Blaxploitation is not only the theme of this month, but a culture. They were the first movies to use funk and soul music in their soundtracks, thus revolutionizing the way that we listen to movies. Modern cinema and cultural diversity owes a lot to blaxploitation. This month, let’s find out why, starting with Dolemite. We visit an old classic review in order to understand a bit just what blaxploitation is, other than one of my favorite genres of film.
Rudy Ray Moore might not have reinvented cinema, but he is a pioneer when it comes to comedy. Moore peppered his bits with enough four-letter words and sexual innuendo (and not so innuendo) to make Richard Pryor and Redd Foxx blink. He found great success doing comedy party albums, and he also single-handedly shaped what would become hip-hop music, by performing rap before Grand Master Flash and The Sugar Hill Gang even bought a Dr. Seuss book. Moore’s stand-up creation Dolemite, was quickly turned into a film character (and later an icon of “blaxpoitation” films), even though Dolemite more closely resembles the style of Bruce Lee films. Funded by Moore out of his own pocket (and helped by sales of his album Eat Out More Often), Dolemite‘s high-flying karate heroics, little-man-versus-big-man storylines, and bad dubbing work on many different levels, although none very high-brow.
One again, we find ourselves at the end of the work week. For those of you who missed us last Friday (and we know you didn’t), fear not, we have returned once more. If you were too busy watching your mortgage company go under this week, odds are you missed it.
Schools, could we get you to file this under “surprised it took them this long”, please? Thanks, you’re a peach.