Shaft

This movie to me was very entertaining. It was really funny the way it was done, I especially loved the character of Shaft and his super masculine mannerisms. The whole thing really worked everything from his pun on words name to the stereotypical characters that really tie the whole thing together. For me the film was definitely a way of introducing a strong black male character for one of the first times in the history of hollywood. Shaft's character is very confident and is sure of himself in a way that many "manly" characters today lack. He's not all muscle, he says what he means and he means what he says. He stands up to the biggest and the baddest of people and won't take any shit from anyone. He's a ladies man that can have any woman he wants basically and similar to many other movies with a strong male character he lacks the emotion that is usually in a relationship. The language, calling everyone baby and cool cat was very funny and definitely 70's the theme song was perfect too.

In class we talked about how the film was possibly a political statement and that he represented the leader that gets things done that may have been missing in the other political groups of this time period. He represents the guy that has a mixture of influences and power and has an understanding of more than one point of view.

In the readings it discusses how in the 2000 Shaft the "gangster" factor is kind of over done and that there is a lot of over the top music, violence and other things that make the film less impressionable. The original Shaft doesn't need these over the top things to make a statement and honestly the film itself is enough on it's on. It's funny, and refreshing and definitely portrays the 70's in a light that isn't always shown in the cinema. The music in this film is very cliche and very funny every time a new track comes on. It was really interesting when we discussed in class the influence this film has had on culture, style and music. Movies really can create a way of life that affects an audience more deeply than it is predicted too. Film has a great ability to shape a way of life and to introduce a character that the audience would like to aspire to be like or to be that powerful, cool, or attractive. This film was about the man that everyone could depend on, wanted to work with or to date. It was very funny to see the way the other characters interacted with him. I really enjoyed this film