Women of Blaxploitation by Sims Yvonne D

Author:Sims, Yvonne D. [Sims, Yvonne D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: McFarland Publishing
Published: 2006-08-22T00:00:00+00:00

Dobson’s Demise

After the disastrous sequel, Tamara Dobson appeared in a small role with Redd Foxx in Norman ... Is That You? (1977). By 1979, she had returned to her modeling roots and only made one more movie in the early 1980s before disappearing from Hollywood and what appears to be the fashion world as well. An outspoken Grier had more range as an actress and was able to slowly build a career outside of the blaxploitation genre. Those African American actresses who found themselves typecast because of blaxploitation films were unable to earn a living in movies or television. It was unfortunate for Dobson, who began with such promise in a role that defined her and yet confined her as an actress. Ironically, the role of Cleo made her a star and served as a groundbreaking role for African American actresses. It also became a vehicle with which women in general redefined the action narrative that had for years been strictly confined to white actors.

However one chooses to critique the studios’ motives, it was apparent that while the mammy, the exotic other, Aunt Jemima and Sapphire images were still on display, an alternative image of beauty representing neither category had emerged thanks in large part to the civil rights movement and African American women in the forefront of the movement. By the 1970s, hairstyle options for African American women were limitless, and arguably Dobson’s choice of style could have been simply a fashion statement rather than a political critique. Nonetheless, she altered the traditional movie portrayal of African American female beauty by presenting a character for the film community and beyond to see and for the African American community to emulate. Dobson’s Cleo and Pam Grier’s heroines continued to expand pre-existing definitions of beauty and change old, widely accepted screen stereotypes created for black women. An added dimension for both Grier and Dobson was their ability to “become stars, without the benefit of studio promotional machinery, by playing the kinds of roles no white woman ever played.”46 Gateward sums up Cleo’s style well when she adds, “Though Jones was never presented as a member of the under or working class—given the car she drives and her fabulous, ever-changing wardrobe, she still sees herself as part of the community, moving easily in the environs and interacting with the citizens.”47 This was the essence of Dobson’s heroine.

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