Blaxploitation was a cultural film eruption. Between 1970 and 1980, there were over 200 films released by major and independent studios which showcased black characters and themes demonstrating they had enough of "The Man." Blaxploitation films crossed all movie genre borders. There were dramas, comedies, spaghetti westerns, cops and robbers, shoot 'em ups, love stories and tons of kung fu flicks. Contrary to popular belief, the name of the genre is actually a twist on the “sexploitation” and exploitation films of the 1960’s, not a term implying that Hollywood was using or exploiting black people or entertainers.
Before 1970 blacks were really only perceived as train porters, waitresses and shoe-shine boys. All of that changed in 1971 with Melvin Van Peebles' groundbreaking film, Sweetback's Baadassss Song. Sweetback was the first "commercially successful" black-theme film that showed a black man coming out on top over the white establishment. Today, you cannot even think about cutting edge contemporary black directors like Spike Lee, John Singleton, Bill Duke and Reginald Hudlin without paying homage to Van Peebles. And if Van Peebles is the forerunner to black theme pictures, Gordon Park's Shaft underlined, punctuated and ushered in the genre. Shaft screamed, "Hey everybody, blacks can be tough action heroes like Eastwood, Connery and Bronson.
Black heroes were needed in the '70s because the media was busy portraying them as revolutionaries and militants. Many believed that the downside to the Blaxploitation genre was that it promoted violence and racial stereotypes. There were films like The Mack and Superfly which romanticized drug use and guns. However, there were also tender films like The Leaning Tree and comedies like A Piece Of The Action that were also part of the same genre.
Lately there has been a resurgence of Blaxploitation fever in local art house theaters and touring film festivals. Some modern movies also display characteristics of the genre such as Quentin Tarantino chose to do in Jackie Brown - a film starring Pam Grier that pays homage to the Blaxploitation movement.
References
Hey Rebecca, Do you think that Shaft paved the way for black action stars of today like Will Smith and Denzel Washington? Also, an interesting thought is about whether blaxploitation films glamorized drug use and violence any more than white films made during the same era? I'm not sure that they did. The 70's was a decade of drug curiosity and use. Violence in the streets was not uncommon with anti-war and social protests of a variety of issues. These were the first movies that really showcased black actors and story-lines, so could it be a conscience that they occurred during a time when drugs and violence were in the mainstream anyway? What do you think?
ReplyDeleteOh, of course there was the same violence, drug use, and crime in "white" movies of the time, but the controversy among the African-American community was that it was touting their people in a negative light.
ReplyDelete