This movie is one of the first to change the ideological perspectives of viewers. According to Bill Nicholas, author of Engaging Cinema, "what characters say and do, behavior--ideological or normal, subversive, idiosyncratic, neurotic, or psychotic--lies at the heart of visual media like film, television and theater. Films represent behavior extremely effectively, highlighting and dramatizing it with different camera angles and distances, compositional choices, lighting, music editing, and the older expressive techniques. Behavior is habitual.
Gordan Parks, director of Shaft completely switches ideologies of good and evil by portraying the "good guy" as a black man and white people as the villains. He makes the cool black private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter from the white Italian Mob. The ideology is also challenged because of John Shaft's relationship with Vic, the good cop at the station. Shaft seems to always have one-upped him in some way or another, strutting around like he is "all that," which he is. Shaft and Vic also have a working relationship and stick their legs out for each other once in a while.
This movie could be considered a social problem genre of film that draws public attention to a serious public issue of racism. in the 1970's racism was at its height, creating much tension between whites and blacks. This movie could be addressing the need for more equality between whites and blacks as well as the need for realization that blacks can be the "good guys" both in the movies and real life.
I was very surprised when I was unable to find a well credited review from the New York Times or The Washington Post. The only semi-legit review I found was at this site by Damian Cannon who said that this movie was "rhythmically exciting" and had "lots of racial themes." I wonder if the reason why I couldn't find many credible sources is because this movie was part of the black exploitation movies or that it was very controversial to many.
While it is a positive that Shaft is portrayed as one of the "good guys", it is also necessary to note that the film does not fully transcend stereotypes of blacks. Shaft's unrealistic, super-hero-like status as well as his lady-killer persona affirm the "buck" stereotype described in Engaging Cinema. The film certainly addresses the social problem of racism, but does go one step further and shows that there is potential for integration and cooperation, as you have noted, saying that "Shaft straddles the black and white divide". Finally, I was also greatly surprised by the lack of critical reviews on this particular film, and had to do more searching than usual to find more than a synopsis.
ReplyDeleteNot to be repetitive, but the availability of reviews struck me as well. This movie was fairly recent considering the others that we have watched, yet I spent the most time trying to find a decent review for this. I found it strange that films from the 50's had an array of credible reviews at hand, and I wonder what popular papers like The New York Times had to say about this film, if anything at all. I also think that good vs. evil is an interesting theme in the film as Shaft is clearly good, yet his badass traits certainly don't make him that "pure hero" we sometimes see. There is a mix of good and evil black and white characters, which I think is meant to point out yet another humanizing similarity.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to notice the role reversal present in this film. You talk about how the good guy is a black man and the bad guys are white which is an important thing to notice while watching this film. If you look at the context of the film, it is shocking to see a black man as the hero. Since it was made in the 70's it is easy to see how this movie made a statement since it was so different from movies that came before it. Along with that thought, you would think it would be easier to find a decent review about the film. I also had difficulty finding one to use.
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