Analysis Of Blaxploitation Films Essay, Research Paper

In today?s culturally diverse, politically correct society, it is

hard to believe that at one time racism was not only accepted as the

norm, but enjoyed for its entertainment value. Individuals of African

descent in North America today take the large, diverse pool of

opportunities offered by the film industry for granted. Much like

Canadian theatre however, there was a time when a black man in any

role, be it servant or slave, was virtually unheard of. It took the

blaxpliotation films of the early nineteen seventies to change the

stereotypical depiction of Black people in American Cinema, as it took

The Farm Story, performed by a small troop of Canadian actors, to

create a Canadian theatre industry. To be more specific, it took the

release of Melvin Van Peebles, Sweet Sweetback?s Baadasssss Song, in

1971, to change the tradition view of Black people in American film.

?Porter?s tom was the first in a long line of socially acceptable

Good Negro characters. Always as toms are chased, harassed, hounded,

flogged, enslaved, and insulted, they keep the faith, n?er turn

against their massas, and remain hearty, submissive, stoic, generous,

selfless, and oh-so-very kind.?(Bogle,4)

The early silent period of cinema introduced five basic

archetypes for Black characters: the Tom, the Coon, the Tragic

Mulatto, the Mammy, and finally, the Brutal Black Buck. America?s

first Black character found manifestation as the aforementioned Uncle

Tom in Edwin S. Porter?s, Uncle Tom?s Cabin, which was released in

1903. ?The paradox was that in actuality Tom wasn?t Black at all.

Instead he was portrayed by a nameless, slightly overweight actor made

up in blackface.?(Boggle, 4) This was a common practice developed by

the theater, and carried over, as were many of the acting techniques,

to silent film. Tom?s presence, and the appearance of the four negro

archetypes which were to follow, served the same purpose: ?to

entertain by stressing negro inferiority.?(Boggle, 4)

Although having no positive effect on the status of Black people

in America socially, the tom character opened the door for Black

actors in cinema. Sam Lucas became the first black man to be cast in

a leading role as a tom, and in 1927, Universal Pictures signed James

B. Lowe, a handsome black actor, for the lead role in the Universal

Pictures production of Uncle Tom?s Cabin. Lowe was chosen to play the

part because film director Harry Pollard, a former blackface actor,

believed he ?fit in with the realistic demands of the times?(Bogle, 6)

Tom was to be followed by the coon, although he remained the

cinematic negro character favorite. Where tom was an endearing

character, the coon provided audiences an object of amusement. Two

variants of the coon soon emerged: the pickaninny and the uncle

ramus.(Bogle, 7) The Pickanny was the first coon type to appear in

cinemas.

?Generally, he was a harmless, little screwball creation whose

eyes popped, whose hair stood on end with the least excitement, and

whose antics were pleasant and diverting.?(Bogle, 7)

The Pickaninny provided audiences with an amusing diversion, and

soon found his way into the hearts of the mass audience. Next to

debut was the pure coon, ?a no-account nigger?, whose unreliable,

crazy, lazy nature was good for nothing but eating and causing

trouble. This character found its pinnacle of success in Rastus, a

good-for-nothing negro featured in a series of films released between

1910 and 1911. The final coon brother would emerge as the eager to

please metaphoric cousin to the tom. Quaint, and na?ve, the Uncle

Ramus character distinguished himself through his comic

philosophizing.(Bogle,8)

In general, the cinematic coon was used to indicate the Black

man?s contentment with his submissive position in society. Also

emerging around this time period is the tragic mulatto: a negro light

enough to pass for white, who must fight against the negro taint to

either rise above his colour, or fall victim to it.

Mammy, a character closely related to the comic coon, was the

next to emerge. Headstrong and abundantly female, Mammy debuted

around 1914. The Mammy role would be perfected by Hattie McDaniel in

the 1930?s. From the mammy roles emerged the Aunt Jemima, a male or

female character who had a bit more tact and were, for the most part,

sweet and congenial.

The final archetype emerged in D.W. Griffith?s The Birth of a

Nation (1915). Depicting life before and after the civil war, all

four archetypes are present in this film. It depicts renegade negroes

who overpower the good-hearted, white southerners and impart on a path

of lechery, vulgarity and crime. The ultimate goal of these wild

beast-men is sexual dominance of the pure, innocent white women. At

the films conclusion, the white men of the ?invisible empire? ride in

to save the day and restore white supremacy in the South. Proudly

discriminating, D. W. Griffith, touted as one of the fore-fathers of

cinema, uses his film mastery to show audiences what happens when

?slaves get uppity?.

The five archetypes would rule in black cinema for the next 50

years. Although Black films did emerge, it was for the most part

produced by white production companies for a black audiences. Black

Independent production companies such as the Ebony Motion Picture

Company began to emerge in the 20?s, but the stereotypes and subject

matter stayed the same. A common theme of social climbing, the

ultimate goal of the negro being suburban living, dominating Black

theatres.(Cham, 20) Throughout the 30?s and 40?s the gangster films

rose to the fore, usually depicting gun-totting, slick-talking negros,

entent on making it big. Despite the presence of Black independent

filmmakers such as George Randall, African American issues were

essentially ignored.

The 50?s and 60?s brought social unrest and the Civil Rights

Movement brought a need for films with a stronger message. The

archetypes of the 20?s and thirties were no longer acceptable, and the

few Hollywood ?race films? (which usually starred Sidney Poitier),

were no longer adequate. ?Hollywood was still unable to discern or

depict the full spectrum of Black American life and culture.?(Cham,

21) In 1971, Black film experienced an epiphany. It came in the form

of a low-budget, badly made French film by the name of Sweet

Sweetback?s Baadasssss Song. It was created almost entirely by one

Black man- Melvin Van Peebles. This marked a radical change in Black

cinema. ?In 1971, Melvin van Peebles dropped a bomb. Sweet Sweetback?s

Baadasssss Song was not polite. It raged, it screamed, it provoked.

It?s reverberations were felt throughout the country. In the Black

community it was both hailed and denounced for it?s sexual rawness,

its macho hero, and its depiction of the community as downpressed and

in need of rescue.?(Diawara, 118)

Van Peebles film sparked an explosion of what would become known

as blaxploitation films. What Sweet Sweetback Baadassss Song did was

interpret Black Stereotypes differently. He, and other Black

directors of the time, took the Black Buck, Coon, and Mammy

stereotypes of the era before and modernized them. ?Mammy? lost

weight and grew an afro, becoming the ultra-stylish diva which was

personified best by actress Pam Grier. The Black Buck emerged

dominant, ready to fight his historical oppressors.

Blaxploitation films acted as a cleansing process, through which

black films were eventually able to accurately depict the African

American experience. Directors such as Spike Lee and Jon Singleton

were able to create ?race films? which confronted the serious urban

issues of the time, without using old stereotypes. It is important

to note, however, that Sweet Sweetback is not considered a

blaxpoitation film, as it is too artistic to be considered such.

Rather, Melvin Van Peebles first film was the catalyst for the

cleansing blast. ?The Farm story? marked a point in time- before it

there was no Canadian identity in theatre, after it there was. In the

same fashion, Melvin Van Peebles? movie marked the moment when African

Americans reclaimed their identity. They were no longer content with

the cinematic roles offered to them, and so they began to create their

own. Although blaxploitation films were later commercialized, their

intent and result stayed consistent, and have created the

ethno-conscious cinema industry we find today.

Bibliography

Bogle, Donald. Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks. New York:

Viking Press, 1973.

Cham, Mye B. Blackframes. Cambridge: The Mit Press, 1988.

Cripps, Thomas. Making Movies Black. New York: Oxford University

Press, 1993.

Diawara, Manthia. Black American Cinema. New York: Routledge, 1993.

Lead, Daniel J. From Sambo to Superspade. Boston: Houghton Mifflin

R>Company, 1976.

Morton, Jim. Am I Black Enough for You? Blaxploitation. 20 Sept.

1998. 22 Nov. 1998.

http://www.popvoid.com/pages/blax/blax(1-10).html Patterson, Lindsay.

Black Films and Film-Makers. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1975.

Sampson, Henry T. Blacks in Black and White: A Source Book on Black

Films. New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press Inc., 1977.