YMMV / Dolemite

• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: After Dolemite is released from prison a second time, where he is seen making a call at a public payphone. As he dials, the camera cuts to a few seconds of a black teenager doing a bicycle stunt and yelling "yeehaw" before cutting back to Dolemite. This is never explained and the teenager is never seen again.
• Designated Hero: We're supposed to root for Dolemite, who shoots an unarmed man, dumps cocaine on one of the corrupt cops, and rips out the liver of his rival. His behavior is pretty much indistinguishable from that of the villains, but he's the good guy because the movie says so. This is arguably intentional to a degree, as part of the movie's humor comes from Dolemite's comically evil behavior.
• Fight Scene Failure: All the "kung fu" is clearly performed by people who only know it from watching martial arts movies. Every punch and kick is lethargic and nobody can sell hits effectively. The final kick that Dolemite uses to defeat the corrupt cops during the cocaine bust obviously whiffs by several inches.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • You rat-soup-eating honky motherFUCKER!
  • The sequel The Human Tornado gives us the insanely quotable "Bitch, are you for REAL?!"
• Narm Charm: It's clear the Rudy Ray Moore can't really act beyond yelling his lines, but Dolemite is such a fun character that most fans don't mind at all.
• Padding:
  • Dolemite stops the film twice to tell humorous stories in heroic couplets that go on and on and on.
  • There's a whole scene of Creeper, the hamburger pimp, bumming food from a hamburger stand and then awkwardly walking down the street... for a long time.
• Squick: Dolemite manages to take down Willie Green by ripping out his liver.
• So Bad, It's Good: Intentionally bad is still bad, but that doesn't mean it can't be funny.
• Values Dissonance: Dolemite argues with his lover, forces himself on top of her, slaps her twice, and tells her he's going to fuck her good now. Sounds a lot like rape by today's standards, but the film plays it like some innocent Slap-Slap-Kiss, with Dolemite's lover clearly enjoying the sex. This scene certainly wouldn't fly today.

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