YMMV / Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song

• Awesome Moments:
  • Two kids help Sweetback by setting a police car on fire so he can escape in the confusion.
  • Sweetback escapes the manhunt and makes it to Mexico. To provide Real Life context, up to this point in time no black audience members expected him to do so (general "crime does not pay" ending, plus the fact that he's black)... and much to their surprise, he does. Melvin Van Peebles in the 2003 documentary Baadasssss! mentions sitting in a cinema during opening night next to an old woman that was going "God, please let him die before the cops get him!" and when Sweetback escapes, the room went silent for a few seconds and then completely berserk with joy.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Color filters are used often throughout the film, unfortunately bringing Plumbers Don't Wear Ties to mind.
• Narm: As groundbreaking as this movie is, just try to say the title without cracking a smile.
• No Such Thing as Bad Publicity: The film was rated X. So of course they used it in the advertising: "Rated X By An All-White Jury!"
• Squick: The fact that Melvin Van Peebles put his then-thirteen year old son Mario Van Peebles in a sex scene. That would never fly today, especially if the genders were reversed (this is why Dawson Casting exists).

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