Blaxploitation: An Empowering and/ or Disempowering Genre of Black Americans

Abstract

Blaxploitation is a term coined in the United States during the early 1970s. It refers to a subgenre of exploitation films. In the United States, prior to the 1960s, black individuals and black culture, it should be pointed out, were portrayed through the lens of violence and brutality. On the contrary, with the emergence of this genre, they were in lead roles and at once able to incorporate Black Revolutionary Nationalism. In other words, Blaxploitation allowed black actors to be the stars of their own narratives. To understand Blaxploitation, this dissertation looked into this new genre. It revealed how Blaxploitation films came to light and how they were perceived not only by black Americans and Civil Rights Activists but also by white people. Our argument was that this genre had resulted in the opposite of the desired effect. Thus, slavery and its far-reaching consequences, for instance, were over shadowed and therefore seemed less damaging than they had actually been.