BLOGGER ARCHIVE - MONTHLY FILM SERIES
FEBRUARY 2025 - Blacksploitation
MONTHLY FILM SERIES: BLACKSPLOITATION
FEBRUARY 2025
This month I jumped into Blacksploitation. Blacksploitation is a film movement from the 1960s and 1970s that attempts to capture the urban black experience in America and how they connect to drugs, sex, crime, poverty, and sticking it to ‘the man.’ These films started out as independent movies, but quickly became very mainstream and a good source of money for studios. Thus, the genre is named in honor of the act of exploiting black culture.
Before this month, I had heard of this genre vaguely, but never had done a deep dive. Like many others my age I imagine my only real exposure to these types of movies was the influence they had on Tarantino projects. And the influence they had on Tarantino is quite obvious looking back at movies like Django Unchanged, Pulp Fiction and obviously Jackie Brown. Having said that, this manifestation of the popularization of black culture has impacted American culture so strongly that I imagine much of our contemporary pop experience has bits and pieces of Blacksploitation all over it. This is Americana, and it was really pleasurable to experience it.
My favorite film this month was hard to pin down. I loved the energy of Shaft as a character; and his archetype was pretty common throughout the genre. A male black protagonist that is heroically trying to save his community from crime or drugs, intertwined with the infuriating politics of ‘the man,’ and one bad muthafucka. Shaft in particular had the entire image down. Moustache, afro, turtleneck, long duster. Walking through the streets of New York, almost getting hit by cars. A picturesque view of cool, unbothered masculinity. Expecting everything and unprepared for nothing. I also enjoyed Shaft’s theme song that gave much-needed exposition 30 seconds into the film (paraphrased)…
” SHaFT! He’s a complicated man. But NO ONE UNDErsTaNdS him but his WoOooOMAn!!”
“Chains that bind him, are hard to see, unless you take, this walk with me.”
(To borrow a word from Gen Alpha) the pure aura that Shaft has is palpable and I don’t think it gets much higher than that. Besides the character, the story itself was a typical slow 70s police/drug/crime story. It was grimy, it was real. The color palette featured a lot of grainy browns and grays. There was a bunch of am-the-camera-out-the-window cinematography. While I have respect for the 70s urban crime genre, it tends to put me to sleep; but its okay because Shaft (1971) kept me awake with quips like…
“I got to be feeling like a machine- and that’s no way to feel.”
and
GF: “I love you”
Shaft: “Yeah I know. Take it easy.”
Along with those wayyyyy cool bow wow guitar riffs, how can you not love that?
Besides Shaft, the most captivating performances were by Pam Grier. She had charisma in Foxy Brown (1974) and Coffy (1973) that could not be matched. I read somewhere that Pam Grier’s characters in these early ’70s Blaxploitation films were one of the first female-protagonist action movies in American cinema. I know for a fact that Ms. Grier does not get the credit for that because I doubt that most of my contemporaries would recognize her name, but they should. I found these films, as well, to be a bit character-driven as opposed to plot, which overall seemed a bit predictable. Grier’s characters are noble victums of the citie’s gritty underbelly and she must fight her way through a bevy of pimps and drugdealers to fulfill her motivation. Unfortunately, I think a lot of these films used Pam for her body (talk about exploitation), but at the end of the day, popularity is popularity. I read on the IMDb trivia page for these movies that Pam intentionally included many nude scenes in the name of female empowerment. She undeniably forged a place for herself in cinema history and has undoubtedly influenced so much culture since that time. Very impressive.
A couple of notes from these movies. The marketing art associated with not only these films, but this whole genre are maybe the best ever. The movie posters are over-the-top sensationalized with this feeling of epic proportion that radiates and is truly mesmerizing. In Foxy Brown (1974), the opening title sequence includes a really cool title sequence with groovy/70s/psychedelic tints and shapes. It reminds you of something like a James Bond intro mixed with one of those early 2000s Apple iPod commercials with the dancing silhouettes. But like way cooler than that sounds.
My favorite film of this cycle may not have actually been a consideration of true Blacksploitation, but more of a parody, which I consider cheating a bit. (noted). Black Dynamite(2009) is a film from 2009 that takes all the tropes that I just described and puts them all into one film. There are many good jokes…
at one point, theres a plot from the antagonist to give black men a new brand of malt liquor that includes an ingredient to shrink their Penises
the lack of quality of the movies being referenced was referenced including a boom mike clearly being left in one of the scenes, and one of the actors including the stage directions in his dialogue
A mano y mano Kung-Fu battle with Richard Nixon at the end
Parody doesn’t get much better than that man. White was perfect. I wish there were 5 sequels.
Overall, I think this movie put a good modern lens on the films from this time and I can relate more to it than the others. For that reason its my favorite all-together film.
“Donuts don’t wear Alligator shoes.”
All-in-all, this genre represents Americana. These days, Black American culture dominates the field in pop culture. The work of Black People is evident in music, movies, art, and everywhere else. How can this be the case when Black People represent 13% of the entire US population? How can so few have such a strong influence over so many? I think there are a few reasons, but one is that art is based of conflict. And Black Americans have experienced plenty of conflict. So when black Artists create something reflecting their experience, it resonates with people.
Before the 1960s, Black voices didn’t get a large voice in the mainstream movie space. Blacksploitation was the first representation of these stories and gave a megaphone to black artists to spread their message. This is a piece of Americana and it was a pleasure to watch!
