Articles at BlaxDotCom:
The whole thang part three

see also:

Part One
Part Two

Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
Part Eight

Convention in NY
Blax Chix

Introduction
Influence it had
Soundtrack index
Blax Chart Hits
Poster index
Movie index
links

I WAS THERE & I SAW THE WHOLE THANG - PART THREE
Anpu Ankhamen from Saint Louis, Missouri

This is the third installment of a series of weekly personal observations of the 1970s' Blaxploitation Movie Explosion subtitled, IF YA SLOW, YA BLOW!

Today's edition is strangely subtitled in an attempt to maintain the spirit of subliminal censorship via circumlocution or signifying as I perceived it at the time. First of all, although the White Power structure & bourgeoise, Uncle Tom, Oreo organizations were not particularly fond of the black action movie genre, which depicted Afro-American heroes killing white people & riding off into the sunset sitting tall in the saddle, there were a handful of blaxploitation movies with themes that were of particular nuisance; that I believe were subliminally censored through limited advertisement on 'trailers' & through limited screenings.

Because THE FOX THEATER was the premiere & most opulent moviehouse in Saint Louis during this era, we saw all the heretoforementioned movies first ... if at all ... but the screenings were extremely limited. Off the top, three movies come to mind whose themes were too powerfully explosives & emotional for the Powers-To-Be & their Uncle Tom lackeys to allow the masses to view because, I think, they incited intense, anti-establishment attitudes.

They also made niggas scratch their heads & go,"HHHHHHHHmmmmmmmmm?!?!" Did you see 'The Spook Who Sat By the Door'? How about 'Mandingo'? Well ... what about the original Malcom X ( which was released probably before Spike Lee was a thought)? No??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Well ... do not feel too bad because it was not entirely your fault because even if you had the money or were an avid movie buff ....... IF YA WERE SLOW ... YA BLOWED ... your opportunity to see these movies. Thus the naming of this small dissertation. These movies played in the entire city of Saint Louis (if my memory serves me correctly) only for one week each. By contrast, SHAFT ran for approximately two months straight plus an extra month long encore presentation later the same year; SUPERFLY ran for a month solid, left, returned again for a repeat one month engagement. THE MACK & ACROSS 110th STREET each ran for about three weeks solid. Then there were other "light" blaxploitation movies such as 'Black Caesar', 'Hell Up In Harlem', 'Coffy', 'Cleopatra Jones', & 'Foxy Brown' which ran for an average three weeks. Three weeks seemed the norm.

However, let us zoom in on 'THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE DOOR' because, to me, it was the epitome of subliminal censorship. Of course, all the white critics unanimously gave it bad, horrible, terrible reviews even though all the fortunate Afro-Americans movie goers casting their dollar-votes walked away saying, " Damn. Now that is something you don't see everyday". Or something like that. 'THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE DOOR' was a story about a black CIA agent who played an Uncle Tom inside 'The Company' & eavesdropped on the 'KING ALFRED PLAN', which was the Unites States government's counter-insurgency plan calling for the massacre & interment in concentration camps of all 'niggers' living within the borders of the United States of America. What made this movie frightening was by all 'Underground' politcal accounts of the time - the KING ALFRED PLAN was REAL. hhhhhhmmmmmmm.

Anyway, after discovering by accident, this frightening plan the Spook ran & told niggas everywhere. He also got all the large street gangs around the country especially in Chicago, Illinois such as the Blackstone Rangers & the Vicelords (my alma mater) to stop their petty turf battles, look at the big picture, unite, organize, & rebell against the 'Establishment'. One big problem with THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE DOOR is that what the movie suggested was within the realm of feasibility especially with all the disenfranchised, nigger Vietnam Veterans returning to the United States who discovered that after having shed their blood for Uncle Sam overseas that he was not allowed to share in life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness at home.

.................End.................................................

Read on: 'Blaxploitation??? Says Who???'

© Copyright 1999
Anpu Ankhamen from Saint Louis, Missouri

We would like to thank Anpu and the Mothership
falettin us publish the whole thang here...
Stay tuned for the next parts...

All site contents ©1998 blaxploitation.com. The author has asserted his moral rights. Cover scans, album reviews, all other text content and/or pictures may only be used by prior permission of the.man@blaxploitation.com. But what the hell, I'm a nice guy, so drop me a line!