Jackie Brown: Quentin Tarantino's Homage to Blaxploitation Films
How Quentin Tarantino Uses Music in Jackie Brown to Reflect Blaxploitation Films
During the opening credits it becomes evident that Quentin Tarantino is trying to imitate the conventions contained in the Blaxploitation films of the 70s. The film immediately opens up with the hit soul song of the 70s, "Across 110th Street" by Bobby Womack. This is one of the most well known songs of the 70s associated with Blaxploitation films because it was in fact created for a film of the same name. This film was highly praised and reached high acclaim for its time for surpassing the limitations of the genre with deep psychological messages and life lessons. Cole Smithey, a highly respected and credible critic at the movie review website www.colesmithey.com, gave the film a "A" rating and explained that:
"Across 110th Street" (1973) slyly loads its thematic dice with the personal lives of the thieves. The desperately impoverished plight of each man reveals them to be pawns in a system they barely comprehend. The economic, psychological, and physical brutality they suffer is effectively expressed in the eyes of the supporting characters who witness their treatment. As exaggerated as the violence appears, it is in keeping with the social climate of the time. No punches are pulled, and rightly so."
By referencing quite possibly the greatest Blaxploitation film of all time and playing the song that captures the gritty, hard-working, and urban feel of the Blaxploitation genre with its tough lyrics, Tarantino is showing the ultimate respect to those films and is creating an atmosphere in Jackie Brown to mirror the rough, slick, and controversial tones that they employed to attract and appeal to audiences.
The Character of Jackie Brown by Quentin Tarantino is a Direct Reference to the Blaxploitation Genre
Quentin Taratino made a variety of changes from the novel, Rum Punch, in which he used as a basis for the film. The most notable one is the change from Jackie Burke to Jackie Brown. This is another way in which he shows homage to Blaxploitation flicks. In the novel Rum Punch, the main character was Jackie Burke, a blonde, white woman in her mid-40s. In order to more closely follow the genre of Blaxploitation flicks, Tarantino changes Jackie Burke’s name to Jackie Brown and casts her as a black woman. This is an example of a direct reference to the Blaxploitation film because not only is the main character now black but the name of the movie is also the name of the main character, which is a convention of the Blaxploitation. This pays the ultimate respect to iconic films of the blaxploitation era such as "Foxy Brown" and "Coffy".
An immensely important fact to point out is that the actress whom Tarantino casted to play Jackie Brown was none other than Pam Grier who was an icon of the Blaxploitation films of the 70s and actually set in stone the standard convention of the black female lead characters being sexy, strong, and independent. In fact, Pam Grier was the main heroine of the the two iconic Blaxploitation films referenced above. Casting Pam Grier in the role also revitalized her career, which is a common theme Tarantino has when casting actors. This further adds to the adoration and respect that Tarantino has for Blaxploitation films and it shows how his decision makes the style of his movie reflect them.
Quentin Tarantino had the Setting, Mood, and Style of Jackie Brown Mimic That of Blaxploitation Films
Blaxploitation films usually had a low budget and they usually tried to grab attention and appeal by making the film very controversial and shocking which is why they included things such as racial slurs, over-the-top, slick, black leads, guns, and drugs; these all gave it a cheesy grindhouse kind of feel and often pushed the limits of what was appropriate in film. Tarantino tried to make Jackie Brown as nostalgic and retro as he could yet not take away from the plot or deepness of the characters. He shows homage to these blaxploitation conventions by referencing:
- guns
- drug use
- black music (as mentioned beforehand)
- smooth-talking, strong, independent black characters
- gritty, urban neighborhoods
- stereotypes
- slang (which can be seen in the films dialogue)
- racial slurs
Blaxploitation films usually had a low budget and they usually tried to grab attention and appeal by making the film very controversial and shocking. Quentin Tarantino then inexplicably follows the convention of controversy by having the n-word used abundantly throughout the film which causes director Spike Lee to fire criticism at Tarantino saying:
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - "The word "nigger" is used 38 times in Quentin Tarantino's "Jackie Brown," says Spike Lee -- and he doesn't like it. And neither do I." "I'm not against the word, (though I am) and I use it, but not excessively. And some people speak that way. But, Quentin is infatuated with that word. What does he want to be made -- an honorary black man?"
This can be seen as a comparison to blaxploitation films because they used controversy to make people interested or curious and go see the movie, thus making more revenue; and the controversy surrounding Jackie Brown also bolstered sales.
Blaxploitation films included some very heavy stereotypes, jive-talk, and cool black heroes in order to appeal to black audiences and cash in from this new market. They had a very gritty feel to them which Tarantino accomplishes with his tough and street-wise characters that didn’t take squat from anyone. Tarantino also adhered to the convention of Blaxploitation in how the main characters were trying to “fight against the man” which stereotypically tried to get black audiences to relate with the films in the 70s even further. In addition the cops in Jackie Brown were hard-cracking, white stereotypes of crooked cops who were just trying to bring the black man or woman down. He accomplishes this by having Mark Dargus, one of the detectives, intimidate Jackie in the interrogation room by saying that:
“Cut to 13 years later, you're 44 years of age. You're flying for the shittiest-little-shuttle-fucking piece of shit Mexican airline that there is.”
He also brings up race by specifically saying that, in addition to the previous quote, since she is a black woman she will have virtually no chance of finding a job after a stint in prison.
-Jake Adamski, Student at Illinois State University, a huge Quentin Tarantino and film fan
