CIN270Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Blaxploitation, Sidney Poitier
11 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017
CIN270Y1
CLASS 10
What is “Blaxploitation”?
• Approximately 60 films made in – and outside of – Hollywood from 1969-1974
• Centered on BLACK characters, BLACK stories
• Feature mostly black casts and other film labourers – directors, writers, set/costume
designers, etc.
• Contemporary stories (set in the 1970s), set in the inner cities – distinctively
contemporary stories
“Exploitation”?
• Black stories + Exploitation = Blaxploitation
• Why “Exploitation”? / What does this mean?
- Advertising, promotion
- A recurring type of subject matter crime, heists
- A particular manner of production
The 1960s
• But Blaxploitation has a deeper meaning re: American racism
• Black + Exploitation the history of slavery and segregation
• Blaxploitation: the 1960s civil rights movement & Black Power
• Inner city riots; police brutality; marches, protests, etc.
• “black films” are a political response to such conditions
Ex. opening title card of Sweet Sweetback Badassssss Song (1971) reads “Starring THE
BLACK COMMUNITY” and then the dedication is “to the Brothers and Sisters who had
enough of the Man”
Race & Racism in Hollywood
• Blaxploitation received as works of DEFIANCE
• They were assertive; a rejection of RACIST American society
• They also rejected racist representations in Hollywood
• Hollywood images: unrelated to the realities of black America
Race & Hollywood
• Hollywood: a history of racial stereotyping
• In the silent period, “biological” distinctions often signified inferiority
• Birth of a Nation (1915) blacks are characterized as inferior to whites
• The film seeks to reverse the Civil War’s outcome
- Civil War is 186101865
- There was a revolution in America 1776-1783 founding of the nation/liberated
itself/colonizers
• Became a union with a single sovereign government
Race & Racism in Hollywood (Pt. 2)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
A recurring type of subject matter crime, heists. The 1960s: but blaxploitation has a deeper meaning re: american racism, black + exploitation the history of slavery and segregation, blaxploitation: the 1960s civil rights movement & black power. Inner city riots; police brutality; marches, protests, etc: black films are a political response to such conditions. Ex. opening title card of sweet sweetback badassssss song (1971) reads starring the. Black community and then the dedication is to the brothers and sisters who had enough of the man . Race & racism in hollywood: blaxploitation received as works of defiance, they were assertive; a rejection of racist american society, they also rejected racist representations in hollywood, hollywood images: unrelated to the realities of black america. In the silent period, biological distinctions often signified inferiority: hollywood: a history of racial stereotyping, birth of a nation (1915) blacks are characterized as inferior to whites, the film seeks to reverse the civil war"s outcome.
