When the title character of Undercover Brother first shows up, sipping a Big Gulp in an Eldorado convertible, his oversized Afro is in much better shape than African American culture as a whole.
The historical footage that begins the blaxploitation spoof portrays the 1970s as the apex of black creativity. But in UB's world, James Brown and George Clinton have long since been overrun by a string of embarrassments including Mr. T., Urkel, and Dennis Rodman in a wedding dress.
Clearly, the planet needs a funk transfusion. And just as comedian Eddie Griffin's hero appears right on time in platform shoes to announce that saving the day "ain't no thang," UB has arrived in theaters as only one sign of funk and blaxploitation style getting on the good foot - in movies, music, TV commercials and fashion.
"The '70s were a time of serious cultural revolution," says Undercover Brother director Malcolm D. Lee. "Sly Stone and Stevie Wonder and Parliament-Funkadelic - black people were breaking out and expressing themselves musically and stylistically."
For Lee and other African American artists, revisiting the era of extra-wide lapels, toadstool-shaped velour hats, and Isaac Hayes shirts made of gold chains is a way to get back to a time that is more humane than today's era of bling-bling parental-advisory hip-hop.
"It's that purity, that innocence, that vibration," says Atlanta rapper Cee-Lo, whose gospel/funk/hip-hop debut, Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections, finds inspiration in flamboyant '70s acts as disparate as P-Funk and Elton John.
"Music has gotten so robotic that people see they need to demand something more. Funk is synonymous with a sense of humor and being vulnerable and strong enough to blaze a trail. That's what's in the air now, and that's the once-upon-a-time that people are seeking."
Evidence goes far beyond Undercover Brother. In Austin Powers in Goldmember, set in 1975 and due July 26, Destiny's Child singer Beyonc Knowles plays Foxxy Cleopatra, whose name combines those of gun-toting sisters originally played by Pam Grier and Tamara Dobson. And Halle Berry is set to produce and star in a remake of Grier's 1974 Foxy Brown.
