This week was a long one for me and Talulla as we tried to change up the seminar style format and cut down on the repetitiveness of our articles.  While I’m definitely happy with the result, I’m glad we don’t have to present every week (as I’m sure all the presenters before us feel too!)  Luckily, the readings this week were actually really interesting, and our screening was great too.  Let’s start with the screening.  This week we watched Blacula, which is an awesome Blaxploitation movie made in the 70’s.  I feel like it’s important to mention the time period because of how progressive it was.  It told a truly touching story about an oppressed prince Mamuwalde who starts on what he thinks is equal grounds with Count Dracula only to be enslaved with the curse of vampirism.  When Blacula wakes up, he attacks a gay interracial couple (which was progressive even if they were used for comic relief.)  It is worth noting that Blacula attacking the gay couple first might have been a decision to make him seem more human, like saying that their lives were worth less than another person’s because they’re gay.  That aside, the movie featured Blacula with a truly touching, if not a bit unrealistic, love story.  He believes that a young girl he meets named Tina is the reincarnation of his wife.  Unlike most stories where the man forces Tina to turn into a vampire, Mamuwalde leaves the decision entirely up to Tina, showing that he still has a human heart that the audience can relate to.  All in all, it was a really fun movie and I’m glad we got the chance to watch it.

This week’s readings were really interesting and I’m really glad that I picked this week.  I’ve always been really interested in racial issues from the 70’s and the era right after the Civil Rights movement.  Blaxploitation is a really cool response to everything that just happened in the past decade.  I personally choose to look at it like it’s a good thing.  A lot of critics see it as degrading, flat out racist even, but what the movement meant to urban audiences was undeniably a good thing in the end.  Since a lot of these movies were made on the fringe by studios that might not have their movies shown in a lot of theaters, the subject matter could be targeted towards the people they wanted them to be towards.  AIP (the absolute geniuses over there!) really knew how to make a film for a specific audience.  This movie made the “monster” seem like a real person that has just had some really bad luck, a misunderstood man out of time.  I wish the readings touched on this a little more actually, but I’m really happy that they talked about William Marshall and how he brought an air of dignity to the role of Blacula.  I couldn’t believe it when I saw how very much non-monster-like (is that a term?) he was.  It really pushed his role even more.  Overall, another great week and I can’t wait for the next one!