Blaxploitation Blaxploitation Business statistics Category="Film genres"Category="Portmanteaus"Blaxploitation is a Portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation". It is a film genre which emerged in the United States in the early 1970s when many exploitation films were made that targeted the urban African American audience. The films featured primarily black actors, and were the first to have soundtracks of Funk and Soul music. Although criticized by civil-rights groups for their use of stereotypes, they addressed the great and newfound demand for afrocentric entertainment, and were immensely popular among black audiences.

Almost all blaxploitation films featured exaggerated sexuality and violence. When set in the North of the U.S., they tended to take place in the ghetto and deal with pimps, drug dealers, and hitmen. When set in the South, the movies most often took place on a plantation and dealt with Slavery and Miscegenation. Controversy was heightened by the fact that these films were often written and directed by white men, although movies created by African Americans with similar themes have also been labeled as "blaxploitation."

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the Urban League joined together to form the Coalition Against Blaxploitation. Backed by many black film professionals, this group received much media exposure and quickened the death of the genre by the late 1970s. Though still regarded as racist by many, some film scholars defend the Cinematic genre as instrumental in bringing greater screen presence to African Americans. The films also paved the way for "mainstream" movies to deal with urban issues.

Famous blaxploitation films

Modern media referencing blaxploitation

Recent movies such as Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) and Undercover Brother (2002) , as well as Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown (1997) and Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (2003), feature nods to the blaxploitation genre. John Singleton's remake of Shaft (2000) would be modern-day interpretations of blaxploitation—this trend goes back to the early 1990s with films like Strictly Business (1991) and Juice (1992).

I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) is a famous Spoof of urban blaxploitation films, featuring several of the male stars of that genre (with the exception of Fred Williamson). A later film, Original Gangstas (1996), also featured many of those stars, but was made as a tribute to the genre. Pootie Tang (2001) also parodies many blaxploitation elements. Robert Townsend's comedy Hollywood Shuffle (1987) features a young black actor who is tempted to take part in a white-produced blaxploitation film.

The popular Anime series Cowboy Bebop features several episodes with blaxploitation themes, particularly Mushroom Samba which extensively parodies blaxploitation movies.

The 1997 film Hoodlum starring Laurence Fishburne was an attempt at gangster blaxploitation, portraying a fictional account of black mobster Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson.

The Hebrew Hammer (2003) is another parody of blaxploitation films, but with a Jewish protagonist (and was therefore called "Jewsploitation" by some).

In 2004, Mario Van Peebles, Melvin's son, released BAADASSSSS!, a movie based on the making of his father's movie in which Mario played his father.

The animated series Family Guy showed a cutaway based on blaxploitation movies in the form of a parody of Back to the Future, starring the main character Peter's distant cousin as "Marty McSuperFly."

In The Simpsons episode "Simpson Tide" (3G04) a TV announcer says "Next, on Exploitation Theatre...Blackula, followed by Blackenstein, and The Blunchblack of Blotre Blame!

See also

Further reading