- Melvin Van Peebles: Is this something negative, Priscilla? Because if it's negative, I can't even deal with it right now. I'm a broke, pissed off nigger from Chicago, and I'm down to my last cigar.
- Melvin Van Peebles: Hollywood liked to show us clownin'. But, America wasn't in a laughin' mood - especially black America. Times were a-changin'. The Panthers knew it. The students knew it. Hollywood was ignoring it.
- Bill Harris: What is this? Some kind of personal crusade? Or, are you really gonna make a movie?
- Melvin Van Peebles: I'm makin' a movie muthafucka. The first black power film.
- Bill Harris: Hey, what about people power, man?
- Melvin Van Peebles: No. You people got the power. All you gotta do is get yourself a haircut, you can go establishment anytime you want.
- Bill Harris: And you're black forever.
- Melvin Van Peebles: Dig it.
- Melvin Van Peebles: I want this muthafucka to be a living workshop. I want 50% of the people on the crew to be getting experience, to be third world folks.
- Bill Harris: Unions are lily white. They'll never go for it.
- Melvin Van Peebles: Fuck 'em.
- Melvin Van Peebles: Nothing truly revolutionary is gonna come from the studio machine. Independent money. That's the answer. Independent financing.
- Melvin Van Peebles: I'm not your mother, I'm your father. While you're here you do what the fuck I say.
- Brenda: [recording a voice over for a porno film] Oh! Oh! Oh-oh! Oh! Oh! Ohhhhh! Ohh! Oh-oh-oh-oh. Oh! Ooooo-Oooo!
- Clyde Houston: Can I get a little bit more emotion, Brenda.
- Brenda: You have to fuck me for that.
- Clyde Houston: More of the same then. It's perfect.
- Brewster: I hear great things from Bill Harris about your project. Real radical stuff, huh?
- Melvin Van Peebles: Shit's always "radical" when it's told by the oppressor.
- Brewster: Whatever. I make movies.
- Bert: Hollywood's a close knit community. It's easy to make friends and it's easy to make enemies. The friends you don't normally keep. But, the enemies you do.
- Bert: My contacts at the studio said that you can be a real *stubborn* pain in the ass. They used to say the same thing about me. I like that. It means you're *different*. "Different" threatens them.
- Working Girl: Ooo! Ooo! Whoa! Whoa! Hey, hey! You look like you got a sweet, sweet back. Why don't you come party?
- Melvin Van Peebles: Jump over the wall and run down here, man.
- Bill Harris: It's too fuckin' steep!
- Melvin Van Peebles: Hey, man, this is art, baby.
- Melvin Van Peebles: We were gonna be shooting in some rough ass places. So, we'd need some ghetto muscle.
- Melvin Van Peebles: This is gonna be special. I told you, you're never gonna forget it. And don't - don't go gettin' shy on me, girl. There's gonna be a couple of people watchin'.
- Ginnie: Now, see. Now, I knew you was a real kinky muthafucka.
- Melvin Van Peebles: So, we on?
- Ginnie: Yeah, we're on.
- Jose Garcia: We were following him. You know, he was our leader. So, if he was crazy, we were fuckin' lunatics.
- Bill Harris: It's not a porno. It's a social statement. Tell her, Mel.
- Ginnie: A social statement? I'm through with both of your all's fuckin' asses. I'm outta here!
- Melvin Van Peebles: No, no, wait a minute. Sister, listen, listen, listen, listen. We have been marginalized sexually for years. We've been Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben. We're never had a Marilyn Monroe. We've never had our own Mae West. This thing is gonna be breakin' all of the taboos.
- Big T: It's about gettin' the man's *foot* out your ass.
- Melvin Van Peebles: No, this could be totally revolutionary...
- Melvin Van Peebles: The scene with the dirty cops was the one that divided the crew... White folks who'd never experience racial brutality, couldn't really believe that a double standard existed for minorities... Black folks, who had lived it, were more than ready to see someone stand up against racism... Even when it hid behind a badge.
- Maurice: Look man, I gotta tell you, the shit you are puttin' down is right on! Now, I know you don't know me, but I need to do the music on this. I can do whatever you need... I know you don't have a lot of cash, but, we could really use this chance.
- Melvin Van Peebles: We?
- Maurice: My new band.
- Melvin Van Peebles: What do you call yourselves?
- Maurice: Earth, Wind & Fire.
- Jose Garcia: The pigs, they pulled us over. You're not going to believe this, they thought my telephoto lens was a bazooka.
- Melvin Van Peebles: All right, here's how it works: what I sing, you play. If I like what I hear, *if* I like what I hear, we got a deal.
- Maurice: All right, it sounds good, man.
- Melvin Van Peebles: You ain't heard me sing yet.
- Bill Harris: Fuck the film, man! Fuck it! Fuck the fuckin' film, man! This is our crew behind bars on bull shit charges. Doesn't that bother you?
- Melvin Van Peebles: Yeah! It's been botherin' me for 400 years.
- Melvin Van Peebles: The good news was - Earth, Wind & Fire came through with some of the music. We played it against the movie - and it worked like a *muthafucka*.
- Bill Cosby: You know, when you're clownin' and makin' a man laugh, you can do anything. But, when you get serious, you see, that's when you become dangerous.
- Bill Harris: The Ratings Board, they're just going to want to cut out a few tits. They're gonna wanna get rid of a few swear words. Just get your *R* and go.
- Melvin Van Peebles: You know what? It's an all-white jury.
- Howard 'Howie' Kaufman: Listen to me, this Board has been doing this since the year zero. Somebody has to tell parents what kids can see and what they can't see!
- Roz: The movie wasn't entertaining. And who wants to see something like *that*.
- Howard 'Howie' Kaufman: First thing is when you make a movie you have to know who your audience is and that's a lesson Mel completely forgot.
- Howard 'Howie' Kaufman: Most of America looks like John Wayne. So, I'm just a little nervous that people aren't going to be able to identify with it. That's what worries me.
- Melvin Van Peebles: I don't know. I always identified with the Indians.
- Bill Harris: This was a movie, by the brothers, for the brothers, about the brothers. And you know what? We're all brothers.
- Melvin Van Peebles: Any white actor could play us: yellow-face. red-face. black-face, or brown-face. Get yourself a feather or a turban. Who said that was okay? Makin' us Mamies and butlers. Kissin' Shirley Temple... And it fucked up white kids, too. 'Cause they'd think that's who we were.
- Melvin Van Peebles: Sweetback is gonna open big. You with me? Bam! How many theaters can you get me?
- Jerry: Two, if we're lucky.
- Melvin Van Peebles: Just two in LA?
- Jerry: Two in the U S of A, my friend.
- Jerry: They don't run X-rated films, Melvin. You know, you can't even print the title. "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song"? You can't put it in the newspapers. You can't even put it up on the marquee.
- Jerry: So, I gotta be honest here. What we got is an X-rated black film with no stars. No Sidney Poitier. No Dianne Carroll. In this film, a black hustler beats up two white cops, screws a white chick, and gets away with it.
- Melvin Van Peebles: Black folks are gonna fuckin' love it, Jerry. They're gonna love it!
- Jerry: Black folks don't own theaters in America. Old white guys do.
- Mort Goldberg: All right, Ethel, tell Manny I want to see him and get rid of this crazy fucking Schvartze. Okay?
- Melvin Van Peebles: That's it. I'd make a film about a real brother. Not some bougie clown like they always do. But, a real brother, a street brother, just gettin' the man's foot outta his ass. Given number one: No cop-outs. I want a movie were niggers can walkout of the picture standing tall, instead of having to avoid each others eyes. Given number two: Entertainment-wise it had to be a muthafucka. If folks get bored, it's over. Given number three: Show business is business. A man has an achilles pocketbook. It had to be a money-maker. The man ain't gonna carry no messages for you for free - especially a relevant one. Given number four: I wanted this picture to star the community - all the community - all the faces that Norman Rockwell never painted.
- Melvin Van Peebles: 1970. I just finished directing Watermelon Man for Columbia Pictures. They were setting me up to become their very first token niggerologist.
- Howard 'Howie' Kaufman: Imagine - the kind of opportunity that is lost. The he had such a chance to be such a credit to his people. How many negro Directors were there altogether? Gordon Parks. There's Ossie Davis - and Melvin.
- Melvin Van Peebles: Is this somethin' negative? Cause if it's negative, I can't even deal with it right now. I'm a broke, pissed off nigger from Chicago, Priscilla, and I'm down to my last cigar, okay?
- Melvin Van Peebles: Our genius of sound is Tommy, backed up by Big T - who'll also be heading up security.
- Big T: Oh, no, no, man. Hey, hey. Why I gotta answer to a white man on a movie about a brother finally breakin' the chains? You dig? We've been answerin' to white for 400 years, blood.
- Melvin Van Peebles: Woah, T T, now hold up. Tommy here is riskin' his career to be here. He's one of the few muthfuckas here who really knows what he's doin'. So, why don't you do yourself a favor. You'll learn something. Listen to this man. And your big ass has been listenin' to whitey for 400 years, another month won't hurt.