For roughly two decades, there was not a film by an African-American filmmaker to found. It wasn’t until 1969 that Gordon Parks would direct an adaptation of his autobiographical novel, The Learning Tree. Interestingly enough, Parks’s follow-up film, Shaft (1971) would be released on the heels of the success that came from Melvin Van Peebles’s Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, released earlier that year. As demonstrated in the colloquy on Black Cinema Aesthetics, Sweetback is a polarizing film, in that there are as many people who celebrate the film for its consistency with the sentiments of the Black Power and Black Arts movement as there are critics who condemn it as a sex exploitation movie. One of the film’s critics was Haile Gerima, an Ethiopian-born filmmaker who studied film production at UCLA. Gerima argued that Van Peebles’s film provided an illusion of empowerment, in that the beating of two police officers does not lead to the structural changes that eliminate the forces that oppress Black people.
The more sensational aspects of sex and violence for which Sweetback was criticized would be appropriated by Hollywood studios when they learned that Van Peebles’ film grossed $10 million dollars in spite of being made with no mainstream funding sources. Studios also noticed that 30-40 percent of the moviegoing audience was Black, which made them more enthusiastic about making Black-themed action movies. The motion picture industry was in a financial slump, as it faced competition from television for a decade. Studios were also producing outdated westerns and musicals, which gave the impression that they were out of touch with the public. The financial success of Sweetback prompted Hollywood to even take projects meant for White stars to be used for Black actors, hence was the case with Shaft. Other films would follow such as Superfly (1972) starring Ron O’Neal, The Mack (1973) with Max Julien, and Black Caesar (1974), which featured Fred Williamson. As the films would become more popular, they were also met with increasing criticism for using hyper-masculine protagonist who engaged in excessive sex and violence with no consequence. Similar to Gerima’s criticism of Sweetback as giving the illusion of empowerment, social critics and activists argued that these movies offered a vicarious sense of conquering an oppressive system, but they were never able to escape their situation. It is said that as these criticisms increased, the movies, which came to be known as blaxploitation flicks, would decrease in popularity. In addition, many other movies of inferior quality would flood the genre and contribute to its demise by the mid-‘70s.
In 1975, Gerima would release Bush Mama, which was his thesis film to complete his Master’s of Fine Arts at UCLA. The film focuses on Dorothy, a widowed single mother dependent on welfare. As she becomes impregnated by her current boyfriend, T.C., she is pressured by her case worker to abort her child so that she can continue to receive benefits. At first glance, there are some commonalities that could be found between Bush Mama and Sweetback. Both films feature a character who transforms from a passive victim of his/her circumstances to someone in full control of their agency. They also take place in the Watts section of Los Angeles, and each employs non-conventional film techniques that reference Third Cinema, French New Wave, and Italian Neo-realism. The major difference between these films lies in the distinction between the individual and the collective. Sweetback’s initial awakening of consciousness comes from helping a local revolutionary activist escape from police custody after beating the cops unconsciousness, but he remains isolated throughout the film. Dorothy undergoes tremendous internal examination to become engaged in her own well-being, but her personal situation reflects the community at large, as they attempt to survive under aggressive systematic suppression from the police and the welfare state. As you watch the film, think of ways in which Dorothy’s transformation is visible. Also, pay attention to how some of Dorothy’s immediate contacts impact her transformation positively and negatively. In addition, think of what Gerima does differently in terms of editing and sound. Consider how Gerima cuts scenes in and out of the diegetic world, and what the relationship between the images symbolizes. Also, think of the different sources of sound within the film’s soundtrack. How do they reflect both the external and internal forces that pressure Dorothy?
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Being a music major, I paid special attention to the sounds in the beginning and the music that was used throughout the film. What was initially just talking to me turned out to be questions that the welfare worker was asking. There were helicopter, airplane, and car sounds. There was a ratchet, a short segment of a flute, and a police radio and siren. It's not necessary for me to derive the meanings of each of these sounds, but the ones that are special to me are the monotone questions that the welfare worker asked, over and over again; the police radio and siren, foreshadowing the trouble experienced in the end of the film; and the helicopter, which references Vietnam and the trouble that T.C. experienced due in part to his involvement with it. All of these sounds crescendo to a jarring loudness that tells volumes of what Dorothy must have been experiencing at the time.
ReplyDeleteAs a newcomer to these types of radical film, I must say that I was initially disappointed at the pace that the film presented. I realized that Dorothy was slowly transforming her apathetic views and being influenced by the people and forces around her, but for some reason the repeated montages with her walking down the street really became overly repetitive to me (along with the repeated musical riffs in each montage.) I know what the filmmaker was trying to communicate with these montages, what with the monotony of the life she lived, and if this is what the filmmaker wished to impart he definitely succeeded.
However, Dorothy's acceptance of the African mother's role in the poster on the wall was a fantastic finish to the movie. Right when her daughter said "She must be stronger than my mama because she has a gun" and I saw the change in Dorothy's eyes, it was a great turning point in the film. Overall I really enjoyed it, and look forward to what everyone else thought about it as well.
The very strong opening sequence was featured overwhelming non-diegetic sounds. We see are street scenes in urban areas. But we can hear traffic, engine, radio, siren and helicopters. There are also dialogues from telephone conversations. The unconventional combination of images and sounds engages me greatly.
ReplyDeleteDorothy and T.C. could only communicate through letters after he was sent to jail. On screen, we heard T.C.’ s voice-over of reading the letter every time she got the mail. It seems that T.C. was talking to her directly. Compared to sounds in other scenes, throughout the film, his voice-over was particularly singular in these scenes. Thus, his speech becomes very dramatic.
It is also very exciting to see its non-conventional film techniques that reference other cinema movements such as French New Wave and Italian Neo-realism. The shots that camera follows Dorothy’s walking on the street remind me about scenes in Bicycle Thief. When the father wanders on street trying to find his bike, the camera would follow him from one place to another place. The stores and pedestrians in the areas were displayed within frames, which introduces character’s living environment. But what is different is that the camera would only frame on one side of protagonist showing her wrist and hip.
Throughout the film, it was hard for me to determine the events that were actually happening and the events that were not happening. For example, the woman on the roof of the building. I don't think that really happened in Dorothy's movie life. I think it was some sort of symbolic flash of what she was going through with her own pregnancy. The situation she was in did not leave her with many options. Ultimately, the woman gave up the baby and took a dive in to the unknown. That kind of happened to Dorothy. She lost her baby through violence, and decided to join a movement and stand up for African Americans. In her community, standing up for her people was an unknown because many of the people were "blind" to the state of race relations or how African Americans were actually being treated.
ReplyDeleteI think this film also put on a display of stock caricatures. Molly was kind of like a "coon" type and so was the other guy who was always drunk and getting arrested. These were also the people who were in denial about the state of their race and other structural issues.
Keywords: Watts, black consciousness, internal colony, state violence
ReplyDeleteQuestions:
1. Why did Gerima choose to overlap many sounds at the beginning of Bush Mama?
2. Protagonists of Bush Mama and Black Girl are both female, what do the two share?
Keywords: welfare, noise, oppression, and strength.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: Did Gerima's selection of the individual elements present in the overwhelming noise at the very beginning and ending of the film attempt to give context to the film's oppressors, and if so was it well received by viewers?
Without question, “Bush Mama” is my favorite of films we have seen to date. While the film was a mid-seventies piece, it resonates, and would be just as realistic today as then in any festival or viewing. Also, unlike the segment “Shot In Watts” that we read, I do not question the films importance in the L.A. Rebellion for creating a “Black Film Aesthetic”. The author sways on this opinion, at one time disagreeing with author Clyde Taylor’s description of these filmmaker’s eclectic filmaking tendencies as a “black film aesthetic” and later discussing the scenery, imagery, locations and thematic differences to Hollywodd (and the rejection of that controlling Hollywood process) in a way where it is a perfect example of the “Black Aesthetic” specifically in relation to the Black Arts Movement and it’s attempts to create an aesthetic with Black literature, but even the more radical of the Harlem Renaissance and post-Renaissance writers, such as Wright and Baldwin.
ReplyDeleteUCLA filmmakers drew from Third World Cinema, just as the literary giants of the sixties drew from African and Third World political and economic philosophy.However, in both we see a strictly African-American aesthetic. The environment is not revolutionary, as was the African continent at the time, but more os reflects the pre-revolution lifestyle of colonized people’s…before the bubble burst. “Bush Mama” the perfect example of this. We see her husbands “education”, a very Malcolm X unveiling and revelation that happens within the walls of White prison. Masilela touches on the Black Arts Movement as a motivation to these filmmakers (p. 109), but still in my mind detracts from how powerful an influence they were. It is clear that the revelation and unveiling is a common thread in radical literature and art, and takes priority over the imagery of history. Black history in America is fused with African revolution of that present time…thus a NEW history and an aesthtic that runs common from pan-African thought to the revolutionary aboltionist of the early 19th century.
Masilela, in all fairness, does an excellent job of showing this new history or a true “African history” in theory, and notates that it is seen in art…the specific being film, and even more so th efilm of the Third World and that of the L.A. Rebellion. Unlike the B.A.M., by many accounts of female poets, the film rebellion was a platform also to discuss and revolt against the depiction of the Black female as well. Masilela uses “Bush Mama” as an illustration to the opening of a “historical dimension through its emphasis on Third World feminism” (p. 113). I can only think he is speaking of the idea of the rifle toting mother in the poster that plays a key role in the film’s changing climax and tone. I disagree though that “Bush Mama must assist in the emancipation of Africa from European colonial and imperial domination…in order to overcome opression” (p. 114). While this may be true, I do not feel that the film depicted this but quite the opposite at times. It is through the emancipation already under way, that Bush Mama sees her capability to break the shackles. SHE revolts, as the woman in the poster, and they are one. Not feeding off of one another, but are no different. Her hair becomes natural, as the old drunken lady laughed at. Her thoughts become not revolutionary, but understanding. SOMETHING is not right with this life she leads. Her husband learns this as well, but he is enslaved. She also is enslaved, but is in the Watts community, while he stands behind a cage. The welfare system enslaves her. She sees the alcohol enslave others (interesting effect that everyone views her as being another drunk, Watts, character…) and the idea of a child being a burden for a controlling White welfare system.
ReplyDeleteThis is a masterpiece. As Masilela states, “Bush Mama” is the intersection of three forms of oppression: class, gender and racial (p. 114). In the L.A. Rebellion sits the form of film to produce change. Not only to reflect the conditions in all truth, contrary to Hollywood, but within that to be constructive and a working art piece. The poets and writers (and dramatists) of B.A.M. set out to do just that as well. It coincided with Black Power and Pride and I believe this film movement did exactly that, and will be categorized as a mover within the “Black Aesthetic” community, which is divided in its own ways as well.