- What connections can you make between Malcolm X and Ganja & Hess?
- What role does violence against black people play in both texts?
- The myth of Icarus is important to Malcolm X's narrative (it's the title of Ch. 15). African mythology (and Christian) also seems to be important to Ganja & Hess. Discuss why these old stories are being used in these modern texts?
- Discuss the ways that G&H and Malcolm X differ narratively. Why would Bill Gunn choose to tell his film in such an unorthodox manner?
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Malcolm X and Ganja & Hess
This week we're screening the classic art film Ganja & Hess
(1973, directed by Bill Gunn). It's hard to overestimate the effect
that Malcolm X and other black nationalists had on the culture of the
1960s and '70s. The entire genre of Blaxsploitation film (Shaft [1971], Super Fly
[1972] and many others) came out of the activism of the Civil Rights
era. Even though often the politics in these films was submerged or even
nonexistent, the films' very existence as cinema was political. Prior
to the 60s, black people essentially didn't exist in films except in the
role of servants or slaves. With Blaxsploitation, black men and women
became the heroes of mainstream films.
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