For the last few weeks, we've discussed and viewed a couple of these controversial films known as Blaxploitation cinema. We've identified queer components, global impact, historical events, and many other topics. Perhaps these dialogues will inspire you to seek out other films to watch from this genre.
As always, I'd like to pose a question to generate another dialogue. Do you think Blaxploitation films served a purpose of providing a voice for the black community then? And, are these films still relevant today? Please be as specific as possible by providing reasons to explain your responses.
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ReplyDeleteBlaxploitation films said a lot for the African American community that an average black male or female could not voice. As for Sweet Sweetback , it was a film that allowed an outside audience see the truth of some black dilemmas. Sweetback never asked to be raised in a brothel, but he was and they raised him to use what he had to survive. He wasn’t so much of hero, but a symbol of some black circumstances. In the film we saw Sweetback being beaten by police for an answer is a true representation of today. However instead of waiting for an answer it is so unfortunately common that black men and women are shot without cause. What I most enjoyed about the outcome of Blaxploitation films is that the black hero or heroine always comes out on top and winning. Blaxploitation films are much different now. Instead of African Americans being heroes for their communities we often see someone struggling in their personal life. They have marriage problems, momma problems, or daddy issues. However the heroin is no longer a “Foxxy Brown” or a “Sweetback” but comes in the figure of a nurturer. For example we can explore Tyler Perry films. When the main character is low on luck and hope they send someone like Madea or even better a nice Christian with a word of God. Blaxploitation films in my opinion are formed and shaped to the common issues of the black community during that time period. Average African Americans can’t make a difference on their own, that’s why Blaxploitation films are crucial to our cultures story and image.
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Blaxploitation films does serve a purpose today because it showed how the black community were suffering in the 70's and were tired of "the man". Which relates to issue today as black people still suffer from poverty and police brutality. In the 70’s Blaxploitation films was a voice for the black community. They did not have help fighting drugs, as it was pushed by powerful people, which in Foxy Brown it was exposed. Although Sweetback was not considered a "hero" it showed how black people are used as a sex symbol, which is relevant today as well. I feel that today the black community does not have a “hero” as we turn to Jesus to make everything better. We do not deal with the same issues but I wished black people had a stronger voice now as they did in the 70’s.
ReplyDeleteBlaxploitation films definitely served a purpose as representation on screen about the realism of the Black community. Angelique Harris defines Blaxploitation films in her article, “ ‘I’m a Militant Queen,’ Queering Blaxploitation Films,” as, “…gritty urban drama about black men successfully evading the police, or ‘the Man,’ and most importantly, managing to survive through to the end of the film.” Blaxploitation films gave voice to Blacks in Hollywood. It allowed for a Black cast and production crew, who created stories on film that actually reflected the experiences of African Americans and depicted in a positive image. With Blaxploitation films we have these leading roles where the Black man is the hero instead of the crook, where their triumphs are celebrated and their race is not being degraded.
ReplyDeleteThe beginnings of this genre spawned during the 1970’s, where Blaxploitation film could actually show images of the real life struggles of being Black in America. They also provided a new way of the Black audience to see their selves on screen in a more appealing image. These films are still relevant today, because they tell of the achievements of Blacks in Hollywood; how they created their own genre to better cater to their Black community. This is vital, because African Americans need representation and accurate descriptions of their lives and experiences living in a prejudice society. One example of a modern Blaxploitation film would be, the 2001 comedic film, Pootie Tang. The film itself is a satire to Blaxploitation film characters that have appeared in the past.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40cOkf5fT7A - a clip from the movie Pootie Tang
Blaxploitation films were revolutionary then and still is now. The African American community still segregates the Black LGBTQ population from the overall Black community, even when it comes down to civil matters, such as the transgender genocide that is heavily on the rise. The films the class and I watched, proves that "there was nothing new under the sun" , but also stating that it isn't "taboo". During this remarkable and groundbreaking era for Blaxploitation films, their form of exposing the truth on homosexuality and how common it was at this time is simply...bold, but revolting. This shows that the iconic actors, musicians, directors and others that participated in creating these films agree and support the argument that homosexuality is part of the African American community, too. Not only this, but exposing and magnifying the truth on police brutality, how impoverished individuals suffer from the genocide food chain (i.e. Sweetback, once an innocent man was chosen by police officers to harass due to being in brothel) and Black feminism (Foxy Brown being a strong independent Black woman that could protect herself and orchestrate an operation tearing down a whole prostitution and drug chain with the help from a handful of Black men).
ReplyDeleteIn conclusion, the problematic issues I have mentioned still occurs today. If the films were to be updated in fashion and music (excluding the late Curtis Mayfield; his music is timeless) with remastered edits and cuts, in 2016, many "toes" will be stepped on and possibly broken. Blaxploitation films was a political and social movement in the form of entertainment. Their artistic expression was a panel to voice to be reckoned with.
DeleteBlack people were eager to see a representation of themselves on film, and although these representations are an upgrade from the black paradigms in the 1940's and 50's they did not provide a voice for the black community. Often times black actors and actresses were portrayed as the "ghetto black savior" or the tough yet sexually loose woman like Pam Grier. These portrayals of black people did not help the present stereotypes that films such as Birth of a Nation had already created. A new set of stereotypes were created such as the pimp, hustler,drug dealers and hyper sexual aggressive men. The women in Blaxploitation films were often the "hot mama", prostitutes, and sexually loose. Images such as the glorified pimp and ghetto savior were often attached to self gain and were not a representation of how the black community wanted men to be seen. So no I do not believed that Blaxploitation films gave a voice to the community, but they did allow black actors the opportunity to be on film. As of today these films are very relevant because people of other cultures who don't interact with black people only know what they see on films and if they only see pimps, drug dealers, and aggressively violent men that is what they are going to think all men in the black community behave like. Although these films showed progression in black film, these generalizations and stereotypes have left us to defend ourselves to everybody who think we are all the same.
ReplyDeleteBelow is a short video from YouTube that shows some of the typical stereotypes portrayed in early films.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWQNd49C5eE&index=5&list=PLfP1GCgIUs3BdMVA6sk9bUCdBis4e8Ynj
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ReplyDeleteBlaxploitation films gave a voice to the black community by "reinscribing black consciousness" back to the viewers as Pam Grier states. For instance the realization that the black man is always labeled as the bad man is depicted in Blaxploitation films as the black outlaw. The novelist Cecil Brown asserts that no matter that the black man can never be the typical hero, because he is always viewed as a villain. This idea of a black outlaw is presented in the character Sweetback, because even when he saves the black man from the white policemen, he is hunted like a vigilante. Characters such as Foxy Brown and Sweetback are outlaws in the sense that they will always be seen as trifling niggers that are causing trouble for their own selfish reasons. In reality the Sweetback does not know of a life beyond the brothel and Priest does not "know anything other than dope." The black man is a product of his environment and constantly yearns to escape, but society makes him a prisoner and a convict. Blaxploitation films are still relevant today, because they influenced the many rap figures today that incorporated the black outlaw concept. Also Blaxploitation films will are still relevant, because there are still black people living in poverty and surviving anyway that they know how.
ReplyDeleteWatch Davy Charles: Escapism (4 minutes, but only watch 0:41 to 1:18)
I do think Blaxploitation films served a purpose of providing a voice for the black community then because there wasn't any black faces on the screen at the time. With the lack of representation of black faces in films, black people lost a voice to speak about their own story which allowed anyone to narrate it how ever they saw fit. When Pam Grier played her role as Foxy Brown, this created a voice for black women which was so important for little black girls to see in a white patriarchal society. Even today Pam Griers characters hold weight because there aren't any roles that show black women as the shero, and she wasn't being shamed for her body. Instead she was glorified for ALL that she is, her body, her skin, & her voice. This still isn't something people see every time they turn on their T.V.s.
ReplyDeleteThe Blaxploitation films like Sweetback and Superfly are important for black people to look at so they could get a real representation of what was actually going on in the inner-city life. Once the audience got past the shock factors in the films, such as the rape scene in Sweetback (2:16-3:16) [ link for Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaHfZpRyGhg#t=156 ], and the other sex scenes in the movie, you can see what it was like for the other members in the community whose lives were hardened by poverty & the poor self-reguard implemented by society. These films are still revenant because a rare look into the lives of the black people whose lives are being tangled in a white society are still issues society doesn't ever want to talk about because nobody can ever get past the shock factor of what really goes on in America.
Blaxploitation films provided jobs for many Black actors, directors, and writers. It provided work for retired football players, Black musicians. The style and soul of these 1970 movies was categorized as “Soul Cinema”. Sweetback was an example of a film that gave the audience a glimpse into problems faced in the Black community. For example it showed the Black man is always labeled as being the bad man, “black outlaw” in this case. These films tell of the achievements of Blacks in Hollywood. It allowed for a black cast and production crew to create films on actual African Americans lives in a positive outlook. Although there was a difference in the movies between in the 1940s to 1970s Black were now being portrayed as gangters and pimps.
ReplyDeleteBlaxploitation films was an outlet for the black community in the 70s, I appreciate the films more then than I do now. Yes I think Blaxploitation films served a purpose of providing a voice for the black community because it displayed real issues in the community making people aware in full details. After watching Sweet Sweetback, I don't see these films still relevant today. I don't see these films still relevant today because you don't see honest stories of people in the black community, many seem fabricated to me. I feel like the 70s and years before gave the real deal in a weird way. I learned that Super fly cast was its on film crew as well, that's hard work to me and amazing because it became such a phenomenal film. Below is a link to a film by Tyler Perry displaying stereotypes...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4LxGzpPr0k
IMANI HARRIS
I personally feel as if back then Blaxploitation films were needed just as they are needed now however they were used as a way for Black film directors, producers and writers to paint the picture of how the Black community felt as the voice of the Black community. Films then made society fully aware of what is truly going on or the painted the truest picture of Blacks then. Also during this time these films were supported by the Blacks and other organizations such as the Black Panther Party for Sweet Sweetback. In today's society there is a much needed presence of Blaxploitation but instead of it being more Blacks being exploited in a different manner. I can see why or how film has changed for Blacks and the representation because now all you truly see is women being used as a sex tool but not in a powerful manner as in Foxy Brown and men being seen as a thug or no good as in SweetBack however Sweetback was more so a product of his environment but standing up for his community and taking a stand. Today the need for a blaxploitation film is well over due. The most we have gotten close to is Spike Lee films
ReplyDeleteI believe that Blaxploitation films did serve as an outlet for the black community in the 1970s and are still relevant today. For most of America, the ideas and perceptions that they have of others are based on the impressions left by the media. Today, there are many who have not spent a considerable amount of time with many different minority populations. A good amount of the white majority believes that Black people truly are criminals, race baiters, purebred athletes and thugs.
ReplyDeleteBlaxploitation films were children of the Black Community to tell it's story from a first-person point of view.
Blaxploitation films can still be used today, however, it will take a very skilled person to feed this to white majority and help them to accept it for what it is.
Blaxploitation films are what Black people have been for centuries: Misunderstood. Ugly on the surface, but rewarding on the inside.
Below is a link to a Buffalo University study of the perception of Black Males.
http://gse.buffalo.edu/fas/Foster/Foster2/ACL1.HTM
Blaxploitation films, not only provide a voice that will represent the black community, it also gave non-blacks a hyperactive realistic view of the black community. Blaxploitation films get a bad rep sometimes due to some films low level quality, vulgarity, and somewhat confusing storyline to follow like in the film Sweet Back. However, these films once view not a face value; will give you all the pros and cons of the black community. The films will show drug pushing, drug using, pimps, and ones being pimped out, but it will show, Black empowerment, community comradery, and self-made men in and women. Foxy Brown was one of the first women to be a sex symbol and a badass heroin. These films still resonated with views because sadly, the uses remain the same. In Sweet Back, it shows two officers finding a young black, beating him, and trying to arrest him for no apparent reason. This type of issue is why the Black Lives Matter Movement exists. Blaxploitation films also have some real dilemmas the people go through within life. In Super Fly Priest has goal of getting out of his lifestyle but needs to do one last deal in order to do what he really wants. Eddie in this explains why this cant be the case
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwtsRUii8h4
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ReplyDeleteBlaxploitation films in my opinion was the voice the African American was missing. When it comes to the Sweetback film , it gave the opportunity from different perspective's of life to give voice on the black communities short comings and/or lemmas. The simple fact that Sweetback was to be raised i brothel, this showed first how we as a community put our youth in tough situations but even more importantly he did what he had to do and survived. The title of a hero wouldn't suit him perfect but close, he was a clear icon for what black people had to cope with. While watching the film there was a scene where it was showing Sweetback and another black male being beaten by the police. This is what to young black males are subject to go through on any given day. So when put in these situations today in present time when such situations arise we as a people are treated what we look at as unfair when really everyone in the situation are reacting with programmed actions per say. Blaxploitation films have my favor when it comes to doing film for another reason and that be of how they present the male or female hero which would be called heroine which is a sight to see if you are somebody who value such figures in the community. And they are always proven victor in most of the situations they face. In today's society films as such are different, mainly because this was more a movement than it was a genre of film like a lot of people began to think. A lot more of a dramatic role plays in films now of days where you'll see more of a personal fight than one in the community. For exat would be a characteristic of a Blaxploitation film but focused would be lost throughout the movie. Our culture as black people or better described as African Americans use things such as these to strengthen our community, we needed Blaxploitation films to show the world something we couldn't through other complications but that's another story.
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ReplyDeleteBlaxploitation films served a huge purpose in providing a voice for the Black community. Looking at movies like Super Fly, Sweetback, and Foxy Brown, we have to look more so at the message the writers are trying to send, rather than how the message was given. I think with Blaxploitation films, it was important to give a message as well as to entertain the audience, which was Black people. I think the entertainment of it was to catch the audiences attention, and then when you get over the excitement, you have to look at ghettos and the way Black people live and analyze the truth in those films. Super Fly and Foxy Brown both highlighted the drug use. Sweetback highlighted police brutality and corruption Christian church. So, is all of this still relevant today? Yes. I think we can all watch these movies and see stuff that is happening in today's society and be able to relate. I know I can.
ReplyDeleteI believe that these films definitely attempted to mirror what the “black experience” was supposed to be or actually was but wasn’t always the case. However, being that this was one out of not many ways black people could speak, or be heard when it comes to the films produced, written, or directed by blacks, yes these films could have been the voice for Black people then. The movies made during the 60's which had stars such as Sidney Poitier, suggested that it was possible for blacks to be accepted in white society. The conceptions presented in these films did not represent the reality of most in the black community during the late sixties and early the seventies. Basically, Blaxploitation films displayed the need of the black community to see films that reflected their reality. On the other hand I feel as though the specific films that were made by white directors could not necessarily be the “voice” because these directors may have took the framework of the white movies and attempted to apply the black experience to it. Despite the fact that the films were centered on black people, the tale was familiar to the white audience so they were not completely alienated from it. These films are definitely relevant today as they are important to explaining the history of black film and cinema and the misconceptions and generalizations made by white society infiltrated these films. African Americans still struggle with the burden of the same stereotypes today or not even more, just in a more modernized way.
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ReplyDeleteTo me blaxploitation films did not serve a purpose of providing a voice for the black community. After seeing the success of Sweet Sweetback's Badaaass Song, Hollywood decided to make blaxploitation films. The movie grossed 12 million dollars and the industry began to make as many movies as they could. During that time blacks loved seeing other African Americans on screen that they could relate to. Hollywood just took advantage of this and capitalized on it. Watching the Super Fly and Sweet Back the theme of these movies seem to create more negative stereotypes instead of good ones. The content the producers made greatly misrepresented blacks and it heavily influenced the black community. Super Fly was a highly controversial film because of its focus on drug dealing although it had an anti-drug message in the soundtrack. It was Controversial in the black community because not everyone uses drugs to escape poverty and the African Americans just wanted to show the world a different side of our community that other people don’t know.
Nanny’s, maids, drivers, domestic house workers, field workers, and indentured servants these were the only roles white people allowed blacks to play for so long and we played these roles for so long that we almost believed that, that was all we were good for ourselves. That is until the Civil Rights movement came along and started to rehabilitate our way of thinking and with that new way of thinking we were able to mass produce a whole genre of films dedicated just for us known as Blaxploitation films. These films were the voice of the black community because they subconsciously said everything that we were too scared to say at that time. They all said that I am reclaiming everything you put me down about my sexuality, my living situation, my talk, my swag everything! But more importantly it said yes you may have put me in area where my choices are limited but I’m going to do whatever it takes to get out. I’m determined to have a better life and if that means I got to go out and slang dope, sell my body, steal then it is what it is. Two great examples of this would be the films Sweet SweetBacks BadAss Song and Superfly. In these films you had two strong black men in bad situations using it for a greater good. SweetBack had no other skills but knowing how to use his penis and then you had Priest, the lead character in Superfly, who knew how to flip some weight and with these street skills they were able to make it out of any situation. Not only are these ideals prevalent in the films in that area but they are still being represented today as well. The best example is with the recently released film Dope. In film the movie Malcolm is faced with the horrible situation of having to sell dope to keep his future intact.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMcn0ab1hX4
In response to if Blaxploitation films served a purpose back then, I would have to most certainly agree that it did. My reasoning is due to the fact that Blaxploitation was probably one of the strongest interpretations and representations of being inside the black community. Its purpose was to not only be a visual aspect for the black race, but to be a powerful voice as well. These films were used to tell the stories that blacks were not able to share on a daily basis, because prior to Blaxploitation films being in total effect, the black race was viewed upon as irrelevant and invaluable which is why it took for black people themselves to create opportunities for other blacks to even have their face and story told on screen. Nonetheless, the main common denominator that is shown in films are correlative to what Angelique Harris said in the reading, “I’m a Militant Queen” that, “African-Americans were portrayed in a stereotypical and/or negative manner with mainstream films.” The huge purpose Blaxploitation films had back then was the impact among the black audience, because like John Amos said in the ‘Superfly’ documentary, black people were actually paying to see black people in films. Even though the films consisted of drug dealing, pimp activity, gangsters, and conflict with the police, all that was portrayed was like a reflection of black reality during this time since a lot of these took place during the post-civil rights and black empowerment era.
ReplyDeleteBlaxploitation films are still relevant today because it is allowing individuals like myself and other generations to have insight as to where our people came from and gain an understanding of how stereotypes that were classified back then continued until now. The films also serve its purpose by allowing us to pay more close attention as to how we are perceived as a whole, along with giving us a reason to think as to how we can transform these images and visuals of us. Personally, when I first saw ‘Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song’, I was truly caught by surprise as to what I had seen because I had never paid attention to context clues in films involving blacks and the underlying messages it had been sending. The only difference I would say now about the Blaxploitation films, is that they don’t necessarily represent how things are now today, but they still show things we continue to go through- struggles and survival. Those are two elements that are still present today.
Movies that give insight similar to how blacks were portrayed back then, that are more “fit” to times now that still give off certain stereotype perceptions are films such as: ‘Baby Boy’, ‘Bebe’s Kids’, ‘Soul Plane’, ‘Madea’s Family Reunion’, ‘Friday’, ‘Precious’, and etc. All of these films tell more narratives now of the black community as time has still progressed.
This is a scene from a film that truly give a stereotypical situation from the black community as to how society view us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jin8uLjCSKs
I am a little torn on the subject I feel like Blaxploitation films served a purpose for black people. What I mean by this is how they provided a way for black people to get into the entertainment business. It provided so many jobs for black people that it would be wrong for me to say the films done nothing for black people. It also opened a door to where yes a black person can be a leading star in a film, that this is not a stage just reserved for white people. I know some of the films show black people in bad light were someone may think that all black people are drug pushers, pimps, ho’s, and drug addicts. This where I am a little reluctant to say they provided a “voice” for black people. Even though a lot of what they shown in the films was a reality for poor inner city blacks so it may have helped to show a world that some people didn’t even know existed. Also back to the leading star role, Foxy Brown helped to show a beautiful black woman as a strong heroine who also got to show her sexuality and this is something that has not been recreated since. So yeah these films still are relevant today. Even if someone may believe their showing black people in a bad light, I still feel like they can be enjoyed just for entertainment purposes. And at the end of day isn’t that why a lot of films are created for, entertainment.
ReplyDeleteBlaxploitation films were a success back when they were first created because they allowed black people to create their own identity. Black people were and still are stereotyped and these films provided a front row to their lives. They were filmed in black communities and focused on their daily lives that way people could see what life was truly like as a black person. For example, Foxy Brown. Foxy was a very strong black women who could handle herself and everyone around her. She was the face for all black women. She took care of business and still provided for her family. These films helped take negative things, that were occurring at the time, and show them in a positive light. As of today I don't think they are still relevant because people have changed. They have conformed to what's "popular" in society and most of the time it's nothing that will benefit or lift us up as black people. Back then they had a strong figure like Pam Grier trying to clean out the community and trying to show how black people can be heroes and heroines. Now, I'm not sure who I can look at as a heroine.
ReplyDeleteI believe Blaxploitation films served a major role in the black community especially when it comes to being heard. Many films before the Blaxploitation era depicted African Americans in a negative & ugly way. From exaggerated stereo-types to just pure racism but once these black actors, directors, and writers started creating these Blaxploitation films it changed the game. It abled people to see blacks playing in different types of roles that differed from just your typical house servant or worker. Also these films showed the struggle of black people and the reason why some people do resort to selling drugs and being street hustlers. And I do think that these films are very relevant in films today, personally I think we still have Blaxploitation films still coming out. Especially these movies that endorse crime, selling drugs, and living in the hood is no different to me than those of the Sweetback & Superfly Era.
ReplyDeleteBlaxplotation films created both positive and negative point-of-views. I believe Blaxploitation films provided a voice for the black community during the post civil rights period. For example, in the film "Super Fly," the main character is a drug dealer trying to make it out of the ghetto to become legit. In reality, drug dealing was on the rise during that time as stated by writer of the film Phillip Fenty. President Nixon declared a "War on Drugs" increasing narcotic teams and military aid. On the contrary, everyone was not selling drugs. Some people were working legally to make a way to the American Dream. The films are still relevant today through hip hop and films. Some examples are Yo Gotti's song "Drug Money," and Jay Z's song "Big Pimpin." The Blaxploitation film "The Mack" can be related to Snopp Dogg's film "Boss Hog." I believe blaxploitation films paved the way for African-Americans to be a part of mainstream cinema.
ReplyDeleteBlaxploitation films definitely served a purpose back then for the black community because back then it showed what was really happening in the community. The films highlighted the high drug use, pimps and hustlers, poverty, and police brutality. They showed a lot of black men standing up to "the man" and trying to live a better life. For the ones who watched the films, it would have been a message movie telling them to get out the ghetto and to basically survive life. There is more life than drugs and poverty like what was highlighted in Superfly and Foxy Brown. With Suoerfly snorting cocaine from his cross necklace to Foxy Brown's brother selling it with his white girlfriend. These films made black people look brave in a way because they were not taking any mess from white people like they did in older films. The movies kind of gave black people a dream to make a difference in a way because it was black people making the films! You have black producers, black directors, black screenwriters. So for the black people to be in charge of the film then they know exactly how to tell the story and be the voice to the black community. And the fact that these films are still relevant today just drives me crazy because the films were done back in the 70s. It is currently 2016 and a lot of white people still act like black people are a disease or something and a lot of the black communities are still in poverty trying to get out. With the movies like Juice, or even some scenes in Straight Outta Compton show how people are doing escapism and trying to get out the ghetto. I feel like their may be more Blaxploitation films still in the making because there is still more stories needing to be told and voices needed to be heard.
ReplyDeleteBlaxploitation films did provide a voice for the Black community. They were the voice. Blaxploitation films allowed the voices of the community to be spread to a wider audience, and although the films were created for entertainment of Blacks, the White audience was then able to get a glimpse of our perspectives and what we can do creatively. These films are still relevant today as we struggle for equality, especially in the film world. These films were the foundation that started the film culture for preceding Black films and actors. Though many are ignorant to theses movies, this is because these things are not taught in the classroom like mainstream films are. This is where we need to improve because many do not know where we started to know where we need to go.
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/8qfh7enD2iY
-Jameilah Smith
DeleteBlaxploitation had an enormous impact on the black community. These type of films gave blacks a platform to show what is going on in black communities. Blaxploitation films put black people and their culture at the center as subjects of the narrative. These films gave blacks the opportunity to entertain blacks and fill a gap that Hollywood overlooked. Even though these films could be stereotypical I feel like it was necessary for people to see what’s going on in black communities. I think most of these films were served to uplift the black community. Blaxploitation films also gave queer characters opportunity to be represented in feels. I think Pam Grier did a good job at influencing the feminist movement. The main goal was showing the black community winning against the man. I think a lot of people in black community during the 70’s did illegal activity as means to start a legit lifestyle. I think super fly did a good job portraying Priest character as one of those people. Even though he was a criminal he had hope to get out of the game and lead a legal life. I think the films are still relevant today because it showed that there is a lane for films centered on blackness. It also shows what is possible if black come to together as a whole and use each other’s resources. In super fly they used other people’s clothing, used money from black dentist, and borrowed cars from the local business man.
ReplyDeleteBlaxplotation films did, in a sense, provide a voice for African Americans in mainstream culture. Before the 1960's, African Americans rarely saw themselves represented in American film culture. If a movie did happen to include African American characters, chances are the role represented a negative perspective of African Americans, or the role was not a black character at all and instead a white person in black face. The movies made in the 1960's suggested a slight shift in American film, where it was possible for a black character to be significant and realistic. The success and influence of Sidney Poitier's roles, for example, inexplicably suggested that it was possible for blacks to be accepted into white society. However, those roles did not represent the reality of most African Americans in the late 60's and early 70's. Therefore, Blaxplotation films rose from the need of the black community to see films that reflected their reality. Blaxplotaton portrayed ghettos, the influence of drugs and money, and resistance to "the man." All were concepts that otherwise would not have been explored in the film industry.
ReplyDeleteI think Blaxplotation films are still relevant today because they give first hand insight into how African Americans pushed themselves in mainstream film. The films provide discussion as to issues of the black community during the 70's and their lingering affects. They were also revolutionary, with black females leads who were powerful and non passive toward white Americans. Lastly, there is still notable influence of Blaxplotation films in contemporary black films. For example, we still see drug dealing, womanizing and negative stereotypes associated with African Americans as major plots for black films.
- Patrice Acker
I called my dad, immediately after Dr. Jackson posed the question in class regarding if we had spoken to family members about the movies. I spoke out and said that I didn’t think I would have the conversation because of how my family is; I already knew their reaction and answer. But my daddy is another story.
ReplyDeleteThe conversation began with the movie Superfly. The entire time my dad kept saying, “That’s a bad soundtrack, sweet. You gotta download it.” Curtis Mayfield created that soundtrack; My dad explained how it became the soundtrack to his life growing up in the 1970s in the Brownsville projects of Brooklyn, NY. He explained how amazing it was watching the transition of black films over the years. He said as a young man it amazed him to see all blacks in one film and not just featured. I told him how I thought Sweetback looked weird and was a little hard to follow especially with my experience in news producing which breaks no rules. He said yea but for what they had at that time, it was everything to them. He said that’s back when movies were cheap. He explained how matinee was 75 cents and regular price was only a dollar. Seems cheap to us but I mean gas was also 35 cents a gallon, while minimum wage was $1.65 an hour. Movies were a luxury.
Blaxploitation films serve as a voice for the black community. Whether Blacks were seen on screen as a positive figure or not—my dad explained to me the pride him and his friends felt when they saw Superfly. Every main character in each Blaxploitation film was a reflection of their reality. I think the films are blunt representations of what our reality was at that time.
Its hard to repeat the ignorance I heard growing up about Blaxploitation films. I see it as Foxy Brown was a beautiful woman, I’m sure Sweetback could lay down the pipe and it’s enjoyable to watch a sensitive and realistic side to a hustler in Priest. Those are facts whether the Black community wants to dig deeper into our issues or not. Blaxploitation films exposed controversial issues that the Black community is taught to keep within our house, our gates, within our community. We all grew up with the infamous saying, “What goes on in this house, stays in this house.” Blaxploitation films blew down the house of cards on Black issues that we tried to keep within our community. The films still have relevancy today because as usual history repeats itself. From female and male sexuality to police brutality to even the hustler mentality all of these issues are still living amongst us, unsolved.
- Taylor Young
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DeleteThe confirmation of numbers with my dad. He really enjoyed talking to me about the past.
I do believe blaxploitation films served a purpose in the black community and I don't. My yes reasoning is because these films showed the empowerment of black power and pride. There were no films that were showing black people as essentially heros of a featured film. For example, Foxy Brown was the first black woman to become a hero in a film and that had not been done in Hollywood. Black women were usually maids and never having a powerful role to take charge. I say no as well because some of these films are sexualized and drug loved and that can put a bad name on the black community because some other races may think that is all we know. It has its' positives and negatives. I definitely think blaxploitation films are relevant today because some of the things that are discussed and evident in today's society. In the film Sweet Sweetback Badass, we see police brutality, which is very common now in today's society, although many think we as a black community have gotten pass racism and racial profiling we have not. I think all of these blaxpolitation showed be shown more often to make people want to unite and realize there is a bigger issue than what's seen in the media.
ReplyDeleteWhen looking at the impact of blaxploitation films I felt that it served three main purposes. One was just representation, black faces on film creates opportunities for aspiring black artist, and those that want to work in the film industry. Especially since the films were highly successful, it created a new capitalistic revenue demographic for Hollywood to focus on. The second aspect was the focus on urban area problems. The films stories took place in black neighborhoods, so besides telling the story it created a visual experience of the plight that was taking place in our communities. Typically some of antagonistic conflict was based around environmental issues such as poverty and drugs. The last aspect that we saw with blaxploitation films was what I called a form of realistic romanticism. The protagonist were not in some make believe world, they were set in present day events of those events. Though not the valiant individual the forms of hero the Shafts, Priest, showed individuals able to fight off the antagonistic powers that be. Even when the protagonist is more gray in his actions.
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