Don't jive me, man!

John Shaft, he's a cool cat. He gets the ladies and catches the bad guys, all while lookin' smooth.

This was the beginning of mainstream Blaxploitation. Shaft set the standard for a whole new genre of film, a new type of hero, and a new standard of entertainment, and Richard Roundtree was its poster-boy.

Shaft is an interesting hero. He's noble and wise, but not always all that nice. As Willy says after Shaft tosses Leroy out the window, "That's some cold shit, throwing my man Leroy out the window. Just picked my man up and threw him out the Goddamn window." Not that he was unwarranted, Leroy was attacking him. So he stays true to his heroic roots. But unlike many other heroes, he doesn't insist on the lone wolf approach, he enlists the help of comrades to bring down a kidnapping scheme and save the day. Most heroes simply end up benefiting from the unintentional help of those around them.

He also paved the way for the heroines of the day to begin their reign. Pam Grier was Shaft's feminine counter-part, kicking ass and taking names across a whole slew of films like Coffee and Foxy Brown.

The blessing and unfortunate side-effect of Shaft's success was the adoption of Blaxploitation into the mainstream Hollywood market. The genre became over-run with white folks behind the scenes, writing and directing and producing films that were essentially designed for a black market. Many people were outraged by this, but most didn't seem to mind. As long as the movies kept on coming, they were happy.

Blaxploitation eventually faded out of popularity, becoming a cult phenomenon. It was somewhat re-birthed by Quentin Tarantino when he made Jackie Brown, starring Pam Grier. It distilled the most intense and dramatic elements of classic Blaxploitation films into a powerhouse of a movie, opening the eyes of many who had never even heard of such a genre.
More recently, Black Dynamite revisited the more comedic and ridiculous aspects of Blaxploitation, once again showcasing the genre to a new generation.

The ripples of Shaft's original splash can still be felt through the film industry, and will continue to do so as long as good films are being made.