Line #32 Film/SweetSweetbacksBaadasssssSong


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4	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sweet-sweetback-baadasssss_5220.jpg]]
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6	''Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song'' is a 1971 film by Black American director Creator/MelvinVanPeebles, widely considered the TropeMaker[=/=]UrExample of the {{Blaxploitation}} genre (though it is not an ExploitationFilm itself).
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8	Opening with the dedication: "This film is dedicated to all the Brothers and Sisters who had enough of the Man"; a young African American orphan (played by Creator/MelvinVanPeebles' son, [[Creator/MarioVanPeebles Mario]]) is taken in by the proprietor of a brothel in Los Angeles in the 1940s. One of the prostitutes there entices him to lose his virginity to her, and due to his sexual prowess and large penis, she nicknames him "Sweet Sweetback". Sweetback grows up, and now played by Melvin himself; he has become the brothel's most celebrated sex-performer. After his show one night, two crooked cops arrest him. On their way to the station, the two also arrest a Black Panther named [=MuMu=], and handcuff him to Sweetback. [=MuMu=] insults the officers, so the two stop and beat him up. Sweetback is angered, and attacks the officers. With the police after him, [[RunForTheBorder Sweetback flees to Mexico]], aided on his way by the entire black community as well as by a biker gang who he impresses the [[BadassBiker female leader of]] by having sex with her.
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10	Director Van Peebles was fresh off directing the race-reversal comedy ''Watermelon Man'' when he developed the idea for this film when he stopped his car out in the Mojave Desert one day. Because no studio would finance it, he directed, wrote, produced, scored and acted in the whole thing himself, up to and including doing his own stunt work. He was, however, able to score a $50,000 dollar loan from Creator/BillCosby. When the film was finished, it was rated X by the MPAA, inspiring the {{tagline}}; "Rated X by an all-white jury" (it would be re-rated R three years later). Because of this rating, it couldn't be advertised in newspapers, so Melvin did the promoting for it himself too. What's more, only two theaters would play it. But despite all this, Melvin's hopes were not in vain. The film became a runaway success, grossing $4,100,000. It became required viewing of the Black Panthers. [[FollowTheLeader Because of its success, filmmakers started seeing the potential for profit in directing films catered to black audiences]], and thus was born {{Blaxploitation}}. All-in-all, this film is essential viewing for anyone interested in either film history or black history.
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12	In 2004, the aforementioned son, Mario, wrote, directed and starred in ''BAADASSSSS!'', which [[MakingTheMasterpiece dramatized the film's production and release]].
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14	In December 2020, it was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress for UsefulNotes/NationalFilmRegistry.
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17	!!This film provides examples of:
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19	* BMovie: One of the most important ever made.
20	* BadassBiker: One of Sweetback's many conquests.
21	* BlackIsBiggerInBed: The black main character is known for his large penis.
22	* BiggerIsBetterInBed: The source of Sweetback's nickname, having impressed the prostitute he lost his virginity with his [[SexGod sexual prowess]].
23	* {{Blaxploitation}}: The UrExample.
24	* CampGay: At one point, three gay black men are asked if they know where Sweet is or if they've seen him and are shown a picture of him. One of them responds with saying they haven't seen him but to send him to them if they do find him while speaking in a feminine voice, followed by a matching giggle.
25	* FanDisservice: Did we have to see Beetle going number two with just a ModestyTowel on after showering?
26	* GreaterNeedThanMine: Sweetback, given the choice of either [=MuMu=] or himself being rescued by the East Bay Dragons, decides to let [=MuMu=] get the rescue while he continues his RunForTheBorder: "He’s our future, bre’er — take him."
27	* InformedAbility: Sweetback is considered a SexGod, but his sex scenes have him lazily laying on top of his partners, barely moving. Particularly odd given most of the sex scenes were ''unsimulated''.
28	* KindheartedCatLover: After Sweet kills two DirtyCops for assaulting another black man, the police pay a visit to the brothel, kicking open every door in their search for Mr. Sweetback. One room they bust into has a large man cuddling with a litter of kittens.
29	* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: "Starring the Black Community... And Brer Soul."
30	* AMinorKidroduction: The first scene set in the [[TheForties 1940s]] shows Sweetback's backstory, including [[TheirFirstTime having his first sexual experience with a prostitute]].
31	* OnlyAFleshWound: Sweetback gets hit in the stomach by a swarm of buckshot while being pursued by cops through a desert. He tears a section of fabric from his shirt, pisses on it, rolls it in sand and uses it to patch up his wound.
32	%%* PimpDuds
33	* PopStarComposer: Music/EarthWindAndFire scored the film.
34	* ThePornomancer: Sweetback seems to have sex with just about every woman he encounters.
35	* ProfessionalSexEd: Sweetback, who is ''[[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior just 13 years old]]'', loses his virginity to a prostitute.
36	* TheQuietOne: Sweetback himself, who has about ten lines of dialogue in the entire film.
37	* RunForTheBorder: Sweetback flees to Mexico, with what feels like half the country's police after him. To the surprise of audiences at the time, he ''makes it,'' with the ending promising that at some point he will return "to collect some dues".
38	* SequelHook: The film ends with Sweetback making it to Mexico. Text appears stating this and that Sweet will return for revenge. Despite this film being a massive financial success and kickstarting an entire genre of filmmaking, no sequel was ever made.
39	** Closest thing to it is a biopic about the making of the film with Melvin's son Mario writing, producing, directing, and starring.
40	%%* SoulBrotha: Sweetback.
41	* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The movie title is often and understandably spelled wrong. (For the record, this spelling of Baadasssss has two A's in "bad" and five S's in "ass.")
42	* SteelEarDrums: {{Averted\|Trope}}. The police torture one of Sweetback's associates for Sweetback's location (information the man does not have) by firing a pistol next to his ears, which destroys his hearing.
43	* YouAreACreditToYourRace: A police chief makes a speech where he rants about how Sweetback escaping will cause "niggers" to uprise. He then apologizes to the two African-American detectives in his audience, and says that if they catch Sweetback, they'll be a tribute to their race.

Context Film / SweetSweetbacksBaadasssssSong