Lecture 10:Lecture 10:Blaxploitation, Race and Genre in Blaxploitation, Race and Genre in

the 1970sthe 1970s

Professor Michael Green 1

Shaft (1971)Directed by Gordon Parks

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Previous LecturePrevious Lecture• Racial Projects and

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

• Sidney Poitier and Supertoms

• Interracial Buddy Films and The Defiant Ones

• Writing About Film

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This LectureThis Lecture• Race and Genre

Anxiety in the 1970s

• Blaxploitation: Setting the Context

• Blaxploitation as Genre

• Writing About Film: Using Sources I

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Race and Genre Anxiety in the Race and Genre Anxiety in the 1970s1970s

Lecture 10: Part I

Dirty Harry (1971)Directed by Don Siegel

The Purpose and Function of GenreThe Purpose and Function of Genre• Genre conventions encourage repetition,

reconfiguration and renewal of familiar cinematic forms – war movie, western, sci-fi, melodrama – to appeal to audiences who take pleasure in their familiarity.

• Genres are used by Hollywood as a convenient way to predict ticket sales, but they are also ideological in the way that their conventions reflect and reify such subjects as race, class, gender and sexuality.

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Genre Reflects SocietyGenre Reflects Society• In their sameness from era to era, genre

conventions – such as gunfights and horse riding in the Western – often contribute to an ahistorical view of the world.

• However, alternations in these conventions also signify the historical moment in which the film is made, sometimes reflecting broad structural and social changes.

• “Revisionist” Westerns of the late 1960s and early 1970s – The Wild Bunch, McCabe and Mrs. Miller – are a good example.

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Race in Genre RepresentationRace in Genre Representation“Race plays a crucial role in generic

representations. Hollywood westerns, war movies, detective stories, melodramas, and action-adventure films often rely on racial

imagery, underscoring the heroism of white males by depicting them as defenders of women and children against predatory ‘Indians,’ Asians, Mexicans, and black

people . . . they move toward narrative and ideological closure by restoring the white

hero to his ‘rightful’ place.” – George Lipsitz, “Genre Anxiety and Racial Representation”

Genre in the 1970sGenre in the 1970s• Lipsitz argues that the blockbusters of the

1970s – such films as The Godfather (1972) Jaws (1975) and Star Wars (1977) – relied upon familiar genre conventions to affirm continuity and uphold conservative ideology and white patriarchy in an era of drastic social change.

• However, these blockbusters followed an era of “genre anxiety” in which genre films more overtly represented the social and cultural anxiety of the era. 8

““Genre Anxiety”Genre Anxiety”“The racial crises of the 1960s in the U.S. gave

rise to “genre anxiety,” to changes in generic forms effected by adding unconventional

racial elements to conventional genre films. The emergence of those films, their eclipse

later in the 1970s by changes in Hollywood’s marketing and production strategies . . . can best be understood not as aesthetic changes alone but as a register of dynamic changes

in social relations.” – George Lipsitz, “Genre Anxiety and Racial Representation in 1970s

Cinema”

Race and Genre in the 1970sRace and Genre in the 1970s• Many genre films from the era

showed racial concerns as well, including the detective film Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970); the Westerns Buck and The Preacher (1971) and Blazing Saddles (1974); action films such as Gordon’s War (1973) and comedies such as Car Wash (1975) and A Piece of the Action (1977).

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Case Study: Case Study: BlaculaBlacula• Blacula (1972) used the genres of horror

and vampire movies to reflect the racial tensions of the era and to advocate for racial and social equality.

• Lipsitz argues that the movie presents “a playful mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar . . . by inserting contemporary social concerns into a familiar genre.”

Pause the lecture and watch the clip from Blacula.

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Reinforcing Genre ConventionsReinforcing Genre Conventions• As some films from the

era subverted genre conventions to reflect and advocate for social change, other films strengthened and reinforced genre conventions as a way of upholding conservative values.

Pause the lecture and watch the clip from Dirty Harry.

Race and Phallic SymbolsRace and Phallic Symbols• Black men have been associated with

phallic symbols, suggesting, from a Freudian perspective, the anxiety white society has typically had about black male sexuality and, to be blunt, size. 

• In the south, during the days of lynching, black men would often be castrated.  In films, they're typically killed first and usually by a phallic symbol like a sword, a gun, a spike, etc. 

Examples in FilmExamples in Film• Hence, the connection between stereotypes

of black man as sexual threats and the use of phallic symbols in film.

• Examples include Dirty Harry, Conan the Barbarian (1982); Live and Let Die (1972).

Conan the Barbarian (1982)Directed by John Milius

Upholding Patriarchal PowerUpholding Patriarchal Power“Crime films of the early 1970s, including Don

Siegel’s Dirty Harry, reflected “white anxiety” about the black self-activity and subjectivity of

the 1960s as well as about economic stagnation by reconfiguring the genre to

present authoritarian white male heroes as the only remedy for a disintegrating society . . [in Dirty Harry] criminals and civil libertarians of both genders are coded as “female” forces

undermining patriarchal power.” – George Lipsitz, “Genre Anxiety and Racial Representation in 1970s

Cinema”

Summary of PointsSummary of Points• Genre conventions appeal to audiences who

take pleasure in their ahistorical familiarity. • But genres are also ideological, often

reflecting broad social changes.• Race and gender play a crucial role in genre

representation.• In the late 1960s and early 1970s, some

genre films reflected and advocated for social change while others reinforced genre conventions and as a way to reinforce social and cultural conventions. 16

Author’s Final PointAuthor’s Final Point“The directors of these 1970s films had

different agendas, ideologies, and interests. None of them intended either a

purely ideological statement or a self-conscious innovation in genre form . . .

Whether acknowledged overtly or covertly, the social crises of the early 1970s

suffused these films with an instability that posed serious challenges to traditional

genre conventions.” – George Lipsitz, “Genre Anxiety and Racial Representation in

1970s Cinema”

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Blaxploitation: Setting the ContextBlaxploitation: Setting the Context

Lecture 10: Part II

Foxy Brown (1974)Directed by Jack Hill

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Sidney PoitierSidney Poitier• Poitier was the leading black male actor in

America in the 1960s – and virtually the only one.

• He symbolized in Hollywood films of the 1950s and 1960s the rising young American black man.

• Poitier was the key to the commercial success of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner because he was well recognized and acceptable to the white audience.

Rejecting Sidney PoitierRejecting Sidney Poitier• However, by 1967 and the triple success of

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, To Sir with Love and In the Heat of the Night, black audiences began to reject the kinds of characters played by Sidney Poitier and the racial social problem films he appeared in.

• Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner in particular was harshly criticized by black and white critics for its shallowness, its liberal piety and lack of realism.

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New RepresentationNew Representation• New representations of African Americans

began to depict them as more masculine; they were not always suppressing their physicality or emotion in deference to threatened white audiences.

• In contrast to Poitier, these heroes were often physical, militant and/or politicized.– Jim Brown in The Dirty Dozen (1967)– Woody Strode in Che (1969)– Fred Williamson in M*A*S*H (1970)

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Industry TroubleIndustry Trouble• From 1967 – 1976, studios, distressed by

their dwindling profits and fading audience, turned over the keys of the kingdom to “the movie brats” a generation of young directors who had been– Film school graduates– Influenced by European art films– Profoundly affected by contemporary history

• They made a number of films aimed at younger audiences that embraced social realism and tough, complex themes. 22

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The New HollywoodThe New Hollywood• Among the most popular of these films

were Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider (1969) and Robert Altman’s M*A*SH (1970).

• Other seminal films of the period include Bonnie and Clyde, The Wild Bunch, The Graduate, Five Easy Pieces, Chinatown, Midnight Cowboy and Mean Streets.

• These films were informed by the concerns of an era, as well as the end of the Production Code in 1968.

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New Black FilmsNew Black Films• During this time of Hollywood financial

struggle, doors opened for a few African American directors as well, including:

– Gordon Parks – The Learning Tree, 1969– Ossie Davis – Cotton Comes to Harlem, 1970– Melvin van Peebles – Watermelon Man, 1970

• These films and a few others like them subverted traditional Hollywood representations of blackness.

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An Honest DepictionAn Honest Depiction• These directors were rejecting not only the

sanitized, desexualized black figure presented by Poitier, but also the more masculine figures played by Brown and Williamson, who they felt were still subjugated in white narratives.

• The wanted to see an honest depiction of blacks, a black POV and a black worldview.

• Some of these films were financially successful, opening the door for more.

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Blaxploitation as GenreBlaxploitation as Genre

Lecture 10: Part III

Blacula (1972)Directed by William Crain

What is Blaxploitation?What is Blaxploitation?• Blaxploitation: A genre of American film of

the 1970s – 50 or so were made, on limited budgets – featuring largely African-American casts and with African American actors in lead roles.

• The movies were usually action-adventures set in the urban ghetto.

• They featured violence and sexualized black characters and situations – a departure from previous black-themed films.

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Ramping up ProductionRamping up Production• Desperate over their

financial downturn, Hollywood upped production of black-themed films from 6 in 1969 to 18 in 1972.

• Hollywood’s shift towards a more black-oriented product created the boom of the Blaxploitation genre. 28

Sweet Sweetback . . .Sweet Sweetback . . .• Political and economic conditions in 1971

made possible Melvin Van Peebles Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song which became a big hit and launched the genre.

• Sweet Sweetback was an independent film that Van Peebles brilliantly marketed.

• The movie, once controversial, tells the story of a black man who challenges the oppressive white establishment, a template that other Blaxploitation films would follow.

Pause the lecture and watch the clip from Sweet Sweetback. 29

ShaftShaft• Sweet Sweetback was followed a few

months later in 1971 by Gordon Parks’ Shaft.• The movie was originally written for a white

actor, but with the popularity of Sweetback and the formula it innovated, along with Hollywood’s desire to woo black audiences, the protagonist was changed to black.

• The movie was hugely successful and spawned an Oscar winning soundtrack by Issac Hayes.

Pause the lecture and watch the clip from Shaft. 30

A Flood of ProductionsA Flood of Productions“After Shaft in 1971, there came a flood of productions, extending through 1974, that

while they crudely tried to emulate the success of Shaft and Sweetback, repeated,

filled in, or exaggerated the ingredients of the Blaxploitation formula, which usually

consisted of a pimp, gangster, or their baleful female counterparts, violently acting out a revenge or retribution motif against corrupt whites in the romanticized confines of the

ghetto or inner city.”– Ed Guerrero, “The Rise and Fall of Blaxploitation” 31

Energy and StyleEnergy and Style“These elements were fortified with liberal doses of gratuitous sex and drugs and the

representation of whites as the very inscription of evil. And all this was rendered in the alluring visuals and aggrandized sartorial fashions of the black underworld and to the

accompaniment of black musical scores that were usually of better quality than the films

they energized.” – Ed Guerrero, “The Rise and Fall of Blaxploitation”

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Examples from the GenreExamples from the Genre• The 50 or so

Blaxploitation films included:– Black Jesus (1971)– Superfly (1972)– Blacula (1972)– Cleopatra Jones (1973)– Gordon’s War (1973)– Foxy Brown (1974)Pause the lecture and watch the

clip from Superfly33

Social FeaturesSocial Features“Where white suburban America saw violence

and destruction, black audiences saw resistance to the specific wrongs of the inner

city, which included disenfranchisement, poverty, decay and police brutality. The films were accused of being one-dimensional and

needlessly violent by many reviewers, yet they addressed a facet of their audience’s experience, even to the extent of quoting

imagery similar to that seen on TV.”– Paula Massood, “Black City Cinema: African American Urban

Experiences in Film”

Business as UsualBusiness as Usual• While African-American filmmakers were

substantially involved in making early movies in this genre, their participation in subsequent productions was minimal.

• Dominant Hollywood – white and male – flush again from the success of the counterculture films, began to control production.

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The Fate of the GenreThe Fate of the Genre• Hollywood had abandoned Blaxploitation and

other counterculture films by the mid-1970s.• Out of its fiscal crisis, the studios returned to

the conservative filmmaking they had engaged in since the silent era.

• Black critics and intellectuals also contributed to the demise of Blaxploitation, complaining about the negative representation of blacks.

• By the end of the decade, only one black star existed in Hollywood: Richard Pryor.

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Writing About Film: Using Sources IWriting About Film: Using Sources I

Lecture 10: Part IV

Superfly (1972)Directed by Gordon Parks Jr.

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Summary: Tips and Suggestions ISummary: Tips and Suggestions I• Whenever you critically engage specific

topics and terms, you must provide definition and context.

• In critical film writing, understand the difference between plot and representation.

• Every section in your paper must reiterate your thesis.

• Keep it to one topic per paragraph. • Stick to the film to be analyzed.

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Summary: Tips and Suggestions IISummary: Tips and Suggestions II• Do not include more than a few lines of

plot summary in your paper. • In a critical paper, don’t include opinionated

language.  In other words, no evaluations! • The revision process is fundamental to the

writing process. It is most crucially about streamlining and enhancing ideas and arguments to make them strong, clear, organized, convincing.

• Get help!

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Using Sources as SupportUsing Sources as Support• Sources should only support

your argument; always proceed your own voice and thesis.

• Use sources to– Contribute to your thesis by

supporting your argument point– Provide context or background

for your topic.– Offering a counterargument for

you to refute.

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Use Sources JudiciouslyUse Sources Judiciously• Do not use sources to speak for you!• Do not use quotations that repeat your

points.• Avoid quoting more than is needed.• Brief quotations are generally more to the

point than long passages, as too many lengthy quotations weaken the flow of your argument and muddle your voice.

• Integrate research into your argument; don’t let it stand for your argument.

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Integrate and ExplainIntegrate and Explain• Introduce direct quotations with your own

words, which explain to your reader how to understand or interpret the quotation.

• After quoting, explain the significance of quotations; never end a paragraph or section with a quote.

• Use direct quotations only when the author's wording is necessary for your analysis or particularly effective.

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ExampleExample“In The Devil Finds Work, James Baldwin argues that The Birth of a Nation “cannot be called dishonest; it has the Niagara force of an obsession.” 5 The obsessive

force of The Birth of a Nation comes as a logical consequence of its function as film legitimating the “common sense” of white

supremacy.” 6

– George Lipsitz, “Genre Anxiety and Racial Representation in 1970s Cinema”

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Be True to the OriginalBe True to the Original• End citation alone is not sufficient for direct

quotations; place all direct quotations within quotation marks, as in the previous example.

• Be sure to copy quotations exactly as they appear, using ellipsis to omit words or sections, and brackets for modifications to grammar.

• “None of [the directors] intended either a purely ideological statement or a self-conscious innovation in genre form . . .”

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Get Help!Get Help!• Uses sources takes practice and it can

sometimes be confusing so get help when you need it.

• Review your discipline's main professional reference material on writing – MLA, Chicago, APA – among other.

• Ask your professors and instructors.• Use the library support staff! They know this

stuff very well.

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End of Lecture 10 End of Lecture 10

Next Lecture: Laughing Mad about Black Masculinity