(Listening note: Harry was late, so we start the episode by talking bullshit about Star Wars and some other stuff. Use the timestamps to skip to the good stuff.)

CLAUDINE isn’t a textbook blaxploitation film, but it leans on those tropes and expectations to subvert them in a really radical way, especially in the context of its 1974 release. The story of a struggling mother on welfare finding love with a hardworking man amid the trials of life under capitalism is given a sharper edge by its script, an honest (if often ugly) window into the realities of being a Black American. Moreover, it’s a striking portrait of how those material realities remove opportunity, and what people do to find belonging, value, and worth in each other.

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Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “The Makings of You” composed by Curtis Mayfield and performed by Gladys Knight and the Pips from the CLAUDINE soundtrack.

0:00 - Episode 127: CLAUDINE (1974)

00:45 - Pre-Harry talk (Star Wars Holiday Special & more)

9:51 - The episode actually starts

11:01 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary

12:52 - Jason’s thoughts (feat. Aaron)

18:47 - Cody’s thoughts

22:08 - Harry’s thoughts

28:01 - Aaron’s thoughts

31:37 - Falling in love under the eye of the state

38:11 - Social performance as a lens for understanding the characters

42:13 - The value of an honest, even ugly script

54:08 - Spare thoughts

59:24 - Cody’s Noteys (Games Earl Jones)