1988’s I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, was written and directed by long time comedian Keenan Ivory Wayans. If you are a fan of all the Blaxploitation films from the 1970s, such as Shaft, Foxy Brown and Trunk Turner, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka serves as a parody to these iconic films. In most of the films I listed there are certain genre conventions that you are going to see. You may see a “ghetto” crime filled area, a protagonist who may be a black superhero here to kick some gangster butt, as well as some gangsters, pimps and foxy ladies. In this classic and very hilarious film, you see some genre conventions that makes this film what it is, a spoof to all those 1970s player films.
In most Blaxploitation films, there was always a funeral, and depending on the movie and who it was that actually died the funeral was almost an elaborate celebration, more than a funeral. For example let’s look at the funeral of Gator from 1974’s Truck Turner. https://youtu.be/8yGFz3MAyOM In the scene you see some of the finest ladies and high rolling pimps come to send him off. It’s normal to see a funeral in these type of movies because of the nature in which they were portraying. In IGGYS, we see a funeral just a few minutes into the film. A young man is pronounced dead in the ghetto due to an overdose of gold chains, so we think. The pastor leading service is no other than the great, and one of my favorite comedians, John Witherspoon. The scene is hilarious because Witherspoon is saying absolutely nothing but instead is repeating himself in different ways. He says, “Death is serious, you have to prepare to die.” As he continues service he says a prayer for Junebug the young man murdered with all his gold on, but shockingly and very funny, the people attending isn’t there for Junebug, they’re there for Dr. Wilson, but Whiterspoon informs them that Dr. Wilson funeral was at 9 that morning. So what does everybody do? They get up and leave in the middle of the service, leaving Witherspoon and June bug’s mother and wife there, who just wants an Amen to rest Junebug peacefully.
Now what’s a Blaxploitation film without some crooks undermining the abilities of a beautiful black woman? The rise of black women in strong yet nurturing, sexy yet sophisticated roles were a part of every film in the 70s under this genre. In 1976’s Velvet Smooth the case was no different. https://youtu.be/M1bEQPkZKRM In this scene Velvet Smooth looks like she is about to end it all until she starts to kick some booty, soul sister style. Now in IGGYS, this was no different, except the scenario was a little different. June bug’s mother and widowed wife are talking about the funeral when they get a knock at the door. Damon Wayans (another talented and classic comedian) and Kadeem Hardison pays both ladies a visit to get some money Junebug had owed them. Wayans character Leonard is clearly the boss of the two but has to constantly remind his echo, I mean partner Willie of this. After the two ladies plea they have no money they start to vandalize Mrs. Spade’s house. That is until she opens a can of butt whooping on the both of them. After some comedic relief she asks them both to leave, either out the window or the door. They chose the door but from them rolling down the flight of stairs one can assume she didn’t let them walk away without knowing who was boss. Her poise, yet over protectiveness stayed true throughout the whole film and the genre convention that every black film in the 70s needed a poise lady who could take on some big boys every now and then.
Without the villain, crooks, robbers, bad guys, however you want to categorize them, there wouldn’t be a reason for pretty much any storyline especially in this subgenre. After Jack returns home and gets word of what really happened to his brother from Chery, he goes out to uncover the truth and bring justice to his brother’s sudden death. But before he can get some answers he runs into some crooks, not your average crooks, but some crooks in training. The scene is hilarious because we see these young guys being chased by dogs while carrying big TV’s and also stripping a car within a time limit. This was funny because I couldn’t believe how ignorant this scene is. Mr. Bigs a white guy who employs young black guys to carry out his work. In this week’s blog post we learned about satire and how it can be used in films to show major issues going on in society. At one point I didn’t feel like this was a parody. It’s funny but almost shameful to watch this movie because those watching this with no interaction with black males would think that we are like this. That’s not the case. So what was Keenan trying to expose here? Is it a broken system where black males are taught to be thugs and criminals and then are treated the way they are because they were trained to be the way they are? Or is it just some comedic relief?
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