5. Blaxploitation - Sweet Sweetback's Baadaaaaass Song (1971)
Apparently compulsory viewing for Black Panther members, Melvin van Peeble's seminal blaxploitation flick follows the fortunes of Sweet Sweetback - a man who was a brothel towel boy and lost his virginity very early to a prostitute. The hookers at the brothel christened him Sweet Sweetback due to the large size of his manhood. When he grows up, Sweetback performs in sex shows at the brothel. He is accused of a murder that he did not commit and he is taken into custody. Sweetback manages to escape and the film is thus focused on his flight from the law that takes him from South Central Los Angeles to the Mexican border. He manages to pick up a Black Panther called Mu-Mu along the way and his large manhood and suave way with the ladies ensures that he gets ample help to escape along the way. Guess what folks! He makes it to Tijuana, after closely dodging the cops the whole way there. Shot on a shoe string budget and with the help of a loan from Bill Cosby. Melvin van Peebles directed, produced, wrote and scored the film all by himself. It is a terrific portrait of race relations in the early 1971 and it captures a lot of the 'Stick it to the Man' philosophy producing a film that black audiences could identify with and take pride in. The film was responsible for kicking off the blaxploitation subgenre - inspiring the likes of Shaft and Superfly. Spike Lee has said that the movie was a vital component in the development of his own approach to cinema. This is the first film to feature an African American perspective from a genuine African American person. Most of the subsequent blaxploitation flicks were by white directors. By giving African Americans a voice and a vision they could identify with, van Peebles deserves the honour of making the ultimate blaxploitation movie.