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ruzhu It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Coonskin is less about advancing the lives of blacks than it is about promoting reverse racism against whites. Don't believe me? Let's look at some examples.1. The film starts out with two black men inside a car shooting a white police officer who just stopped them for speeding. 2. The implied leader of the Black Jesus revolution movement is a white accountant - HE'S the one taking advantage of the poor blacks. 3. The talk about how "killing crackers is cool."4. Making slights of "white people's" music, dancing and dress at a fancy club.5. And finally, depicting nearly all whites as the bad guys.The white race is the scapegoat throughout Coonskin - the final source of the black characters' problems. Therefore, according to the film, black people have the right to flip off, yell at, mock, and do harm to white people at every turn. The black characters' racist Sambo caricatures are used to taunt the white audience, as if "clueless whitey" only sees black people as those caricatures. (I, however, don't find that kind of ironic racism clever, but instead as an excuse to draw offensive cartoons.)There was one scene in the film that came remotely close to explaining the real underlying cause of problems in the black community, and that was the scene of the single Harlem mother with her child, whose husband left her for no good reason. The shame of not providing enough for your family does not excuse you from leaving your family, and leaving only makes them suffer more. But it's not necessarily discriminatory employment from the white man that renders the black father useless to his family - it's his apathy conditioned by generations of post-slavery wandering, and it leads to dysfunctional families with antisocial or even criminal family members. The welfare system also has played its part in splintering black families, and while I grant that it came into being by the hand of white politicians, a level of personal accountability does exist for everybody, and this film seems to be trying its best to exempt blacks from that. In a cartoon feature, you can't expect to touch on serious issues while your characters are running around with big lips and bow ties. These kinds of exaggerated stereotypes are only meant to be "funny" - they have no business elsewhere. Don't watch this film for any actual constructional social critique or insight.

Julia Arsenault (ja_kitty_71) I had watched this film from Ralph Bakshi (Wizards, Hey Good Lookin', etc.), one night ago on www.afrovideo.org, and I didn't see anything racial. Well, I do admit the character designs are a bit crude and unaccpectable today, but I think it's a satire and a very, very urban retelling of the old Uncle Remus stories that the Black American culture, created right down to the main characters and the blatant nod to "The Tar Baby" and "The Briar Patch." These aren't bigoted stories, mind you, but cultural icons created by Black Americans, and me being a white woman read and love those stories. And I also found it an interesting time-capsule view on the black culture in Harlem, New York in the 70's.Well to get to the nitty-gritty of this film: This film is a live-action/animated film, which begins in live-action with a fellow named Sampson and the Preacherman rush to help their friend, Randy escape from prison, but are stopped by a roadblock and wind up in a shootout with the police. While waiting for them, Randy unwillingly listens to fellow escapee Pappy, as he begins to tell Randy the animated story of Brother Rabbit, a young newcomer to the big city who quickly rises from obscurity to rule over all of Harlem. You know, to me Rabbit,Bear and Fox are animal versions of Randy,Sampson and the Preacherman. An abstract juxtaposition of stylized animation and live action footage, the film is a graphic and condemnatory satire of stereotypes prevalent in the 70s — racial, ethnic, and otherwise.So anyway, it is another good Bakshi movie. And should we sweep films like this under the rug? pretend they never exist? I think that would be a shame. I think we should watch these films entacted, and learn about what goes on back then, just how far we come since then.

abyoussef by Dane Youssef "Coonskin" is film, by the one and only Ralph Bakshi, is reportedly a satirical indictment of blaxploitation films and negative black stereotypes, as well as a look at life black in modern America (modern for the day, I mean--1975). Paramount dropped it like a hot potato that just burst into flame.But this is a Bakshi film, controversial, thrilling, and a must-see almost by definition alone. Not just another random "shock-jock" of a movie which tries to shock for the sake of shock. It's by Ralph Bakshi. Anyone who knows the name knows that if HE made a movie, he has something big to say...Although it's roots are based in cheap blaxploitation, "Coonskin" isn't just another campy knock-off of mainstream white film or any kind of throwaway flick. "Coonskin" wants to be more. It aims it's sights higher and fries some much bigger fish.The movie doesn't just poke fun at the genre. Nor does it just indict black people, but actually seems to show love, beauty and heart in the strangest places."Coonskin" tells a story out of some convicts awaiting a jail-break. The fact that it's even possible to break out of a prison in the "Coonskin" world alone makes it old-fashioned.One of the inmates tells a story about a trio of black brothers in Harlem named Brother Bear, Brother Rabbit, Preacher Fox who want respect and a piece of the action and are willing to get it by any means necessary. The Itallian mob is running all the real action.Big name black musicians star: Barry White and Scatman Crothers, as well as Charles Gordone, the first black playwright to take home the Pulitzer. Something big is happening here obviously.The movie plays out like a descent into this world, this side of the racial divide. From an angry, hip, deep, soulful black man with a hate in his heart and a gun in his hand.Bakshi's films never know the meaning of the word "sublety." This one looks like it's never even heard of the word. But maybe a subject like this needs extremism. Real sledgehammer satire. Some subjects can't be tackled gently.Bakshi is god-dammed merciless. Here, no member or minority of the Harlem scene appears unscathed.The characters here are "animated" to "real" all depending on what the mood and situation are. The animated characters and the human ones all share the same reality and are meant to be taken just as literally.Bakshi never just shows ugly caricatures just for shock value. He always has something to say. Nor is black-face is gratuitously. Here, unlike in Spike Lee's "Bamboozled," he seems to be using it to try and really say something.Like 99.9% of all of Bakshi's films, this one incorporates animation and live-action. Usually at the same time. Bakshki isn't just being gimmicky here. All of this technique is all intertwined, meshing together while saying something.Somehow, this one feels inevitably dated. Many of these types of films (Bakshi's included) are very topical, very spur of the moment. They reflect the certain trend for the day, but looking back of them years later, there's just an unmistakable feeling of nostalgia (as well as timeless truth).Even though the music, clothes, slang and the city clearly looks like photos that belong in a time capsule, the attitude, the spirit and the heart remain the same no matter what f--king ear it is. Anyone who's really seen the movies, the state of things and has been in company of the people know what I'm talking about.Even some of the of the black characters are a bunny (junglebunny), a big ol' bear and a fox. One of the most sour and unsavory racist characters is a dirty Harlem cop who's hot on the trail of these "dirty n-----s" after the death of a cop. But for him, it's not just business. Nor is it for the rest of the brothers who wear the shield. It's just pure sadistic racist pleasure of hurting blacks.The sequence involving the Godfather and his lady is one of the most moving pieces in the whole film, of which there are many. It plays out like an opera or a ballet.The promo line: WARNING: "This film offends everybody!" This is not just hype. Proceed with extreme caution.You have been warned...--Happy Viewing, Dane Youssef

zetes Streetfight (aka Coonskin) is a very unique film directed by animation pioneer Ralph Bakshi. It is an oddity of the cinema, and is very much worth seeing. It is live action mixed with animation, seemingly influenced on Disney's legendary Song of the South, almost as if it is a response to that flick. Philip Michael Thomas, later to become Don Johnson's sidekick on Miami Vice, and Scatman Crothers, most famous for his role in Kubrick's The Shining, are prison escapees. Charles Gordone and Barry White (yes, that Barry White) are Thomas' friends and plan to help him escape prison. They are stuck at a police roadblock, and Crothers tells Thomas a story about a black rabbit, a bear, and a fox who move from the South to Harlem in order to find a more peaceful existence. The story is animated, and provides a lot of wonderous things to see. Like all of Bakshi's films, most will be annoyed and will dislike the animation. True animation lovers will forgive its clunkiness and fall in love with its inventiveness. The movie is very violent, very sexual, and it is mostly about battles between the races. For a long time, I thought I was watching something extremely important, but after a while, especially after I got done watching it, it started to seem more like a run-of-the-mill blacksploitation flick, along the lines of Superfly. It's very sloppy and doesn't really say anything. Besides, isn't Bakshi white? Whatever the answer to that, Coonskin/Streetfight is still very much worth watching for animation aficionados as well as cult movie fans. 7/10.