"I gots to say na nay no."

Petey Wheatstraw, The Devil’s Son-In-Law… I wish the title were more ridiculous than the film itself but this 1978 movie was one of the weirdest and stupidest films I have ever seen, and I’ve seen some pretty stupid movies. I don’t know how many people went to the library and finished watching the film (I can’t imagine a lot) but yes, the last hour is just as ridiculous, if not more so, than the 30 minutes we saw in class. I wish I could say there was something I really liked about Petey Wheatstraw but I honestly have nothing. For the sake of this blog, I’m going to search for some interesting points and possibly some redeeming value in the film. This should be interesting.

First off, I need to get this out of the way and say that while we were watching Petey Wheatstraw I couldn’t stop thinking about the movie Pootie Tang. Now, I haven’t seen Pootie Tang in a really long time but I remember that it had the same ridiculous and stupid humor as Petey Wheatstraw. Just by watching these clips one can see that it is definitely a film that parodies Petey Wheatstraw and blaxploitation cinema.













The film’s set design and wardrobe is enough to make you laugh and at least stand to watch the film for a little while. The zig-zag patterned carpet in the ambulance and the sequenced outfits were so cheesy. And at the end of the movie when Lucifer’s demons show up in spandex and face paint…oh my god. Not to mention, the film’s racist and sexual content is surprisingly heavy. Towards the end of the film, Petey Wheatstraw has an orgy with like ten other women in a bachelor pad given to him by Lucifer! As professor McRae said, this is definitely a movie we wouldn’t typically see.

Now as much as I really disliked this movie I have to admit that I am interested in this particular genre of films and it’s not because I for some reason have a secret love for over-the-top racist comedy kung-fu movies. I’m interested in these films simply because it is a type of film and being a film major, I feel like I can learn just as much from watching really good movies as I can from watching really bad ones. Not only that though, I think that there is more to Petey Wheatstraw than the poor acting, horrible editing, cheesy cinematography, and stupid stereotypical characters. (By the way I don’t plan on having many people agree with me, and I can truthfully understand why)

What interests me about Petey Wheatstraw and blaxploitation cinema is not necessarily the film itself but rather why the film was made the way it was and what that says about a particular group of people at a specific point in time. No matter how ridiculous a movie is, there has to be some reason for someone to ever want to make it and most times one can find underlying themes or messages. If anything, we can look at Petey Wheatstraw as being a part of film history, specifically African American film. Without these films we probably wouldn’t have seen talented filmmakers like Spike Lee making wonderful and poignant films like Do The Right Thing.

Also, there has to be something about Petey Wheatstraw that has made it stand the test of time. I mean come on we’re sitting in an American Film class watching the movie. Now I’m not going to claim that Petey Wheatstraw is in any way a great piece of cinema. It is technically and creatively a joke. But maybe the filmmakers had to resort to shock value and ridiculous moments in order to get people to actually think about African American lifestyles and issues. If anything I think every once in a while we need films like this to make sure that we aren’t taking everything so seriously. Or at least remind us aspiring filmmakers that we actually have a shot.