"They say this cat Shaft is a baaaaaaad mother--" " Shut yo mouth!"

I've always thought of a "gangster" as a man in a pin-striped suit, wielding a tommy gun and "whacking" people. I've always thought of a "gangsta" as a head-thumping mutha with the crotch of his pants between his knees...or lower. Shaft had the 1970s version of both. And then it had Shaft himself.

This man is so smooth, he could probably get "Dubya" in bed if he really wanted to. He's a tall, broad-shouldered, imposing man who appears to have a heart of gold. He doesn't give up on rescuing a woman, despite the fact that she's the daughter of a very not-good man. He gets his old hustling partner compensation for the gangstas he lost in a gun battle simply because they used to work together. And despite the era's general dislike for black men, he's friends with a white lieutenant who proclaims, "You ain't so black." (He "ain't so white, either.")

I almost have to agree with the people who felt that this was less a blaxploitation movie and more a movie where a black man was molded into a white man's position. Sure, Shaft has the jive feel to him, and walks on both sides of the law, but the white cops aren't the bad guys. In fact, one of them (Vic) is clearly Shaft's friend, and the only "bad" white people are the gangsters. And I think just about everyone will agree that the mafia are not the best group of people ever.

I kind of want to look at this movie as a way of saying that there is no difference between black and white men aside from the color of their skin. A slick white man can get in bed with as many women as Shaft. A white man who is loyal to his friends would fight for their rights the way Shaft did for Ben. And who would pass up oodles of money just because the employer is a less-than-nice person? Not many people.

Then we get to the point of sex and sexuality. Shaft is bedding...how many women? I stopped paying attention after the one woman put Ben in a small girl's bed and thoroughly emasculated him by telling him that in her house, he would watch his mouth. Clearly, he can handle his women strong, and he likes his women a whole damn lot. (Bow-chicka-bow-wow) Yet when he's being BLATANTLY hit on by a gay bartender, he doesn't react negatively. I can't imagine a movie these days showing a big manly man being hit on by another man without the situation ending in violence. At the very least, the gay man is going to get shoved. He might get decked or worse, depending on the movie. But Shaft, woman-lover that he is, just smirks and continues on with his night. So either Shaft holds some affinity toward men, is secure enough in his sexuality that he doesn't feel the need to get uppity, or is just so chill that it doesn't affect him at all. I think it serves to reinforce that Shaft is a bad mother (shut yo' mouth!) with a heart of gold. He doesn't need to show his machismo by beating the crap out of innocent people. Hell, the only actual violence he shows is toward the gangsters, and they truly deserve it. I think this shows that he really is a good guy at heart, and does his job well. He's simply not afraid to blur the lines of legality to get his job done.