Blaxploitation's Many Influences

So what of the post-Blaxploitation era and its influence on popular culture? It’s no accident that the demise of Blaxploitation coincided with the birth of hip-hop culture.  Early b-boys adopted the swagger and attitude of Blaxploitation while adapting its message of black consciousness to fit their needs. Their speech, music and sartorial sense was later packaged and commodified by the same corporate oligarchy that sold their brothers’ steez just 20 years earlier. As hip-hop culture spread, nascent rappers adopted the pose of marginality of the Blaxploitation anti-hero. In particular, the escapist fantasies of West Coast hip-hop were a wink and a nod to Blaxploitation’s pimps and outlaws. Too Short’s hustlers lived outside of “civilized” society while early N.W.A.’s social manifesto codified Van Peebles “bad nigger” while proudly existing in the margins of the dominant society. Existing as second class citizens, post-Blaxploitation urban youth awoke from the American nightmare with an identity crisis. But, by donning the mask of the outlaw persona, they felt secure enough to express the truths of the black experience. It is worth noting that, contrary to popular opinion, Blaxploitation’s influence was more about cultural adaptation than outward mimicry.

In cinema, the impact of the Blaxploitation genre didn’t manifest itself as quickly. Following the demise of Blaxploitation and the rise of the Hollywood blockbuster, films with black star and black stories were miniscule. Hollywood wants to make the most money possible and no longer had to cater to the black audience to stay afloat. Although a few token blacks made it through- Richard Pryor in the 1970s and Eddie Murphy in the 1980s- Hollywood found it most profitable when a black star was paired with a buddy or cast as the comic foil or sidekick. While Pryor’s black oriented vehicles, Which Way is Up (1977) and Greased Lightning (1977) and Blue Collar (1978) were box office flops, the buddy films Silver Streak (1976) and Stir Crazy (1980) were substantially more successful.  Later, the same could be said for Eddie Murphy, whose biracial buddy flicks, 48 Hrs (1982) and Trading Places (1983), had Murphy’s “fish out of water” trickster isolated in white environments. Since Hollywood no longer courted the black dollar, new stereotypes emerged in the post-Blaxploitation era. The “ebony saint” of yore was now a comical foil of white dominance or a grinning conman trapped in the white milieu. 

In order for there to be a new period of black representation on film, black director and writers had to control the modes of production. Directors Robert Townsend and Spike Lee were early proponents of what Lee calls “guerrilla cinema.” Townsend was able to finance Hollywood Shuffle (1987) with $60,000 of his own money that he made acting in a few Hollywood films as well as $40,000 in credit cards. Hollywood Shuffle was a comedy that told the story of Bobby Taylor, a young black actor looking to make it big on his own terms. The film’s satirical vignettes told the story of the black actor in Hollywood who often has to play stereotypical roles to work. They are cleverly drawn from Townsend’s own experiences in Hollywood and the racist and misinformed casting directors who often told Townsend his portrayals weren’t “black enough.” Townsend’s picture was picked by Samuel Goldwyn Jr. and grossed more than $5 million dollars in its first year of release. Townsend proved that a black story could be profitable without explicitly catering to a white audience.

A year earlier, Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It (1986) employed similar modes of production. Using a cast of family and friends, the film had a budget of $175,000 and took place in Spike’s home turf of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. It told the story of Nola Darling, a libidinous young woman, who seems to have to choose between three diverse suitors. Ultimately, she discovers none of them are worth the sacrifice of her body and soul and kicks them all to the curb. Although Lee stated that he didn’t set out to make a feminist picture, the sexual power wielded by the female protagonist is unmistakable. Lee turns the myth of black female sexuality on its ear as Nola utilizes sexual power to satisfy herself and make sound choices. It can be said that it rejects the earlier Pam Grier model that often used sexuality as a tool to mediate tension in the white world. Audiences loved Lee’s first feature and it earned $7 millions dollars in its first 18 months of distribution. Although Townsend never repeated his feature film success and retreated to the small screen, Spike Lee continues to garner critical and commercial success with personal and biographical profiles. From 1988’s explosive Do the Right Thing to his moving portrait of Malcolm X (1992), Lee presents multi-faceted views of the black experience.

By the 1990s, the hip hop generation had come of age and looked for films to speak to their own unique experiences. Police brutality, gang violence and the crack epidemic contributed to the nihilistic outlook of young black men. Boyz in the Hood (1991) was one of the first films to express the long muted feelings of black frustration and anger. Written and directed by John Singleton, it’s a coming of age tale located in South Central Los Angeles. Although the three male protagonists have settled on different ways of escaping “the ‘hood”, their fates are intertwined given the tight social space they exist in. Singleton’s insider depiction of gang life and the dashed aspirations of ghetto life resonated with audiences. Additionally, the subtext of the responsibility of black fathers to raise politicized and culturally aware sons is a direct nod to Blaxploitation era politics.

Released the following year, Juice (1992) presented its social message in a hip hop context. Director of Photography on five of Spike Lee’s films, Earnest Dickerson’s use of shadow and darkness, mostly shot in alleys and project stairwells, gave the film a distinct “film noir” quality. Like Singleton did the year before, Dickerson confronts the audience with the stunted options available to ghetto youth. The pursuit and pursuer narrative, posited in hip hop culture, takes the viewer on a violent sojourn into the abyss of hopelessness. Juice’s gritty mise-en-scene forces the viewer to consider life in world of few options.

The success of these “ghettocentric” films spurred on the new black movie boom or the 1990s. Made relatively cheaply, Hollywood saw the same dollar signs it had during the first black movie boom, Blaxploitation. Following a similar formula, the studio would make a relatively small investment, feature a hip hop star for box office appeal and stand to make 3 to 5 times more than their initial investment. From the neo-Blaxploitation gangster flick New Jack City (1991) to the Hughes brothers’ post-Vietnam social statement Dead Presidents (1995) and slick, long form video Belly (1998), the new black film boom was profitable and thusly, here to stay.

Blaxploitation films acted as a sieve, through which black modes of expression were eventually able to accurately depict the African-American experience.  Although later stripped of social and political content and commercialized, Blaxploitation films never lost their intent and as a result it birthed the ethnocentric film and music industries of the new millennium.