A Field Study of "Blaxploitation" Films

Abstract

This field study by high school youth utilized Alvin Poussaint's construct of what has come to be known as "blaxploitation" films. The racist exploitation of Black actors and actresses involved in the production of these films, combined with the derogatory effect of these movies on the Black populace, provides the genesis of the word "blaxploitation." Being the result of Hollywood's quest to improve profits in the late 1960's, these films substituted the positive images associated with the Black liberation movement for the images of violence, degeneracy, and es capism that characterized the themes of these movies.

Acting as researchers as well as subjects, the stu dents involved with the project found that the themes of these movies either glorified the lumpen elements of the Black community or put forth fantastically unrealistic solutions to genuine problems. They found that the films attracted millions of Blacks to the theatre and resulted in detrimental effects on the psychology of the entire Black community, the moral training in the Black family, the religious values of Black people, and the educational aspirations of Black youth.