This week in class we watched the film “Shaft.” I absolutely loved this film and found it hilarious from start to finish. This film came out in 1971, which was an important time for black cinema as we reviewed in class this week. The films during this time period wanted to focus on black-oriented casts. These films were aimed at pleasing strictly black audiences without care for what a white audience may think. This prevailed within this film. This film was a largely black cast and the white characters sprinkled throughout the film, while they did have importance to the story, were given much less screen time and we’re not hailed as the saviors of the story. Also, the white women within the film were mainly there as objects. That didn’t make me feel great as a woman, however it still showed the essence of black film within the 70s. It showed how truly black focused the films were and how pleasing white people did not matter anymore. On an article I read by Indie Wire, it was noted that the main character in this film wasn’t there to make white people comfortable. The setting and characters were there to be relevant and relatable to the intended audience. It had head strong black characters who weren’t willing to take crap from any white man. The article also noted that this film was such a huge success that it launched eight black-directed films to be released in 1972. That was something unheard of before this films release. I think that this change is astounding to see. I loved that this was an action packed movie with truly lighthearted moments. I don’t think I went more than 10 minutes during this movie without laughing or letting out a chuckle. I mean the name of the movie is literally Shaft, how could this not have some strong comedic moments. I really loved the bar scene, even though I do think there were some unnecessary and possibly homophobic moments. I found every word that came out of that bartenders mouth to be absolutely hilarious. I also thought the abrupt moment where he hit the man over the head with a bottle and thick, obviously fake, blood came spewing out was so funny. Maybe it wasn’t intended to be, but it was. Overall, I love what this film means to the industry in terms of black directed films and how a funny film like this could bring such a change. It evoked such happiness within me and honestly put me in a better mood.