First Action Hero PowerPoint.pdf

First Female Action Heroes in U.S. Cinema Jennifer Lawrence’s quote on female action heroes “I remember when I was doing Hunger Games, nobody had ever put a woman in the lead of an action movie because it wouldn’t work — because we were told girls and boys can both identify with a male lead, but boy...

First Female Action Heroes in U.S. Cinema Jennifer Lawrence’s quote on female action heroes “I remember when I was doing Hunger Games, nobody had ever put a woman in the lead of an action movie because it wouldn’t work — because we were told girls and boys can both identify with a male lead, but boys cannot identify with a female lead.” Who Is the First Female Action Star? Pam Grier as Coffy in Coffy (1973) Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley in Alien (1979) Cheng Pei-pei as Chang Hsuanyen in Come Drink With Me (1966) Part One Blaxploitation Cinema and the U.S. Film Industry Why Study Blaxploitation Cinema? We learn about the social and cultural changes within society that facilitated this movement. We learn about the rise of low-budget filmmaking. We learn about the new rating system and loosening of censorship. We learn about the first female action heroes. Key Terms + Hays Code + Paramount Decision + Exploitation Films + Blaxploitation Films Hays Code + Is a set of rules and guidelines that U.S. production companies followed to avoid censorship from the federal government. Some of the prohibitions were nudity, homosexuality, and miscegenation. The code was in place from 1934 to 1968. Paramount Decision + Is a 1948 Supreme Court ruling that forced the five major studios to separate their operations. Until this point, the major studios produced films, gave them first run in the theaters they owned, and then charged excessive fees for independent theaters to screen them in the second run. Exploitation Films + Are low-budget films that are tailored to a particular market. They often are explicit in sexual content and violence. While exploitation films have been around since the 1910s, they gained prominence and moved into the mainstream from the 1960s through the 1970s. Blaxploitation Films + Is a subgenre of exploitation films released between 1970 and 1975 that featured black actors as leads and catered to black urban audiences. Part Two The Rise of Blaxploitation Cinema Timeline of Events Precipitating Blaxploitation Film Movement 1934— Implementation of the Hays Code 1960s-1970s— Exploitation Films Move to Mainstream 1948— Paramount Decision 1970-1975— Blaxploitation Film Era 1968—End of Hays Code The Times They Are a-Changin' + The Black Nationalist and Feminist Movements of the late 1960s challenged the status quo. o Activists in these movements demanded equality, respect, and representation. Gloria Steinem & Dorothy Pitman Stokely Carmichael Decline in Theater Attendance + At the same time as the social unrest of the late1960s, fewer people were attending theaters Reasons for Declining Theater Attendance: Television programing was improving More people had television sets in their homes Restrictive censorship system, the Hays Code Audiences were becoming more liberal on issues related to morality; however, studios were still producing films based on 1930s moral standards Breaking up the Monopoly + Before the Paramount Decision, the Big Five Studios controlled production and distribution of most films in the U.S. This made it virtually impossible for smaller independent studios to thrive. + After the Paramount Decision, smaller studios such as American International Pictures started producing lowbudget Exploitation films. Blaxploitation Film + One of the most profitable subgenres of Exploitation films was Blaxploitation film. It takes its name from combining the words black and exploitation. + Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) is considered the first Blaxploitation film. + However, the highest concentration of films in this subgenre were released between 1972 and 1975. + American International Pictures, which had benefited from the breakup of the Big Five Studios, produced many of these Blaxploitation films. Part Three Women of Blaxploitation—The First Female Action Heroes Pam Grier Blaxploitation Filmography: Black Mama White Mama (1973) Coffy (1973) Scream Blacula Scream (1973) Foxy Brown (1974) The Arena (1974) Friday Foster (1975) Sheba, Baby (1975) Bucktown (1975) Tamara Dobson Blaxploitation Filmography: Come Back, Charleston Blue (1972) Cleopatra Jones (1973) Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold (1975) Styles of Action Pam Grier Tamara Dobson + In these films: + In these films: Her sensuality is just as important as her heroic actions Fashion style accentuates her voluptuous curves. She’s criticized by some, such as Dobson, for her overt sexuality Her strength and dominance are more important than her sensuality Fashion style accentuates her towering stature. However, her costumes become a distraction and almost comical in her last Blaxploitation film Opening Scene in Cleopatra Jones What makes the Blaxploitation action heroine different from today’s action heroines? + In-class activity: Split up into groups of three Analyze the movie poster images and the scene I just showed. How are the women placed within the images and on the screen? How does this differ from female action heroes today, for example Jennifer Lawrence or Viola Davis? Pick a representative to share your findings with the class. Closing Remarks + Pam Grier has had steady work in Hollywood film and television over the decades. Some of her later work includes Jackie Brown and L Word. + Tamara Dobson returned to modeling after the poor performance of her Cleopatra Jones sequel. She only appeared in two more movies after that.