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Black Caesars and foxy Cleopatras : a history of blaxploitation cinema / Odie Henderson.

by Henderson, Odie, author.

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New York : Abrams Press, [2024]

African Americans in motion pictures.

Blaxploitation films -- United States -- History and criticism.

9781419758416 (hardcover) :

1419758411 (hardcover) :

292 pages ; 23 cm

Prologue -- What happened before cotton came to Harlem? -- 1970: what will it be in '70? -- Ain't now, but it's gonna be -- Stop! Or my director will shoot!: a Hollywood mystery -- 1971: how it got done in '71 -- "Soulsville," Shaft, and long-time women -- Coming back to collect some dues -- A side hustle: the case for UpTight -- 1972: what did they do in '72? -- The Citizen Kane of blaxploitation -- Interview: a chat about blaxploitation westerns and Buck and the Preacher -- Dracula was a redneck -- From the asphalt jungle to the concrete jungle -- What's happening in the CLEAN world? -- 1973: plenty to see in '73 -- Nurse Coffy and Cleopatra Jones -- Pimps are everywhere, even on Sesame Street -- When Bond met blaxploitation -- Payin' the cost to be the boss -- You can't judge a movie by its color -- Once again, injustice for Bill Gunn -- Shaft in Africa... and on television -- When blaxploitation spooked the gov'ment -- Jim Kelly's too busy lookin' good -- 1974: much to adore in '74 -- Black belts, hard ways, and woof tickets -- Interview: exploring the wild world of genre filmmaking with producer Jeff Schechtman -- Foxy Brown, Foxier Fellini -- Possession is nine-tenths of the lawsuit -- The Cosby-Poitier trilogy I: because I'm from off the corners -- Werewolf breaks and zombie hit men -- Make yours a happy home -- Interview: a millennial's take on blaxploitation movies -- 1975: eaten alive in '75 -- Pam, Pam, and more Pam -- The Cosby-Poitier trilogy II: Biggie Smalls is da illest -- Cooley High harmony -- Dolemite is his name -- Django, chained -- Blaxploitation rides the range -- I'm mahogany, and you're NOTHING! -- A side hustle: I didn't know where I was going to -- 1976-1978: when blaxploitation learned its fate -- Joel Schumacher, voice of Black America?! -- A side hustle: the top ten best blaxploitation songs -- Don't nobody bring me no bad news -- Epilogue.

"In 1971, two films grabbed the movie business, shook it up, and launched a genre that would help define the decade. Melvin Van Peebles's Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, an independently produced film about a male sex worker who beats up cops and gets away, and Gordon Parks's Shaft, a studio-financed film with a killer soundtrack, were huge hits, making millions of dollars. Sweetback upended cultural expectations by having its Black rebel win in the end, and Shaft saved MGM from bankruptcy. Not for the last time did Hollywood discover that Black people went to movies too. The Blaxploitation era was born. Written by film critic Odie Henderson, Black Caesars and Foxy Cleopatras is a spirited history of a genre and the movies that he grew up watching, which he loves without irony (but with plenty of self-awareness and humor). Blaxploitation was a major trend, but it was never simple. The films mixed self-empowerment with exploitation, base stereotypes with essential representation that spoke to the lives and fantasies of Black viewers. The time is right for a reappraisal, understanding these films in the context of the time, and exploring their lasting influence." --Publisher's description.

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