Issues in Interdisciplinarity 2019-20/History in Blaxploitation Cinema

Poster for Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971), the film generally regarded as kickstarting the Blaxploitation genre.

Blaxploitation is a subgenre of exploitation films produced in the 1970s, which controversially exploited 'symbolic meanings of blackness' to entice a growing audience of African-American cinemagoers. These films were produced by a predominantly black crew and were the first to depict strong black protagonists backed by a supporting cast of relatable black characters. However, these films have been criticised due to their excessive use of violence, profanity and sexualised content and their potential impact on black youth.

The impact of these films can be analysed from a range of disciplinary perspectives. Whilst an economist may view the subgenre as a successful venture that generated an income for studios and helped to revitalise a dying industry, a film studies scholar or moral philosopher may make arguments that delve beyond financial success and consider the context and social impact that blaxploitation films have had.

Economics

History

Historically, the study of economic ideas had traditionally been the realm of moral philosophy. However, as economic systems became more complex throughout the Renaissance and Enlightenment periods, so too did their study. In the 19th century, scholars specialised in the subject and academic journals and textbooks such as Marshall’s Principles of Economics were published, heralding the professionalisation of economics as an academic discipline. As a discipline, economics focuses on production and dealing with phenomena such as prices, money and markets. When looking at Blaxploitation cinema, applied microeconomic theory could be used to establish whether the films benefited the economy and its agents. Economic principles surrounding resource allocation and the demographics of the labour pool can be considered by economists when viewing the Blaxploitation film movement.

Economics in Blaxploitation Cinema

Profit and loss is a key principle of microeconomic theory, a concept which stems from the supply and demand curve. This makes is easy to make an economic argument in favour of Blaxploitation as the films generated a lot of money and helped to revitalise a declining industry. It is especially important to consider the economic situation of Hollywood after the U.S. Supreme Court antitrust ruling of 1948 in which the main studios lost their monopoly on the film industry. The movie Shaft, for example, is claimed to have saved the studio MGM from bankruptcy as it grossed over $16 million after its first year.

Blaxploitation films enabled the development of black producers, directors and actors, welcoming a more diverse specialist workforce to Hollywood. On a local level, this reduced unemployment and aided the development of the black workforce. Jim Brown reiterates this view stating that: "Maybe the Black films weren't of the highest quality, but Black people were getting experience in the industry". Dr Eithne Quinn, a historian at the University of Manchester, although recognising the violent and sexual nature of movies such as Shaft and Superfly, acknowledges the fact that there have rarely ever been more black workers on a film production in US history.

Film Studies

History

A photograph of Richard Roundtree, who was an iconic actor during the 1970s starring in films such as "Shaft".

Film studies emerged as a discipline in the 20th century, as scholars became interested in the artistic, cultural and political character of cinema and its impact on society. Film studies is tied to film theory, which emerged in the early 20th century, and reiterated the relationship between cinema and “society at large” including the impact of individual viewers. Louis Delluc, a French film Director, affirmed that “cinema will make us all comprehend the things of this world as well as force us to recognize ourselves.''

Film Studies in Blaxploitation Cinema

Certain film critics judged Blaxploitation films based solely on their aesthetic quality. For example, Clayton Riley saw 'Shaft' as lacking both style and substance. It is, however, impossible for film studies to disregard the context of Blaxploitation films due to their historical and social impact. Salisbury Tracey explains that Blaxploitation was a historic movement in which Black people “seized control of their own creative expression".  Regardless of whether these implications were positive or negative, Dr. Eithne Quinn also describes this era of cinema as a "rich moment in black cultural history". Blaxploitation films were responsible for the insertion of leading black actors across cinema. As Melvin Van Peebles said “The black audience finally gets a chance to see some of their own fantasies acted out - about rising out of the mud and kicking some ass”; Blaxploitation helped to define a new identity for black people. Joshua K. Wright also suggests that these films reflected the power struggle of Black people at the time, thus providing an alternative form of resistance.

Ethics

History

In the West, moral philosophy is considered to have emerged Greece with the work of the Sophists. While discussion of ethical matters is evident in the work of pre-Socratic philosophers such as Democritus, it was only following societal changes in the fifth century BCE that an interrogation of existing ethical concepts became necessary. Homeric notions of 'good' based on social hierarchy lost their relevance whilst an increased awareness of other cultures created questions surrounding the 'local' or 'universal' nature of moral rules. Moral concepts became confused, leaving the Sophists to define moral terms and explore what it means to live a good life. As such, ethical theories may best be understood as attempting to answer Socrates' question: ''how should one live?"

Ethics in Blaxploitation Cinema

One theory is Jeremy Bentham’s Utilitarianism, which views ‘good’ as reducible to pleasure. For Bentham, a good action is one that results in a positive ‘net utility’, meaning more pleasure is produced than pain. This ‘net utility’ can be calculated using the ‘hedonic calculus’, a series of seven factors weighted numerically. When analysing Blaxploitation cinema through a utilitarian lens we can see the importance of both the pleasure produced in the audiences who flocked to see these films as well as in the studio executives who profited from their success. However, a utilitarian would weigh this against the pain that may result from highly stereotyped representations of the black community. Despite this, the impressive box office returns may ultimately suggest the ‘net utility’ of these films to be positive, leading the utilitarian to brand them ‘good’, a declaration that is made crucial due to the history of the discipline.

History of the Disciplines and Blaxploitation

In attempting to understand the impact of Blaxploitation, economics provides us with a largely quantitative approach, focusing entirely on produce, capital and labour. As the discipline has developed to focus on these factors, an economist may argue that the discipline allows for an objective analysis of Blaxploitation. A film studies professor may analyse the issue from a qualitative lens, examining the movement’s cinematic quality as well as the impact it had on society, whilst neglecting the financial rewards reaped by the Blaxploitation movement. A moral philosopher's perspective may align closer to that of the film studies scholar, as the discipline also takes a qualitative approach, despite it approaching Blaxploitation from a more objective angle. A greater emphasis will be given to trying to define whether or not the films were right or wrong, using ethical systems such as Bentham's Hedonic Calculus. It is clear that the histories of these disciplines render them inherently restrictive, ignoring key factors explored by the others.