SUPERFLY is another one of the landmark films of the short-lived blaxploitation era, which lasted from the early 1970s to about 1976. It’s not as groundbreaking as SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAAD ASSSSS SONG or as mainstream as SHAFT, but it has more interesting things to say than either of those films. Part of what makes the film so interesting is its mixed message. The informed viewer can easily see what the film is trying to say, but its negative influence on impressionable youth can be seen as well. It’s credited as making the drug-dealing pimp look of the early 1970s chic.
Ron O’Neal (WHEN A STRANGER CALLS) plays Youngblood Priest, a cocaine-using, cocaine-dealing ladies man. He uses women like they’re Kleenex. He’s decked out in superfly clothes and has the sweet El Dorado Cadillac. One can see why the older African-American generation didn’t want him as a role model for their kids. However, what the film is saying is that Priest is a product of his environment. He was fed all the same materialistic ideals that white kids are fed, but is not given the means to attain those American dreams in conventional ways.
So as a poor black man, he finds himself drifting into drug dealing, which he has come to see as a one-way ticket to the graveyard. Priest tells his partner Eddie (Carl Lee, THE COOL WORLD) that he wants to do one big score and get out of the life. So they go to the only person they know can get them the amount of coke they want — their retired, former source named Scatter (Julius Harris, LIVE AND LET DIE), who has used his drug earnings to start a restaurant. However, Scatter’s supplier is linked to The Man, who doesn’t want to let go of their pushers if they’re good.
In a powerful speech, Priest tells his main girl Georgia (Sheila Frazier, CALIFORNIA SUITE) that he has become disillusioned with his life, always feeling like he’s under the thumb of society. He complains that he has no true freedom — trapped in a life he hates with little way out and little else to do. In the end, the film has a moral ambiguity that can be read many ways. But no matter how you feel about the ending, it shows that Priest is smarter than The Man thinks a poor black man should be.
Gordon Parks Jr. doesn’t have the visual flare of his father, but he infuses SUPERFLY with intelligence and challenging subject matter. He also uses still shots for a montage of addicts using drugs that creates a strange, unsettling power to what could have been a typical transition sequence.
The music plays a key role in setting the mood and helping develop the characters. Curtis Mayfield’s “Pusher Man” may not be as recognizable to the general public as the theme of SHAFT, but it plays just as crucial a role in this film as Isaac Hayes’ Oscar-winning work did in SHAFT. Bringing the film even more intrigue is the great performance from O’Neal, who brings raw conviction to his torn and weary character. The film captures the true discontent in the black community of the 1970s with insight and power. SUPERFLY has a plan to stick it to The Man for certain.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
