1. My Reaction
I really enjoyed Shaft. I think what I liked most was the "toughness" aspect of Shaft. It's hard to describe, but he is tough in a different way than people in movies are these days. I know we talked about it in class, but nowadays its all about blowing things up and having automatic weapons. Shaft just had intimidation and a pistol, which he barely used. It reminds me of Dirty Harry in some ways, where Clint Eastwood just needs a handgun and a tough look. He gets the job done.
I also love how Shaft is such a wise guy. He calls people "baby" just to push their buttons.
2. Class Discussion
I loved how people said it was cheesy but tasteful. I totally agree. The fact that he breaks out into a really loud laugh (when in a normal situation that wouldn't work at all) is perfect. If the movie were to try and be serious, the cheese factor would ruin it. But they almost have a sense of humor about the actual film itself, as if they want it to be a little cheesy.
Someone in class mentioned how stereotypes are overblown. The Italians are super mafia, etc. They only show different cultures to their extremes. They won't just show people who are sort of "neutral", the people in the film have to be extremely stereotypical.
3. Reading
One of the main ideas is how masculinity and the things that portray masculinity have changed over the years. It definitely is a shift in our culture. Now we need "hard body muscle men" and back then it wasn't about that as much. Now it is aggression and meat heads and back then it was intimidation and respect. I think respect is one of those huge factors that has changed over the years. Like, what does it take to earn or gain respect? How does one go about getting respect?
On page 122 it says "Masculinity is thus clearly defined by sexual prowess and male conquest at the start of Park's film." This reading talks about the new Shaft, but I think the definition of masculinity has changed since the days of the original Shaft. The reading also mentions hyper-masculinity and how that signals a change in society and culture. I don't know why everything has shifted so extremely.
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If Shaft had taken itself seriously, this film would have been the cheesiest pizza at the pizzeria. (officially the lamest metaphor ever)
ReplyDeleteI also really liked the facets of Shaft's character. He was really tough, but in a sensual, "don't f**k with me" kind of way. He was very threatening, but he was still incredibly smooth and suave. In my blog, I talked a lot about the cultural shift in terms of maculinity. There are so many violent action heroes, we did all the sexy ones go?
I also think that Shaft is such a great character because he doesn't need all of the special effects or violence to make him seem strong and masculine. He just needs to give that look, show his gun and act confident. It's obvious that us as a society are used to this increased technology and the ability to show these explosions and more "real" looking violence, but there's something about the "old school" way of doing it, just by having characters like Shaft that is lacking in todays action films, I think that they could benefit a lot from using these techniques a little more.
ReplyDeleteShaft= Black Dirty Harry? I know thats not exactly what you were saying, but it is an interesting comparison in my opinion. Definitely know what you mean by tough, I certainly wouldnt wanna mess with either of these guys, and I cant imagine a situation where I would ever wanna be against them or on the other side of their guns. If Shaft is pointing a gun at you, your pretty much boned lol
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of very clear and poignant differences between them though and its interesting because I wonder how much of that difference is related to how whites and blacks are portrayed on film. Would white shaft just have been dirty harry? hmmm not quite but its interesting to say the least.
This is a good overview of what we discussed. But I'd have liked a more substantial discussion also about the differences between white and black action heroes, and it seems that everybody's kind of avoiding the topic, in favor of "Why I heart Shaft, despite his apparent lack of emotion." Granted, he's pretty heartable, but....
ReplyDeleteThis is a good overview of viewing and discussion. I'd have liked to see a more substantial discussion of race as well as gender. Tom's question, and his proposed comparison of the differences between say, Dirty Harry and Shaft, are both useful.
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