Those of us around in the bell-bottom era may recall so-called "Blaxploitation" flix like "Superfly" and "Sweet Sweetback's Baaadass Song." Yet my fave "black" flick of yore was of another sort - the race-relations comedy titled "Watermelon Man," starrring black actor Godfrey Cambridge in whiteface. Directed by "Sweet Sweetback" honcho Melvin Van Peebles, it was the 56th most popular film of 1970. I remember seeing it with my dad (I was 12 then) in downtown Chicago, and my mind got expanded, sans drugs.

In the flick, Cambridge's character somehow "turns" black, and is so horrified, he starts taking milk baths to regain his whiteness. Even as white chicks in his office start coming on to him big-time, with all the usual sexual steroetypes regarding black men. His wife gets all hinkty, too. He finally becomes an angry, and very lonely black militant. Made me sad.

But it hangs with me, like the great anti-ad agency black comedy, "Putney Swope." Both had far greater heft than another funky comedy of the same era, the "Groove Tube, despite that being Chevy Chase's debut vehicle.

Other furry signs of the times: four-inch platform heels in clear acrylic, filled with live, swimming goldfish, as showcased by Pittsburgh Steelers running back John "Frenchy" Fuqua.

And he could really carry the ball. Wearing cleats.

Yes, outre pop culture had its moment back then....

And now for a re-run (forget the raves, MDA, and poppers): self-referential boomer parents are going beyond the pale.....costuming their kids in 70s Pimp 'n Ho regalia.

Sorry, but I gotta wonder....

This site has a "child pimp costume," a "child pimp suit costume," a "child long pimp daddy suit costume," a "child zebra pimp suit costume," and finally, for all you so-with-it parents of young girls needing the latest, greatest, post-moral Halloweeen accoutrements, a "child Ho costume."

"Ho," as in "whore." As in prostitute. Ah well, there's a rich narrative history relating to child whores, right? Brooke Shields and Susan Sarandon brought Louis Malle's story of a New Orleans child strumpet alive in "Pretty Baby"....

So why not costumed pre-pubescent Pimps and Hos today?

No biggie. As any truly discursive Ivy League prof of cultural or "textual" studies might note: If a young veteran named John Kerry could negotiate with the North Vietnamese Communists, purportedly on behalf of the U.S., and still now be regarded as a patriot, why today can't young girls wear "whore" get-up without anyone "passing judgement."

We don't "do" judgement anymore. It's so Bush-ite; so fundamentalist; so unsophisticated, so Ugly-American. We're trying to get away from all that.

Modern solons are all about turning the other, hind, cheek. For a good, hard drilling. James Carville, meet the French Islamicists.

And remember, companeros! There's a class war going on in America!

Because of Bush's tax breaks for the evil rich; lower- and middle-income families are unfairly excluded from purchasing "whore" costumes for their daughters and "pimp" outfits for their sons.

When, truly, will no child be left behind?

UPDATE: Steven Antler, at the excellent EconoPundit blog, has linked to this item, but correctly points out that "Watermelon Man" and "Putney Swope" are several cuts above "Blaxploitation" flix and should not be labelled as such. I meant to convey that, but didn't fully, and so have slightly tweaked the text above. Thanks, Steve.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at September 12, 2004 07:37 PM

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