(neologism constructed from black exploitation) A sub-genre of Hollywood films produced in the USA in the 1970s with the deliberate aim of attracting an African-American audience. Capitalizing on the success of Sweet Sweetbackâs Baadassss Song (director Van Peebles, 1971), Shaft (director Parks Snr 1971) and Superfly (director Parks Jnr 1972), blaxploitationâs aesthetic emulated their gritty storylines and streetwise heroes and created a new type of film which challenged Hollywoodâs stereotypes of black people. Blaxploitation storylines generally revolved around black men and women winning one over the white system. In doing so it brought black actors into the foreground of the narrative action in a way not previously seen in Hollywood, which tended to consign them to the role of victim or servant. Some 40 movies were produced in this mould, including pastiches of horror films and westerns, before the market was saturated and the genre burnt out in the late 1970s. Quentin Tarantinoâs (1998) Jackie Brown is a homage to the genre and features one of its greatest stars, Pam Grier.