Saturday, June 12, 2010

ain't nothin in the world get Black Dynamite more mad that some jive ass sucka dealin smack to the kids!

On Black Dynamite:

A complete spoof of the 70s Blaxploitation genre, this movie does not take itself seriously at all. With just about the most ridiculous plot ever, the government is trying to sell a brand of malt liquor that shrinks black male's penis size. The big, boss bad guy behind it all goes from an old Vietnam buddy of Black Dynamite's, to the evil Dr. Wu, to final the biggest bad guy of all. Of course, Richard Nixon.

The most important thing about this movie is that it exists. The Blaxploitation genre of the 70s has had such a big cultural influence that almost 40 years later there is still a spoof being made and popularized. And it is still funny. There is still a cultural significance to the fun being poked and the jokes being made about the black culture of the 70s.

This Shaft/Sweetback-eqsue smooth, jive talkin character found again in Black Dynamite is just the same as he was. He doesn't take shit from anyone, he is basically unbeatable in combat, all the ladies love him, he is almost perfect. Black Dynamite is even a hyperbolized version of that already exaggeration of a character. Black Dynamite makes love to seven women at a time, he fights half a dozen people simultaneously and still whoops everyone's butt, he is cool with the pimps and hos, there is nothing he isn't good at. This character is constantly reappearing in Blaxploitation movies, then and now and even in other genres, but he was first popularized and satirized here in Blaxploitation films. Next on the list is Precious

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