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* MoralEventHorizon: Tommy spends most of the first act as a likable, charismatic VillainProtagonist out for revenge against the racist cop that beat him and the white power establishment that left him destitute throughout his childhood. As such, despite his moments of ruthlessness, he can be seen as more of an AntiHero than a villain. This all comes to an end when he [[spoiler: rapes Helen after forcing her to marry him.]] From that moment on, Tommy is shown to be a violent, savage thug at best.
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* MoralEventHorizon: Tommy spends most of the first act as a likable, charismatic VillainProtagonist out for revenge against the racist cop that beat him and the white power establishment that left him destitute throughout his childhood. As such, despite his moments of ruthlessness, he can be seen as more of an AntiHero than a villain. This all comes to an end when he [[spoiler: rapes Helen after forcing her to marry him.]] From that moment on, Tommy is shown to be a violent, savage thug at best.best who blackmailed his way into power and instituted a reign of violence over Harlem.
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* MoralEventHorizon: Tommy spends most of the first act as a likable, charismatic VillainProtagonist out for revenge against the racist cop that beat him and the white power establishment that left him destitute throughout his childhood. As such, despite his moments of ruthlessness, he can be seen as more of an AntiHero than a villain. This all comes to an end when he [[spoiler: rapes Helen after forcing her to marry him.]] From that moment on, Tommy is shown to be a violent, savage thug at best.
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* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: ''Caesar'' and ''Harlem'' read like a playbook of every bad vice from the mid-70s. Aside from the usual trappings (afros, bell-bottoms), it has:
** The film begins with the main character working as a shoeshine boy, who is charging a dime per shine. Not only is this plot-relevant (Tommy is working as an accomplice to a mob hitman, and holds on to the target when he tries to escape), but it's also prominently referenced in Music/JamesBrown's "Down and Out in New York City" from the soundtrack, making that an example as well.
** The plot of both films is motivated by Tommy gaining access to, and stealing, the ledgers from The Mafia for leverage. Nowadays, it's hard to see what the big deal would be, as most businesses store their filing on computers or online (and may not even use old-fashioned ledgers in the first place).
** Times Square is portrayed as the grimy, sleazy center of town, as opposed to its renovation in the early 80s as an LCD mecca.
** In ''Harlem'', Big Papa is able to walk into a subway station and gun down a rival dealer, then walk off nonchalantly. He'd never be able to get away with such a thing in modern times, where subways are outfitted everywhere with security cameras.
** Also in Harlem, Tommy chases his former lieutenant Zach through an airport and all the way to the other side of the country, with both of them using different flights. Not only are both of them able to run through security checkpoints (both on and off the flight) without a problem, but their fight spills out into the baggage claim rack and the tarmac after they land.
** The film begins with the main character working as a shoeshine boy, who is charging a dime per shine. Not only is this plot-relevant (Tommy is working as an accomplice to a mob hitman, and holds on to the target when he tries to escape), but it's also prominently referenced in Music/JamesBrown's "Down and Out in New York City" from the soundtrack, making that an example as well.
** The plot of both films is motivated by Tommy gaining access to, and stealing, the ledgers from The Mafia for leverage. Nowadays, it's hard to see what the big deal would be, as most businesses store their filing on computers or online (and may not even use old-fashioned ledgers in the first place).
** Times Square is portrayed as the grimy, sleazy center of town, as opposed to its renovation in the early 80s as an LCD mecca.
** In ''Harlem'', Big Papa is able to walk into a subway station and gun down a rival dealer, then walk off nonchalantly. He'd never be able to get away with such a thing in modern times, where subways are outfitted everywhere with security cameras.
** Also in Harlem, Tommy chases his former lieutenant Zach through an airport and all the way to the other side of the country, with both of them using different flights. Not only are both of them able to run through security checkpoints (both on and off the flight) without a problem, but their fight spills out into the baggage claim rack and the tarmac after they land.
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* HilariousInHindsight: Tommy (Fred Williamson) is seen running and jumping through an airport during one of the chase scenes in ''Harlem''. Just a few short years later, another African-American football player, O.J. Simpson, would do much the same thing during his commercials for Hertz Rent-a-Car.
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* HilariousInHindsight: Tommy (Fred Williamson) (Creator/FredWilliamson) is seen running and jumping through an airport during one of the chase scenes in ''Harlem''. Just a few short years later, another African-American football player, O.J. Simpson, UsefulNotes/OJSimpson, would do much the same thing during his commercials for Hertz Rent-a-Car.
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* EarWorm: "The Boss" in ''Caesar'', which plays during the {{Montage}} of Tommy's rise to prominence in the underworld.
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* CultureClash: Between writer/director Larry Cohen and his own audience. Despite the movie being Blaxploitation, Cohen still wrote the story following the typical gangster film structure: a criminal starts low, rises to the top by killing his competition, rules with an iron fist until he starts to become distracted by worldly pleasures, then watches his empire collapse due to paranoia and excessive greed, only to die a pathetic shadow of his former self. Black audiences who were used to black heroes/anti-heroes "winning" at the end of their movies didn't appreciate the original ending [[spoiler:with Tommy beaten by robbers and left dead in an abandoned building]], and American International Pictures quickly recut the ending to make it more ambiguous and allow for a sequel.
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* ExecutiveMeddling:
** American International Pictures forced Cohen to start filming ''Harlem'' while ''Caesar'' was still running in theatres - and it shows. For his part, Cohen admits on the DVD commentary that ''Harlem'' was nothing but a quick cash-in.
** James Brown wrote the score for ''Harlem'' on spec (without pay), but American International inexplicably changed their minds at the last minute and rejected his score (reportedly claiming it was the "same old stuff"), instead opting to use one written and performed by Edwin Starr. Brown eventually repackaged his album as ''The Payback'', which went certified gold and became a landmark funk album.
** American International Pictures forced Cohen to start filming ''Harlem'' while ''Caesar'' was still running in theatres - and it shows. For his part, Cohen admits on the DVD commentary that ''Harlem'' was nothing but a quick cash-in.
** James Brown wrote the score for ''Harlem'' on spec (without pay), but American International inexplicably changed their minds at the last minute and rejected his score (reportedly claiming it was the "same old stuff"), instead opting to use one written and performed by Edwin Starr. Brown eventually repackaged his album as ''The Payback'', which went certified gold and became a landmark funk album.
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* AwesomeMusic: Music/JamesBrown's soundtrack, notably "The Boss", which is essentially a BadassBoast set to funky song.
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* AwesomeMusic: SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Music/JamesBrown's soundtrack, notably "The Boss", which is essentially a BadassBoast set to funky song.
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Changed line(s) 1 (click to see context) from:
* AwesomeMusic: JamesBrown's soundtrack, notably "The Boss", which is essentially a BadassBoast set to funky song.
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* AwesomeMusic: JamesBrown's Music/JamesBrown's soundtrack, notably "The Boss", which is essentially a BadassBoast set to funky song.
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Changed line(s) 1,2 (click to see context) from:
* AwesomeMusic: JamesBrown's soundtrack.
** CrowningMusicOfAwesome: "The Boss", which is essentially a BadassBoast set to funky song.
** CrowningMusicOfAwesome: "The Boss", which is essentially a BadassBoast set to funky song.
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* AwesomeMusic: JamesBrown's soundtrack.
** CrowningMusicOfAwesome:soundtrack, notably "The Boss", which is essentially a BadassBoast set to funky song.
** CrowningMusicOfAwesome:
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* ExecutiveMeddling: American International Pictures forced Cohen to start filming ''Harlem'' while ''Caesar'' was still running in theatres - and it shows. For his part, Cohen admits on the DVD commentary that ''Harlem'' was nothing but a quick cash-in.
* MisaimedFandom: Audiences believed that Tommy was the hero of the story, in spite of the fact that he's a conniving, loathsome womanizer who sold out his own family to become the king of his own empire.
* MisaimedFandom: Audiences believed that Tommy was the hero of the story, in spite of the fact that he's a conniving, loathsome womanizer who sold out his own family to become the king of his own empire.
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* ExecutiveMeddling: DesignatedHero: See MisaimedFandom below. Tommy is really no better than the Mafia goons he takes out en masse, with the only notable difference being that he cares about his children. Otherwise, he's a loathsome human being who alienates almost everyone close to him, doesn't care much about Helen, and only thinks of himself in the long run. Yet, he is presented as the hero audiences can root for.
* EarWorm: "The Boss" in ''Caesar'', which plays during the {{Montage}} of Tommy's rise to prominence in the underworld.
* ExecutiveMeddling:
** American International Pictures forced Cohen to start filming ''Harlem'' while ''Caesar'' was still running in theatres - and it shows. For his part, Cohen admits on the DVD commentary that ''Harlem'' was nothing but a quick cash-in.
** James Brown wrote the score for ''Harlem'' on spec (without pay), but American International inexplicably changed their minds at the last minute and rejected his score (reportedly claiming it was the "same old stuff"), instead opting to use one written and performed by Edwin Starr. Brown eventually repackaged his album as ''The Payback'', which went certified gold and became a landmark funk album.
* HilariousInHindsight: Tommy (Fred Williamson) is seen running and jumping through an airport during one of the chase scenes in ''Harlem''. Just a few short years later, another African-American football player, O.J. Simpson, would do much the same thing during his commercials for Hertz Rent-a-Car.
* MisaimedFandom: Audiences believed that Tommy was the hero of the story, in spite of the fact that he's a conniving, loathsome womanizer who sold out his own family to become the king of his ownempire.empire.
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* EarWorm: "The Boss" in ''Caesar'', which plays during the {{Montage}} of Tommy's rise to prominence in the underworld.
* ExecutiveMeddling:
** American International Pictures forced Cohen to start filming ''Harlem'' while ''Caesar'' was still running in theatres - and it shows. For his part, Cohen admits on the DVD commentary that ''Harlem'' was nothing but a quick cash-in.
** James Brown wrote the score for ''Harlem'' on spec (without pay), but American International inexplicably changed their minds at the last minute and rejected his score (reportedly claiming it was the "same old stuff"), instead opting to use one written and performed by Edwin Starr. Brown eventually repackaged his album as ''The Payback'', which went certified gold and became a landmark funk album.
* HilariousInHindsight: Tommy (Fred Williamson) is seen running and jumping through an airport during one of the chase scenes in ''Harlem''. Just a few short years later, another African-American football player, O.J. Simpson, would do much the same thing during his commercials for Hertz Rent-a-Car.
* MisaimedFandom: Audiences believed that Tommy was the hero of the story, in spite of the fact that he's a conniving, loathsome womanizer who sold out his own family to become the king of his own
----
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* CultureClash: Between writer/director Larry Cohen and his own audience. Despite the movie being Blaxploitation, Cohen still wrote the story following the typical gangster film structure: a criminal starts low, rises to the top by killing his competition, rules with an iron fist until he starts to become distracted by worldly pleasures, then watches his empire collapse due to paranoia and excessive greed, only to die a pathetic shadow of his former self. Black audiences who were used to black heroes/anti-heroes "winning" at the end of their movies didn't appreciate the original ending [[spoiler:with Tommy beaten by robbers and left dead in an abandoned building]], and American International Pictures quickly recut the ending to make it more ambiguous and allow for a sequel.
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None
Added DiffLines:
* AwesomeMusic: JamesBrown's soundtrack.
** CrowningMusicOfAwesome: "The Boss", which is essentially a BadassBoast set to funky song.
** CrowningMusicOfAwesome: "The Boss", which is essentially a BadassBoast set to funky song.
