About this episode

The episode discusses the radical film 'Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song' and its impact on cinema and society.

Movie of the Year: 1971 Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song The Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song Podcast The Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song podcast brings Ryan, Mike, and Greg to one of 1971's most radical and uncompromising films. Melvin Van Peebles wrote, directed, produced, scored, edited, and starred in this landmark independent work — entirely outside the Hollywood system. The result is a film unlike any other in the bracket. Above all, it challenges every assumption about who gets to make movies, and why. This week, the Taste Buds dig into three major threads: the film as a revolutionary political act, its polarizing form and style, and its complex treatment of sex and gender. Furthermore, they induct a film into the PopFilter Hall of Fame and take on Recast the Podcast. It is a wide-ranging, debate-heavy episode from first minute to last. The Movie of the Year 1971 bracket has produced bold conversations — and this one may be the boldest yet. About the Film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song follows Sweetback (Van Peebles), a Black sex-show performer raised in a brothel. When police use him as a convenient patsy, he fights back — killing two racist cops and becoming a…

More episodes of Movie of the Year

• 1971 - The Finale, Part II · May 7, 2026 · 53 min
• 1971 - Straw Dogs (feat. Erik from the Cradle to the Grave pod!) · April 23, 2026 · 1h 51m
• 1971 - Harold and Maude (feat. Van from the Gaymer Girls pod!) · April 9, 2026 · 1h 19m
• 1971 - Dirty Harry (feat. Conor Kilpatrick from iFanboy!) · April 2, 2026 · 1h 49m
• 1971 - Brian's Song (feat. Mike White from The Projection Booth!) · March 26, 2026 · 1h 42m
• 1971 - Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (feat. Matt Singer!) · March 19, 2026 · 2h 0m

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