December 11–18, 1997

book quarterly

zine

Black To The Future

Reminiscing about blaxploitation and other retro reads.

by Neil Gladstone

With slick '70s films like Boogie Nights and The Ice Storm keeping bellbottoms and wife-swapping in the public eye, the second coming of the "Me Decade" seems far from over. Most designers want to be done with hip-hugging jeans so they can start redoing '80s pastels. But with Quentin Tarantino about to drop the nouveau-blaxploitation flick Jackie Brown, it's likely that the era of polyester will be with us for a while.

If Tarantino inspires a nationwide blaxploitation craze, African-American filmmaker David Walker, 29, is poised to ride its crest. He started the zine BadAzz MoFo as a side project while working on his blaxploitation documentary, Macked, Hammered, Slaughtered and Shafted. He'd already done interviews with actors such as Ron O'Neal (aka Superfly) and Jim Kelly (of Enter the Dragon fame), but was having trouble raising funds to finish the film. So, as an intermediate outlet, he began compiling his reviews and interviews and publishing them.

Walker's opinion of the all-black, action-packed film genre is a little different from the mainstream view that considers these movies forgettable fodder for the masses. Coming on the heels of the civil rights movement, characters like Shaft and Superfly were role models for African-American youth, he says.

"There was a lot of anger and frustration among the black community during those times, and these films gave people an outlet for their hostility," explains Walker from his home in Portland, OR.

Unlike today's shoot-'em-ups, those flicks had strong sociopolitical undertones. In Walker's view, Superfly was basically about a cocaine dealer struggling to get out of the business and survive as an underskilled, undereducated minority in a white man's world. But even though MoFo's editor might be one of blaxploitation's biggest fans, he knows the whole genre isn't golden. Many of the films he reviews, like Nigger Lover, Mean Mother and Black Heat, rate only a Jeri Curl (meaning it "sucks") out of a possible four Afros.

"Ghetto Warriors is the Reefer Madness of black power films," writes Walker. "I have crafted better lumps of shit by contracting the muscles in my ass."

The most recent issue of BadAzz MoFo also tracks the history of blaxploitation as well as the adventures of other '70s action heroes (including Walter Matthau, Mr. Bad News Bears, whom Walker presents as one BadAzz dude). A dose of Black Panther ideology is also thrown into the mix as well as references to whiteys and honkies that inspire nasty letters to the editor.

"It's all in fun," says Walker. "I know how to get a rise out of people."

(BadAzz MoFo, $5, c/o of Angziety Produkshunz, P.O. Box 40649, Portland, OR 97240-0649)

If you're looking for an in-depth guide to '70s and '80s kitsch as seen through the eyes of Gen-Xers who love to reminisce, boogie on down to your local bookstore and snap up Retro Hell (Back Bay Books). This manual, put together by the editors of the zine Ben Is Dead, gives you the skinny on everything from afros to Zotz in entries that combine the facts with personal history and goofy lore. For example, there's Pillsbury Cookie Dough: "Was, and probably still is an essential part of the bulimic's diet," writes Darby. Another contributor, Nina, then goes off on a tangent about the Pillsbury Dough Boy: "There was something inexplicably sexy about him—his tantalizing texture, his pliable yet solid shape. I still don't understand it, but Casper the Ghost worked me over in a similar way." Okay, so Retro Hell isn't exactly an historical document, but if you find yourself up late at night jonesing to hear about the wacky cultural references of your childhood and there are no slackers in sight, this $12.95 paperback will definitely do the trick.

Not quite as comprehensive but still loaded with yuks is You Sank My Battleship! The fall issue features articles on The A-Team, Elvis and toast. In "I Pity the Fool," Messiah (yeah, that's his name) argues for the resurrection of The A-Team with Charlton Heston as Hannibal, Mystery Science Theater's Joel Hodgson as Faceman, G. Gordon Liddy as Murdoch and Mr. T reprising his role as B.A. Somebody hook Messiah up with a major studio! The issue is worth its $1 asking price just for the "Elvis Fun Facts": "Elvis' colon weighed 62 lbs. at the time of his autopsy"; "Elvis was obsessed with brushing his teeth, however, shunned showering near 'the end'"; "While filming the movie Harum Scarum, Elvis refused to leave the house without wearing a turban." And there's a list of the "10 Worst Cartoon Characters of All Time": "5.) Pepe Lepew—Hello, Warner Brothers, ever heard of sexual harassment? Let's take a good look at this character; a horny, rapist skunk who's attracted to other species! NOT good for the kids. Plus, worse still, he's French."

(Contact: Jennifer Marsh, 822 Guilford Ave., #141, Baltimore, MD 21202)

What rundown of retro zines would be complete without reference to 8-Track Mind, the reference guide for those in love with 8-track tapes. Unfortunately, the last couple of issues were almost completely devoted to readers' correspondence. Little notes about how 8-Track Mind saved someone's life and yarns recounting missed opportunities at flea markets. Ho-hum. You'd do better to look for one of the back issues. Spring '97 includes a nice piece about 8-track terminology, and winter '96 features a travelogue about scoring an 8-track of Hendrix's Band of Gypsies in Bolivia. If you want to know which issue will have the best articles, write editor Russ Forster at the following address: 8-TM Publications, P.O. Box 90, East Detroit, MI 48021-0090.