Coffy (Pam Grier) becomes the representative of the Black community assaulted by forces that mix together to keep the poor downtrodden. Coffy, a working class nurse who sends money back home to her family, sees the ill effects of drugs and violence at work. The cases that make some nurses queasy cause surgeons to call for Coffy, the experienced nurse who’s seen it all. Additionally, Coffy’s younger sister is a heroin addict, her best friend is a Black cop that gets nearly beaten to death for refusing to accept the take, and her boyfriend is a corrupt politician who has sold out his neighborhood in the guise of progress that is actually merely self-profit.

Men cannot be trusted; they profit off pimping, are prone to violence, and see women as sexual conquests. Cops cannot be trusted; they are in the pockets of drug dealers. Family members must be monitored so that they don’t spend all the money you send home on drugs. Coffy’s world is unforgivingly relentless, and when there’s no one else to turn to, Coffy takes matters into her own hands for retributive justice and for community justice. Drugs, pushers, pimps, politicians, cops—she’s taking on all the forces that keep the poor destitute by scraping off a share to line their pockets.

These targets aren’t wildly different than any other Blaxploitation movie. These films occur in urban environments, where conflict arises from the same repeated themes. However, Coffy herself is quite unique, far different than the Shafts who embody sexually free, independent, capable Black men. Coffy is a sexually free, independent, capable Black woman. She’s the inverse of the Shaft image. But where Shaft allows male viewers to experience his sexual exploits vicariously, Coffy’s sexuality becomes a weapon in her own toolbelt. Constantly, she is assaulted or ogled by men who become dumbstruck at her voluptuousness. Over and over again, Coffy uses that to her advantage by weaponizing the female gaze in order to subdue the typically predatorial male gaze. She lures her prey closer and closer until they are in striking distance, and then she hits hard. Constantly, she uses the male gaze against itself to disarm, to destroy, and to manipulate. Sometimes, men do it to themselves. They just can’t help it.

As much as Coffy asserts herself, she constantly finds herself in danger. By the time she’s disguising herself as a prostitute to reach the inner circle of a drug ring, the movie becomes a constantly evolving fight. See Coffy rip the clothes off other prostitutes as they fight. See Coffy be spat upon by a vile racist whose fetish is superiority. See Coffy be taken prisoner. See Coffy escape, be chased by a cop car, and wield a shotgun. There’s hardly a dull moment. This not only paces the movie evenly, but it expands the scope of the conspiracy that Coffy is involved in so that the plot actually feels like its expanding until the conclusion. Seriously, the plot neatly ties in every little bad guy to a central plot and even involves Coffy inadvertently switching out drugs, which are later used in an unsuccessful attempt to pacify Coffy.

And Coffy is exposed to just about everything: racism, sexism, drugs, sexual assault, physical abuse, emotional abuse, etc. There’s plenty of exploitative things about “Coffy.” Pam Grier’s clothes are constantly falling off in this picture, and Coffy is constantly exposed to male violence. By the end of the film, Coffy has lost so much and relatively gained so little. She gets to live to fight another day. When does the struggle end? Who’s to say? Her struggle is the struggle of many. Grier provides plenty of energy here, achieving action hero status (the undercover Jamaican accent can go, though). You have to admit, there’s something empowering about making Coffy the vehicle to drive what’s essentially a revenge movie on all things plaguing the urban environment in the hands of a Black woman.

Notes:
A+ use of stunt dummies in this movie.
The King George stunt dummy scene is BRUTAL.
The exploding head stunt dummy is a great way to open the movie.
The stunt dummy that gets flattened by a car got an audible "ahhhhh" from me.