Misnomer Of Blaxploitation

John Williams
Dr. Fontenot
AFR 198/WRT 120
6 May, 2015
The Misnomer of Blaxploitation: The Explosion of Modern African Films During the 1900’s America was finding itself in the middle of a worldwide abandonment of past morals. Skirts were getting shorter, shirts were getting tighter, and television and movies were starting to hit their adulthood. As this trend grew we also saw the rise of independent African American films all across the country peaking in the 1970’s in what many call the “Blaxploitation Era”. With a name such as this one, we can only assume that it was a dark time for African Americans in the movie industry, however it was just the opposite. Many actors and actresses of time will agree that there was not any exploitation
As we saw in movies such as Imitation of Life, the struggle of being a young African American female at the time was immense. If they could, most of the lighter skinned girls would try to make it seem like they were white. This trend was not just a fantasized movie depiction of a whiny teenage girl, this was a legitimate struggle that black households had to deal with at the time. It was not until movies like Sheba Baby and Foxy Brown starring Pam Grier that we saw the black woman become a true sex icon of an era. Pam Grier in these movies had a killer beauty that she used often to get what she wanted by any means necessary. These movies not only broke from racial constraints but also broke from the sexist constraints that held America down at the time. Pam Grier was a firecracker that went off on anyone that got in her way with little to no help from any man. She was the counter to the male African American superhero. She was as seductive and lustful diva who brought in rave reactions from around the nation as she became the face of the Blaxploitation era. While not only being beautiful and deadly, she also was able to always be one step ahead of the opposition. Thinking about the next move constantly throughout the movie giving her a truly three-dimensional character that was destined to leave her footprint in the movie
I don’t see a group of people being exploited since blacks were given a chance to make their mark on a wide American audience that was accepting them mostly and they were reaping in profits from it. The audience was not being exploited since the movies were for the most part clever and entertaining even for today’s standards. The directors were not exploited because as stated earlier, the movies were bringing in massive profits. Everyone that was involved was benefiting and even the generations to come benefited from its fresh ideas and characters and its use of African Americans in major lead roles. If anything the time period was a ground breaking cinema era that saw the end of many cinematic-racisms and brought about many new positive roles for African Americans. The characters were relatable for the audience, while being likable and dreamy if not anything