The year is 1971 and Melvin Van Peebles is starring in, writing, directing, producing, scoring and editing Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song which would go on to kickoff the Blaxploitation genre. While some may argue Shaft was the first, this was completely from the mind of a Black man. That's not to say that there weren't people of other races who were important to Blaxploitation, or Black film in general. My personal opinion is that this came first, and it came Blacker.
Our film begins with a young boy eating and being coveted by a group of aging prostitutes. As he cleans the brothel one prostitute rapes the young man. We fast forward and see that he now performs in sex shows. His boss Beetle sends him down town with some police officers to fake a charge to clear a crime from the books. As he spends the day with the officer they eventually arrest a young Black Panther named Mu-Mu who they beat. During the beating Sweetback has a change of heart and puts both officers into comas. We spend the rest of the movie following Sweetback as he tries to escape towards Mexico.
There isn't a ton to the plot, the story is simple. Sweetback runs, the cops beat some innocent Black people in an attempt to get answers. He beats some cops, this is a classic plot, but this film helped make it so. The camera work isn't exactly stellar, but there are some interesting visual effects used as Sweetback runs through the city but nothing that will blow your mind. The music does a lot of heavy lifting in these scenes but if you had Earth Wind & Fire you would let them do the heavy lifting as well.
A lot has been said over the years how this is the first film where the Black man beats the police at their own game. That alone makes it revolutionary but I feel like it plays with some other important concepts as well. There's the commodification of sex and the exploitation of sex workers. I think one of the most prevalent most discussed is the silencing of Black boys as victims.
I hate that when people refer to the opening moments of the film they call it a sex scene. UK required it to be an altered scene, but still called it a sex scene. It's a rape scene, and should be treated as such. It goes to show that sexual abuse of men isn't treated as a serious issue, and the film makes note of that. The child is an object in the opening scene, and doesn't even receive a name. The other women in the home know it's wrong, but don't do anything to stop it. They don't hold this woman accountable either, instead they call him Sweetback, the name she gave him during the rape. They congratulate him, and praise him, but he's borderline mute and emotionally stunted.
He spends his life doing sex work, which isn't wrong, but he's manipulated. Beetle shorts him on cash and sets him up for a crime with the police, but he doesn't emote. White people poke and prod him as if he's not a real person, but he doesn't react. He watches police beat Mu-Mu and doesn't react, until Mu-Mu is almost dead. The stoicism is a result of that rape as far as I'm concerned because after that rape he essentially becomes subservient to everyone else.
I love Huey P. Newton and he of course commented on this film and made it required viewing for Black Panthers. He called it one of the first revolutionary Black films and I can't argue with that. However, he would state the rape was Sweetback being "baptized into manhood," and I can't disagree more. The fact that he viewed it as a baptism into manhood is disturbing, but not shocking. There are a lot of Black men who lose their virginity to older women, much older. Many Black men don't realize until later in life, if ever, that they too can be victims. They don't realize how much it effected their lives, and we just don't speak on it. But we should because one of every six Black men has reported being sexually assaulted, but we also have to consider under reporting. While many view it as them actively participating, it's rape. Even when studio audiences laugh at the stories, it doesn't change that. With the work of 1in6 and NSPCC or the discussions opened by NPR, Media Diversified, and others things might begin to change.
Lerone Bennett Jr a Black Historian also voiced some issues with the film. He stated that the film glorified poverty and relied on "big asses," to justify the Blackness and that is not true Blackness, which I also agree with. He would go on to state that the opening scene was "rape of a child by a 40-year old prostitute," that would lead to "emancipation orgasms," which were described as orgasming your way to freedom. It sounds harsh, but it isn't an overstatement. Sweetback is raped, he orgasm to escape. He's working the sex show, orgasms to escape. As he flees the police and other law enforcement he orgasms to work with the bikers for an escape. Bennett would go on to say:
It is necessary to say frankly that nobody ever fucked his way to freedom. And it is mischievous and reactionary finally for anyone to suggest to Black people in 1971 that they are going to be able to screw their way across the Red Sea. Fucking will not set you free. If fucking freed, Black people would have celebrated the millennium 400 years ago
The thing about Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song is that neither of them is completely wrong. The film was revolutionary, just not on screen. The fact that it took so many Black people who really didn't like each other to happen is what's revolutionary. The fact that it had a $150,000 budget and made 15 million is revolutionary. Noted rapist and respectability politics player Bill Cosby put forward $50,000, the Black Panthers promoted the film, Earth Wind & Fire took a discount to help score the film, Melvin performed his own stunts, crew members and gang members brought guns to sets for protection. Permits were filed, but not approved or approved late so changes were made. The fact that this was all done is the revolutionary part. Sweetback fucking his way across the border isn't exciting, but everything around it is. Poet Haki R. Madhubti called it:
A limited money-making, auto-biographical fantasy of the odyssey of one Melvin Van Peebles through what he considered to be the Black community.Again, not exactly a lie. I won't tell you the plot is incredible, the shots are beautiful or any of that. There are moments where people walk in front of the camera or equipment gets in the shot, but this is a classic. Is it my view of the Black Community, not at all. But, this is the start of Blaxploitation for sure. I mean, the man put his kid in a rape scene with a real prostitute, that's a exploitation. This film led to so many other Blaxploitation films being created. Despite what some say these films didn't just show us as pimps, hoes and pushers. There's films with as doctors, lawyers, even Isaac Hayes played a bounty hunter and Barry White was an animated bear. But it all spun from here.
Originally, Melvin Van Peebles tried to rewrite the script of Watermelon Man to be what he called a "Black Power Film," and it didn't work. Instead he created Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. The Black power in this film doesn't come from what's actually seen, because at times it can be a mess. It's too be expected with mostly untrained actors, actual bikers and prostitutes making up the cast. Still, this is the beginning. It showed that by banding together, Black people could make their own films without major studio backing. If you didn't like Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, you could make something else. It was possible, even if it wasn't the best, it was possible.
You can check out some of my short stories at 12 AM Fiction or if you like vampires follow my web serial Exsanguinate and of course hear me on the Powerbomb Jutsu podcast if you enjoy pro wrestling.
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