Blaxploitation Week

Hello again readers!  This week I wanted to focus on some amazing pieces of film that falls under a genre that tends to get the nose turned up to it because of where the term hails from.  Blaxploitation films were created in the 1970s and are predominately a black cast including lead and most secondary characters.  Blaxploitation or Black Cinema was an attempt to reach more urban audiences by developing heroes, anti-heroes and situation that not every white person would get, understand or comprehend.   These films were the first of its kind to introduce soul and funk soundtracks to movies.  Primarily these movies were based around gang violence, cops working the streets and mobsters making their mark in the world.

Snap kick, Sucka!!

What these film did was to bridge the gap and cultural understandings between different ethnic backgrounds and try to tell a good story.  Like with all exploitation films there are some that just stand out from an amazing cast to a terrific story.  Others like Dolemite, tend to be shot in the South were apparently every other white guy is a racist in a position of power trying to bring the brothers down.   Some examples of this black empowerment like Shaft and Coffy gave creditable performances, great story line and a kick ass soundtrack.

Racist vampires??? Say it ain't so!

Many organizations felt this cinema genre would cause race riots, uprises and a surge of crime waves and cast white people as horrendous people hell bent on being slavers, heartless oppressors and in general; scumbags.  For those in that disgruntlement bracket, I suggest you read a little history prior to the Civil War and GET OVER IT.    The irony of this genre is that the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), The SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) and The Urban League that are all African American foundations felt these movies were base, crass and had no moral value which consequently ended this genre for a time.

This movie concept was to break free of the shackles of stereotypical writing for black actors getting foisted into criminal, war mongers and bad guys of the week and show people that hatred had been around a long time and here is another side of it.

So some of these films will blow you away like they did me and some will be like Dolemite, so buckle up kids cause we are going for a ride.

Craigslist romance goes horribly wrong.