"Black Caesars and Foxy Cleopatras" by Odie Henderson

Talks on movies, the culture of cinema, and filmmaking.

Black Caesars and Foxy Cleopatras: A History of Blaxploitation Cinema

The definitive account of Blaxploitation cinema—the freewheeling, often shameless, and wildly influential genre—from a distinctive voice in film history and criticism

In 1971, two films grabbed the movie business, shook it up, and launched a genre that would help define the decade. Melvin Van Peebles’s Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, an independently produced film about a male sex worker who beats up cops and gets away, and Gordon Parks’s Shaft, a studio-financed film with a killer soundtrack, were huge hits, making millions of dollars. Sweetback upended cultural expectations by having its Black rebel win in the end, and Shaft saved MGM from bankruptcy. Not for the last time did Hollywood discover that Black people went to movies too. The Blaxploitation era was born.

Written by film critic Odie Henderson, Black Caesars and Foxy Cleopatras is a spirited history of a genre and the movies that he grew up watching, which he loves without irony (but with plenty of self-awareness and humor). Blaxploitation was a major trend, but it was never simple. The films mixed self-empowerment with exploitation, base stereotypes with essential representation that spoke to the lives and fantasies of Black viewers. The time is right for a reappraisal, understanding these films in the context of the time, and exploring their lasting influence.

Odie Henderson is The Boston Globe's chief film critic and the author of Black Caesars and Foxy Cleopatras: A History of Blaxploitation Cinema. His work has appeared in The Criterion Collection, Slate, The Village Voice, Cineaste Magazine, Slant Magazine and other outlets. Prior to his current three year tenure at the Globe, Odie spent 11 years at RogerEbert.com as a regular contributor. A member of the National Society of Film Critics and GALECA, he loves film noir, musicals, Blaxploitation, bad art, and good trash.

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Scott Adlerberg is the author of the novels Spiders and Flies, Jungle Horses, Graveyard Love, Jack Waters, and The Screaming Child. He has written many short stories and contributes pieces regularly to sites such as CrimeReads, Mystery Tribune, and Criminal Element.  Every summer, he hosts the Reel Talks film commentary series in Bryant Park in Manhattan.  He was born in New York City and lives in Brooklyn.