"Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song"

The legendary film, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, was the first film specifically made for the black community, by the black community, in order to not only give the black community a hero in the cinemas but also to replicate the black experience. It became the first blaxsploitation picture as well as one of the highest grossing independent films of the 1970s. Melvin Van Peebles not only self-financed the film, but also starred in it, wrote the screenplay, and directed it. He also allowed his children to play in it, as well as many of his closest friends. It is one of the most groundbreaking films of all time. It not only helped change the shape of black cinema, but also independent film making at large. It tells the troubled story of a male prostitute named Sweet Sweetback who, after witnessing police brutality against a fellow black man, beats up a police officer. Now on the run from the law, Sweetback must do what he can to avoid and evade the police, even if that means involvement from the Hell's Angels and using his "talent. This is an important film for the black community because it portrays the realities of how in many places blacks were treated by whites. This had never been done before in the movies before Sweetback. Prior to this, Hollywood preferred portraying blacks as either average or mediocre  as long as they acted white, otherwise they were minor bit players or caricatures of how the white community saw blacks. 

The film is paced by the Director like a journey that we as the viewers are on as we follow Sweetback as he runs from the police and meets up with various friends, lovers etc.,not unlike a road picture after he killed a couple of white cops who unfairly beat up a black brother. We become more interested in him than what he's running from and I believe that was the intent of the filmmaker. The movie is filled with unique styling and music that works with the movie, with chanting for the main character and motivation for him to keep on keeping on. To me this seems like Van Peebles pushing the black community to do the same.

The content or message of "Sweet Sweetback's Baad Asssss Song" can be summarized in the following words you will see at the beginning of the film: "This film is dedicated to all the Brothers and Sisters who had enough of the Man." Most probably before this film no film had ever tried to show a black character hitting and knocking out a white cop, and for better or worse, the way the film does it is amazingly raw and crude.The "Man" is represented by several non-descriptive white cops who beat up a black. When star and director Melvin Van Peebles says he had enough, his character shows it by beating the cops senseless. The police, who are largely whites are not competent enough to chase Sweetback, and he gets away very easily from them. By the conventional standard of narrative, the film is almost pointless, going on and on without showing where it is leading us. Occasionally we see Sweetback helped by some and betrayed by others including blacks, or the strange episodes of Sweetback drinking the water in the mud.

The most important thing to understand about this film is that if you're getting it just because you expect to live up the expectations of its genre, you better not. In fact, that was the debate over Sweetback for years. What was it ? The world's first blaxsploitation film or the world's first black social empowerment movie, a black porno flick or deep social satire ? B-move trash or a brilliantly inspired art movie. The truth is, the strength and weakness of Sweetback is that its really all of those things. If you're expecting it to meet the mold of any one of these genre's you'll be disappointed and that is the part of  fun of the film.Getting past the shock to see the message, and the message to receive the shock and just riding along with Sweetback. With its gritty, funky tale and soundtrack, controversial story no doubt that there's something in it to both please and offend just about anyone that watches it. The best thing to do is put it like this  Sweetback is a genre all of its own, just sit and watch it in suspended judgement and disbelief.  Watch the movie, again and again and again. Depending upon who you are you'll either find it powerful and entertaining or well, revolting and disgusting, either way the fact is when you watch it there's one thing you won't come away seeing, no one really did it before Melvin Van Peebles, and no one, despite all the films it inspired did it after and that's why you should see it.