A GUIDE TO BLAXPLOITATION FILMS (PART 1)

Originally intended for black audiences in the early 1970's, the movies that became collectively known as Blaxploitation were cinema's response to the civil rights and black power movements that were heavily active at the time. However, as soon as the big-studio Hollywood moguls caught on to their popularity, they appropriated the burgeoning (and financially lucrative) Black-centric films as their own.

The term "Blaxploitation" was coined in 1972 by Junius Griffin when he was the president of the Beverly Hills–Hollywood chapter of the NAACP. Griffin claimed that it was "proliferating offenses" to the black community, as well as promoting racist and criminal stereotypes. He went on to say that these types of films "ripped off Blacks" and were "gnawing away at the moral fiber of our community."

Monster fans weren't left out of the subgenre as films such as ABBY, BLACULA and BLACKENSTEIN (aka BLACK FRANKENSTEIN) were included in the 70's cycle.

Blaxploitation films have endured in popularity since their original releases and many have become cult film favorites. The fanzine, BAAD MUTHA@*!#ERS, published in the UK by Midnight Media in 1996 consists of capsule summaries of various Blaxploitation films accompanied by numerous photos.

FURTHER READING:

• Sticking it to the Man: Revolution and Counterculture in Pulp and Popular Fiction, 1950 to 1980 by Andrew Nette (Editor), Iain McIntyre (Editor) (PM Press, 2019)
• The Essential Harlem Detectives: A Rage in Harlem, The Real Cool Killers, The Crazy Kill, Cotton Comes to Harlem by Chester Himes (Everyman's Library, 2024)