After saving a young militant’s life from the police, a black male prostitute goes on the run through LA, dodging the man in an effort to escape to Mexico & freedom. Tune in as Chris talks Blaxploitation, archetypes, & DIY as the LSCE screens the 1971 Melvin Van Peebles cult classic “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song.” Join us!
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Works Cited:
Alexander, George. Why We Make Movies : Black Filmmakers Talk About the Magic of Cinema. 1st ed. New York: Harlem Moon, 2003.
Angio, Joe. How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (And Enjoy It). Breakfast at Noho, LLC. 2005. 85 Mins. Blu Ray.
Bates, Courtney E. J. “Sweetback’s ‘Signifyin(g)’ Song: Mythmaking in Melvin Van Peebles’ Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song.” Quarterly review of film and video 24, no. 2 (2007): 171–181.
Bogle, Donald. Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films. 5th Ed. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing Inc., 2016.
James, Darius. That’s Blaxploitation! : Roots of the Baadasssss ’Tude (rated X by an All-Whyte Jury). New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 1995.
Loeb, Anthony, John Cassavetes, Joan. Tewkesbury, Steve. Shagan, Bill Butler, Buck. Henry, William. Friedkin, and Melvin Van Peebles. Filmmakers in Conversation. Chicago, Ill: Columbia College, 1982.
Lott, Chris. “Reading Myth in Sweetback: Middling Strategies Between the Ideal and the Exploitative.” Film Matters 4, no. 4 (2013): 26–32.
Riley, Clayton. “What Makes Sweetback Run?” New York Times. May 9th, 1971. Pg. 161
Totaro, Donato. “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (Melvin van Peebles, 1971).” Offscreen 22, no. 11 (2018). Accessed on 2/3/22 from https://offscreen.com/view/sweet-sweetbacks-baadasssss-song-melvin-van-peebles-1971
Wiggins, Benjamin. “‘You Talkin’ Revolution, Sweetback’: On Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song and Revolutionary Filmmaking.” Black camera : the newsletter of the Black Film Center/Archives 4, no. 1 (2012): 28–52.