2B/SS
Wears a Cincinnati hat.
Here's the dirty little secret about Shaft - it's not that good. Oh, it starts off well enough, John Shaft walking the streets of New York, cutting in front of traffic, flashing his badge, talking to a white street vendor (who, one assumes, is friends with Shaft because he is, quite literally, blind and therefore doesn't realize that his buddy is an Uppity Negro). That Song playing the whole time. But then it sort of just turns into a standard actioner. Shaft isn't even all that recognizably black, not the way some other blaxploitation heroes were. He's not trying to get one over on The Man, he's more or less just doing his job.
Or, to keep with the blaxploitation theme, a crude sexual metaphor - The Theme From Shaft works, in part, because it's all foreplay. The anticipation builds and builds through that long-ass intro, until the beat finally changes and Isaac Hayes' voice comes over, smooth as silk. Sings a few lines, the ladies sing back and then, post-coitally, he gets the hell out of Dodge. Shaft, on the other hand, is all orgasm - the opening scene is John Shaft, walking around and being badass, but then the film lingers around all night to cuddle as a pretty rote genre movie. So, if you've never seen it, this will probably suffice:
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