my conclusion from my study and it's over 50 years of studying black images in film Hollywood has never had an interest in black folk as I told you before it's always been whenever filmmakers Hollywood producers whenever they've dealt with the theme of blacks it's always been reactionary never pro action arey the antecedents of blaxploitation was Sidney Poitier slap Raymond st. jaques if he hollers and Jim Brown Sidney's films fell out of favor with the new black militancy and the other thing that you have to contextualize and the zeitgeist of the time was that when they
brought on Raymond st. Jack and Jim Brown you had the riots the fact of the matter however is that law and order have broken down in Detroit Michigan pillage looting murder and arson have nothing to do with civil rights and Johnson appointed a Kerner commission to study the cause of the riots on July 29th President Johnson established a special Advisory Commission on civil disorders to delve deeply into the social soul of the nation it will be led by Illinois Governor Otto Kerner a New York City Mayor John V Lindsay so in that study the famous
lines it came as a conclusion we had America going into two directions one black one white two societies and what the other thing that was pointed out is that would cause one of the causes of the riots was that blacks never saw themselves in the media as other than brutes criminals negative plus in film I'm one of the guys say hey where are our black heroes introducing to cops only a mother could love meet coffin ed Johnson and gravedigger Jones two of New York's finest cotton comes to Harlem was first released Ossie Davis at the
helm MGM who the stars Raymond st. John and Godfrey Cambridge why are those two remember there was always an attempt to make Raymond st. John a star so he had some background but with Godfrey Cambridge I mean you know there's two tough cops cuz Raymond was off the hook his fierceness was there the thing is MGM's taking a chance with it so they don't want once again if we're gonna have black men up there right away the politics of representation as well we're gonna have to tone these boys down copy Cambridge you're not gonna compare
him to Jim Brown Jim Brown was radical he was he was on cotton comes to Harlem relatively was a big success Wow how do we follow this up my man comes out he makes sweet back it's bad ass song nobody went to see that film personally I'm going to say piece of crap as far as I'm concerned okay take issue with me piece of crap behind to the gun you supposed to Thomas Kelly done everything's about timing would help get that going was the support of the Black Panthers what's the name gave it a big
write-up go see this film they wanted to tie in Huey Newton hearing it revolutionary this and all of that what had a lot of brothers going to see it was a whole lot of stuff going on in it you know big no did you proud babe Oh would you wouldn't take them off if I did I can't not every goddamn thing don't you first things first let's read X by an all-white jury what did he introduce in that film black and white six black men and black women making love mm-hmm a black man striking a
white man because he kills the cop all right but we can also call that film and igg er on the run because all through the movie that's what he's doing running he follows sweep back up was something that was more accepted mainstream the film that really get things going was what share chef's is gay and the other thing you know you talk about the phallic thing you know you know chef but they had a big fight Gordon Parks I had a big fight over he wanted Richard Roundtree who was a model you go through some
of the old web eni's you see Richard Roundtree modeling I don't have a lot of people wear this they fought over him wearing a mustache because usually what happens is the troupe for heroes you don't give them a mustache the only one who helped get get away with that was Clark Gable but you know if we talk about what stereotypes do or what accepted images they're shorthand so if you have a blonde she's dumb you have someone with glasses and a pipe he's smart he's short so you put the mustache that's the villain they gave
finally they consent okay we'll let him have mustard but I was a phony mustache that Roundtree was when are you aware that I never knew that okay and Roundtree was black and beautiful and he looked good in that leather he had it together [ __ ] named John share just found him what now I'm a black man I dug it but now the sisters had something to look at also and it's a black male dark man being cool suave and kicking but [Music] cooler than bullet rated-r if you want to see Cher ask your mum
big success saved MGM took it out of bankruptcy and and and and what's the name you know he only got about twelve thousand dollars for that role Richard Roundtree so everything the door and that was it then the term blaxploitation the reaction to Superfly but the scene me and my brother in the theater and that love scene with Sheila and Ron and the way they filmed it and we said oh my goodness no you didn't and Sheila I got to speak to her and she told me tree she called around Richard Roundtree she called him
tree she's his tree got me to part because they wanted an actress with bigger boobs since she didn't have what they wanted they focused on something else on her Anatomy and that scene was like I still feel they could it because I remember seeing it and she's still embarrassed by today but I said oh this is now we're seeing black women that had us lusting after loving and and and being attracted to because one of the other things I failed to mention was growing up not only did I want to be a white man I
also wanted to make love to Virginia mayo Rhonda Fleming if names you have to look up but brainwashed you yes brother season now I'm looking at Pam Grier black chocolate Gloria Hendry now we talking this is something for us you're gonna work for me until I tell you to quit you don't own me Pig and no [ __ ] tells me when I can split who the [ __ ] do you think you're talking to I'm talking to you redneck [ __ ] when we saw Ron O'Neal in the beginning he's learning kungfu well you
know that's sitting up something so he's getting in a fight with the cops mm-hmm and then so hold it there and the guy who pulls the gun on him and you know who that is I'm not let's say sure okay the producer yes yeah kill me whedon kill me like you killed scattered you are one big pig why are you talking ma'am you know we'd get you and he says what cuz you've seen him in a scene with some white boys he said you're gonna do what you ain't gonna do nothing to me case you
thinking I'm trying to pull some of that old-time [ __ ] [ __ ] on you captain I think you ought to know something I had the very best killers there are white killers white ones baby so you better take good care of me nothing nothing better happen to one hair my gorgeous hair can you dig it then when he walks off and we can't lose sight the other thing that was popular with black boys Asian the music okay and he walks up to Paris me oh that was these films they help quell those riots
because remember we had the colonel Commission study and why we had all these riots these films helped to calm that down I called it rioting in the movie theaters because all of our anger and our angst we were able to vent and seeing people who look like us kick the white man's behind and what was the subtitle of blaxploitation get whitey for every drop of black blood spilled a white man pays he had a plan to stick it to the man the man see we were beating the man and so I call it rioting in
the movie theater because this was writing without destroying anything it was a catharsis for us my name is Charles woods and you're watching real black now I'm a baby boomer when I was growing up I never saw blacks kissing in the movies and when I started studying film I learned why I woke Pam Grier in a movie called Friday Foster and I played don tada a pimp I kind of had this part down I don't know if I could do it today but back then in the day I could play you a pimp you
