Americans. The films also paved the way for “mainstream” movies to deal with urban issues.
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Famous blaxploitation films
- Cotton Comes to Harlem was written and directed by the African American Ossie Davis in 1970.
- Watermelon Man (1970)—written by a white man (Herman Raucher) but directed by an African American (Melvin Van Peebles), this film about a white man who is turned into a black man is considered a forebearer of the 1970s blaxploitation boom
- Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971)—written and directed by Melvin Van Peebles, this tale of a black male prostitute turned vigilante is considered by many to be the first true blaxploitation film, and the film that thrust afrocentric films into the spotlight
- Shaft (1971) features Richard Roundtree as the black detective Shaft, a character comparable to James Bond and Dirty Harry. The soundtrack has contributions from such prominent musicians as Isaac Hayes, whose recording of the titular song won several awards. Perhaps the most famous blaxploitation film, it was deemed culturally relevant by the Library of Congress. It spawned two sequels, Shaft’s Big Score (1972) and Shaft in Africa (1973).
- Superfly (1972) had a soundtrack by Curtis Mayfield, and is considered to be a classic of the genre.
- Blacula (1972)—A take on Dracula, featuring an African prince bitten by a vampire
- Trouble Man (1972)
- Black Caesar (1973)
- Blackenstein (1973)—A joking quasi-sequel to Blacula, featuring a black Frankenstein’s monster
- Cleopatra Jones (1973)—This film, about a tough, street-smart black woman, was the beginning of a sub-genre of blaxploitation films, which focused on strong female leads who took an active role in shootouts and fights
- Coffy (1973)
- The Mack (1973)
- Foxy Brown features the charismatic actress Pam Grier as Foxy Brown (1974)
- Truck Turner (1974)
- Willie Dynamite (1974)
- Boss Nigger (1975)
- Darktown Strutters (1975)
- Dolemite (1975)—This comedy was a parody of blaxploitation films, centered around a black pimp of dubious sexual orientation. It was immensely popular and spawned several sequels
- Mandingo (1975)—Based on a series of novels, this blaxploitation film was set in the American South during the U.S. Civil War and focused on the sexual relations between slaveowners’ wives and slaves. It was followed by a sequel, Drum, which became a favorite among black audiences for a scene in which a slave literally tears the testicles off of a white slave driver
- Passion Plantation (1976)
- The Wiz (1978) an adaptation of The Wizard of Oz featuring an all black cast
Modern media referencing blaxploitation
Recent movies such as Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) and Undercover Brother (2002) , as well as Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown (1997) and Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (2003), feature nods to the blaxploitation genre. John Singleton’s remake of Shaft (2000) would be modern-day interpretations of blaxploitation—this trend goes back to the early 1990s with films like Strictly Business (1991) and Juice (1992).
I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) is a famous spoof of urban blaxploitation films, featuring several of the male stars of that genre (with the exception of Fred Williamson). A later film, Original Gangstas (1996), also featured many of those stars, but was made as a tribute to the genre. Pootie Tang (2001) also parodies many blaxploitation elements. Robert Townsend’s comedy Hollywood Shuffle (1987) features a young black actor who is tempted to take part in a white-produced blaxploitation film.
The popular anime series Cowboy Bebop features several episodes with blaxploitation themes, particularly Mushroom Samba which extensively parodies blaxploitation movies.
The 1997 film Hoodlum starring Laurence Fishburne was an attempt at gangster blaxploitation, portraying a fictional account of black mobster Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson.
The Hebrew Hammer (2003) is another parody of blaxploitation films, but with a Jewish protagonist (and was therefore called “Jewsploitation” by some).
In 2004, Mario Van Peebles, Melvin’s son, released Baadasssss!, a movie based on the making of his father’s movie in which Mario played his father.
The animated series Family Guy showed a cutaway based on blaxploitation movies in the form of a parody of Back to the Future, starring the main character Peter’s distant cousin as “Marty McSuperFly.”
In The Simpsons episode “Simpson Tide” (3G04) a TV announcer says “Next, on Exploitation Theatre...Blackula, followed by Blackenstein, and The Blunchblack of Blotre Blame!
See also
Further reading
- What It Is... What It Was!; The Black Film Explosion of the '70s in Words and Pictures by Andres Chavez, Denise Chavez, Gerald Martinez ISBN 0786883774
