On this edition of Parallax Views, Thaddeuss Russell and Kamasi Hill of Renegade University join Parallax Views to discuss the course their teaching for RU on 1970s Blaxploitation cinema from Superfly and Shaft to Sweet Sweetback’s Badass Song, Cleopatra Jones, and Foxy Brown starring the Queen of Blaxploitation herself Pam Grier. We discuss the significance of this kind of cinema, how Thad and Kamasi became interested in the genre; the idea of black working class culture vs. black middle class culture; sexuality in black cinema; masculinity in blaxploitation; drugs dealing, and crime in blaxploitation, blaxploitation’s influence on pop culture and hip hop culture; the music of blaxploitation cinema and its influence on sampling in hip hop; the problem of stereotypes and blaxploitation cinema; Civil Rights leadership and the NAACP’s deriding of blaxploitation film; Rudy Ray Moore and Dolemite; the history of hip hop, the projects, and the way blaxploitation can change our perspective on cinema; blaxploitation and the meaning of freedom; Sidney Poitier and the portrayal of African Americans in cinema before the 70s; Bill Cosby; Melvin van Peebles; and much more!
You can sign up for the Renegade University course on Blaxploitation here!
