Blaxploitation

American  

[blak-sploi-tey-shuhn] / ˌblæk splɔɪˈteɪ ʃən /

Or Blacksploitation

noun

(often lowercase)

1. a subgenre of American cinema in the 1970s featuring Black protagonists in exploitation films intended to appeal to African American audiences.

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blaxploitation British  

/ ˌblæksplɔɪˈteɪʃən /

noun

1. a genre of films featuring Black stereotypes

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Etymology

Origin of Blaxploitation

Blend of Blax (respelling of Blacks ) + exploitation; coined by Dr. Junius Griffin (1929–2005) of the Beverly Hills/Hollywood NAACP in 1972 in response to the movie Super Fly (1972)

Example Sentences

Mr. Tarantino fondly imitates Japanese manga and samurai films, Hong Kong kung-fu offerings, blaxploitation movies and Brian De Palma’s split-screen stalker motifs, all in service of a point that the B movies the director inhaled as a kid are overlooked classics.

From The Wall Street Journal

He did the soundtrack to the Blaxploitation movie “Coffy,” which was co-written by its star Pam Grier and director Jack Hall.

From Los Angeles Times

He also wrote and produced the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Coffy starring Pam Grier.

From BBC

“Like, OK, let’s have an Asian child and a Black — I used to get more offended by that than just — I grew up watching Blaxploitation movies, right? And I said, ‘That’s great.’

From Salon

“Fight Night” flirts with a variety of styles — blaxploitation, police procedural, social drama, the buddy-cop movie — which are successful on their own terms but don’t easily cohere.

From Los Angeles Times