Essay Questions

How does Foxy differ from other cinematic heroines?

Foxy is unafraid to cross the line into the criminal life if it means she is able to get the revenge that she wants on the people who killed her boyfriend. She is undoubtably the "goodie" in the movie, but that doesn't mean that she is the traditional well-behaved "good girl" that the heroine of a movie had traditionally been. She owns a gun and is not afraid to use it. She poses as a sex worker in order to get closer to the syndicate who ordered her boyfriend's murder. She fights back, no matter what happens to her; when she is raped she kills her rapist and her guards. She is, in short, more like the male protagonist of a movie than the female one. Indeed, Foxy does not crumple or fold in the face of the worst or circumstances. She has a strength and a ferocity that had previously never been seen in movies, and this is what women especially loved about the character.

In what way does this movie represent the Blaxploitation genre?

Foxy is an atypical heroine in any genre of movies, but for the most part her character aside, the film is wholly representative of Blaxploitation. For example, Foxy apart, the African American women in the movie are all victims and all involved in the sex trade; they are economically disadvantaged and have little education leaving them with few opportunities to earn a living; prostitution is really their only choice. Similarly, the black characters in the film are all involved in crime. The criminal syndicate are African American. They participate in gun crime, drug crime and prostitution; they are murderers, rapists and have no remorse. In the film the black characters are either murderers or murder victims. The movie perpetuates the image of African Americans involved in crime and separate from the rest of society.

The movie's soundtrack and fashion is also representative of Blaxploitation in that it is derivative and pulls from the most popular urban and African American music of the day, but also the music that people believed to be popular in the black community whether it was or not. The movie is in many ways a ninety minute stereotype, which is why it is considered to be a prime example of the Blaxploitation genre.