Much has been written about the Blaxploitation genre in a variety of encyclopedias and film magazine and journals, but very few texts have examined the birth, growth, and death of the movement from start to finish.
Film critic Odie Henderson attempts to chronicle all of the highs and lows of the eight year period assigned to the Blaxploitation era in his new book, aptly titled Black Caesars and Foxy Cleopatras: A History of Blaxploitation Cinema. Fans of the tumultuous 1970s genre will be happy to hear that Henderson accomplishes his goal in the same fashion that Jim Kelly throws an ax kick: with style, grace, and attitude.
Henderson begins his exploration by giving a large amount of ink to both Melvin van Peebles’ Sweet Sweetback Baadassss Song and Gordon Parks’ Shaft, two films released in 1971 that ignited the fuse that would result in the explosion called Blaxploitation cinema. From there, Henderson frames the genre in a chronological fashion, touching on all of the major films, directors, actors, and producers of the time period.
In addition to Henderson’s scholarly, exhaustively-researched, and entertaining chapters, the author also inserts interviews, commentaries, and personal anecdotes in Black Caesars and Foxy Cleopatras, making the book more than just a history lesson. The additional material helps explain aspects of Blaxploitation from the perspective of those lived it and also lets readers understand why Henderson is so enamored with his subject matter. One highlight is his brief narrative about the theme from Mahogany which veers from the author’s senior prom to his experiences seeing films in the infamous grindhouses once located on 42nd street.
Henderson covers all the films one would expect, from Blacula to Black Belt Jones (and he declares Super Fly as the Citizen Kane of Blaxploitation cinema), but also takes the time to tell the stories that many of us who are fans of the genre may have never heard before. If you are new to the subject, the tale is incredibly comprehensive, but hard core fans will find many of the stories behind the productions enlightening.
Tangential, Blaxploitation-adjacent films and television are also covered such as Sidney Poitier movies, the rise of the kung fu film, Bond movies, and Sanford and Son as touchstones of the 1970s and comparable examples of the zeitgeist that created the Blaxploitation movement.
Thankfully, the author wraps up the book in 1978, skipping the genre’s death throes and embarrassing limp into the the 1980s. If you are looking for explorations of ’80s genre cinema, there are plenty of fine books one can find on the subject, but Henderson’s choice is a welcome one.
If you ever desired a definitive look at the complex, complicated, and highly entertaining genre dubbed Blaxploitation, Black Caesars and Foxy Cleopatras: A History of Blaxploitation Cinema will be right up your alley.
