I'm aware that the blaxpoitation genre of movie-making was huge back in the day. In an era that is widely understood as "not-a-good-look" for the Blacks of America, there was that call for something strictly for us. As time went on, and the filmmakers in America started to see the market value in being all inclusive across the production spectrum, blacks started popping up in more movies, getting more play time, more accolades, and better roles. Being militant and explicitly pro-black/revolutionary started to become unnecessary and obsolete, and we started to GET OURS. From Eddie Murphy in "Coming to America" to Eddie Murphy in "The Nutty Professor", things slowly changed.
This is not to say that White America-friendly roles didn't exist in the 1960-1970s. But I do feel that there has been a decline in your typical Pam Grier role.
Enter Black Dynamite. That man that's gonna "shake the tree from the roots, rake up the fruits, rip it up out the ground to find out what's goin down."
I really thought that this movie was a joke, a lame joke at that. Who wants to watch a movie that is such a throwback? Do we really need another "Undercover Brother" in these racially sensitive times? And who the heck is Black Dynamite anyways? How much of a spoof will this be? Never one to lie, I was definitely quite suspect.
That was before I saw the film.
Daggone.
Now, I wasn't around for the 70s. I was barely cognizant for the 80s. I was only exposed to a world of Bill Cosby and Reading Rainbow: happy Black people. I wasn't aware of "The Struggle". And any reference to it in the idiot box was pretty much parodied.
But I have to give much kudos to writers, the producers, actors, all involved with the film, because it must have been a HUGE task to do what this film did for me. Don't think that this is the next Spike Lee joint or some life changing movie, because it's not. You won't hate Whitey, you won't paint the White House black, you won't start fighting with nunchucks. But I feel that you may appreciate how far we've come.
Because it's been a while since a movie thoroughly entertained and excited me. Watching it, I was rooting for the good guy, who was also a B.A.. Not Sam Jackson's Shaft. Not Will Smith's Ali (that was a different inspiration, so calm down). I just...I felt like I was transported to a time where being Black was an actual struggle, a clearly defined one at that. In this country, being anything but White will always resemble an uphill battle, but the heat was UP at that time. While this up and coming generation will be more-or-less fighting to make sense and be relevant without sounding like a track on repeat, a generation before mine, they were still fighting to be HEARD and RESPECTED.
Now, there are tons morally wrong, if not questionable with this movie. Not all black heroes were dang-a-lang swanging, pre-hip-hop rhyming, kung-fu fighting militants. Luckily, I'm in my 20s and not as impressionable. But like I said...it made me feel something solid.
So I urge ya'll to check this movie out. When I say thorough, this flick was thorough. And funny as crap. Can you dig?
Phonte's Movie In A Minute
1 comment:
Sounds like a film worth checking out, especially after your review. I pretty much watch any and everything in the line of black films so I too have seen the best and the worse offered.
I remember you saying you'd never seen Purple Rain. Too funny @ However, Appolonia got some tig ole' bitties. She did have those, didn't she?
Post a Comment