MovieChat Forums > Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1973) Discussion > did anybody else think that melvin shoul...

did anybody else think that melvin should be locked under the jail?

posted 15 years ago by Arimas01
6 replies | jump to latest

All I know is the whole situation with Mario is sick. I couldn't even watch the rest of the movie after I saw this part. Even if it wasn't sex, it's close enough and some form of child molestation. I lost all respect for him after that. It's your business if you want to have sex for money but to turn your kid into a whore to make some money is on of the lowest things that a parent can do. I lost all resoect for him when I saw this movie . I was disgusted! He should've been lock under the jail. And I can't believe that Bill Cosby and other established black entertainers actually supported this movie.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] aoa8212 15 years ago

I admittedly have yet to see the movie, and I'm not necessarily defending Melvin or anyone else involved in the making of this movie. I will say, however, that society's standards were different at the time. There was the sexual revolution, free love, etc. There wasn't as much stigma for an adult to have sex with an adolescent or preteen child, especially if the younger partner was male and the older partner was female. Of course, society's standards have changed, and scenes like this are no longer acceptable in American cinema (Although there are a few scenes like this in modern European cinema), but it's kind of hard to judge people living back then by today's societal standards.

[–] rlstokey 15 years ago

It is what it is. Melvin made this film at all costs and held nothing back and that included doing some very ugly and dishonest things. I cannot argue with the OP's disgust of the opening scene but I urge anyone interested in blaxploitation cinema to view the film at least once. Peace.

[–] Arimas01 12 years ago

There is no amont of money or "success" that would cause me to sacrifice my child or anybody's child for that matter. I never even got past that scene because it made me just that sick to watch it. Another thing, If Mario was a girl and it was a man in the bed with her there would have been alot of backlash and critisizm. I remember watching something on TV about this movie and how Mario didn't want to do it because he was embarrassed and didn't want to face his school mates. When you sum it all up he basically was acting as his son's pimp.

[–] activista 10 years ago

@Arimas01

Yeah, the movie wasn't all that great to begin with--the soundtrack (by a then-unknown Earth,Wind & Fire) was much better. But yeah, that scene was ridiculous as hell, even though it was pretty short. Van Peebles was definitely wrong as hell for letting his son do that scene to begin with. I mean, what kind of parent would let their child do something like that,anyway? Sure, it was a different time, but that still didn't make it right. Honestly, though, it's an uninhibited, wold freewheeling ride through the early '70's indie underground, which was truly underground back then. The Movie needed a better editor and major trimming down of some scenes.

[–] LadyLovie 12 years ago

bill cosby? he's an old pervert anyway.

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domestic abuse at it's best