Ashlynn Bowles 1

Racial Misconceptions in ​SuperFly

Blaxploitation films started in the 1970s as a way for the African American community to

have a film genre directed towards them, but after a bit of time, the genre crossed over those

racial lines. The Blaxploitation films brought greatness to the African American community in

having films about their race in Hollywood and surfacing throughout the film industry. Although

the genre was able to start something new for the community, it was also significant to how

blacks were portrayed as role models to their community in certain movies.

SuperFly​ was one of the initial Blaxploitation films in 1972 with a storyline that may

have hurt the African American community more than it helped them. The film was based on the

main character, named Priest, and was played by Ron O’Neal. Priest was a top tier drug dealer in

New York City with his partner in crime Eddie, played by Carl Lee. Priest was in a dangerous

trade that he knew he wanted to get out of but needed to figure out how he would do that exactly.

Eddie does not want to leave this partnership that they have going and doesn’t want Priest to.

Priest plans a scheme that will make him a big deal, then he will be able to retire, but when the

police are tipped off about Priest’s plan, he has to rethink his plan. Once figuring it out Priest can

put his plan through and leave the business. The film produces some different social and cultural

issues but the main topic that stuck out were the racial issues in the film.

Although the films were supposed to be a genre that made it, so the black community

could express themselves and make their films all about them, it had a bit of a negative effect.

O’Neal played Priest in the movie ​SuperFly​ where he was shown as a successful man with style,

a ladies man, lived a lavish life but “wore his cocaine spoon as a fashion accessory.” Yvonne

Sims, author of ​Women of Blaxploitation,​ writes an article about Blaxploitation movies and how

the issues were present everywhere. In the article, she touches on the fact that this film presented
Ashlynn Bowles 2
to the Black community terrible role models and people to look up to. Ebony writes B.J. Mason

was a critic at this time that stated, “​an ​insidious​ film which portrays the Black community at its

worst. It glorifies the use of cocaine and casts Blacks in roles which glorify dope-pushers, pimps,

and grand theft.” As critics touched on, it is evident that the film showed the black community

audience that being a drug dealer was cool and setting an almost stereotype of what African

Americans should be doing and how they should be living. The opening scene is Priest naked in

bed with a white woman and he is sniffing cocaine off his cross necklace. The woman asks Priest

if he is coming back soon, and it cuts to him leaving in a long fur coat and getting into his luxury

car. Just with watching the first five minutes of the films most could be directed towards the

thought that a drug dealer's life is ideal, leading the black community into a negative spiral.

These Blaxploitation films were produced by blacks, starring blacks, and for the black audience,

so the person they were portraying in these storylines was not the whites doing so.

“That movie and similar blaxploitation movies had an undeniable impact on African

Americans coming of age in the 1970s.” (Sims, 2014) Every part of the movie contributed to

how it impacted African Americans during this time period. When Priest and Georgia are

making love in the bathtub after Priest is out with some of his friends, those types of scenes can

draw people in. When I indicate being drawn in by the setting is just like the lavish car that Priest

drives and the tons of money he has, it all connects to what the audience sees and would

potentially want for themselves. With not just ​SuperFly​ but most of the films during this

Blaxploitation area, drugs and being pimps were glorified as if that is what the African American

population should set as their goal in life rather than to be successful in a legal career.

As well as this is affecting the male African Americans of being a bad influence in terms

of showing the drugs and drug dealing, it is also a terrible influence on the woman of this time.
Ashlynn Bowles 3
In the film ​SuperFly​, Georgia is the primary female role model in showing girls that they should

strive to be with a man wrapped up in this kind of world. Georgia stays with Priest even though

she strongly believes he should quiet his career and completely get out of the business. Although

these are movies and make-believe plots, they still set a role for an audience in the 1970s to think

that this is the life they should set out to live! The film is turned around in developing a better

example rather than some of the other movies we have seen where Priest decides he wants out of

the business and creates a plan to change it all.

Besides the racial misconceptions that the plot had played out for us, there was also an

issue with the female compared to the male characters. In most films during this time, women

were seen as trophies and sidekicks who took a back seat to all men. In most Blaxploitation

films, women were either the heroine, honey, or the ho. All those roles are very self-explanatory

in what they mean precisely, and in the film ​SuperFly​, Georgia was the honey. In no way was

Georgia a main character in the film because women did not get main roles at the beginning of

the Blaxploitation era. Georgia was Priest’s honey but he also slept with many other women

while he was with her. The way that female characters were shown in this film was less than just

for the sex or someone to talk to. The sexism was very heavy in this film, but ​SuperFly ​was not

the only film that showed this type of behavior. It was normal and showed women that it was

okay to take the back burner to men.

SuperFly​ was one of the many films during the 70s that had many cultural and social

issues. The issue of racial misconception and gender inequality was prevalent in the film but

throughout time has improved in both aspects. The Blaxploitation genre failed when it came to

show the African American community as good role models to look up to but later on enhanced.
Ashlynn Bowles 4
References

“Blaxploitation Movies.” ​Encyclopædia Britannica​, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.,

www.britannica.com/art/blaxploitation-movie.

Morgan, Barry. “Pimps, Pushers, and Politics, A Historical Examination of the Blaxploitation

Genre from 1971-1976.” ​DigitalCommons@UMaine​,

digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/883/.

Ryan, Kyle. “The Original Super Fly Is More than a Blaxploitation Time Capsule with a Killer

Soundtrack.” ​Film​, Film, 12 June 2018,

film.avclub.com/the-original-super-fly-is-more-than-a-blaxploitation-ti-1826676059.

Staggers, Aisha. “Heroines, Honeys and Hos: Women in the Blaxploitation Era.” ​The Spool,​ 19

Apr. 2019, thespool.net/features/women-in-the-blaxploitation-era/.