AMERICAN PIMP is a documentary from the Hughes Brothers, who also directed MENACE II SOCIETY (1993) and DEAD PRESIDENTS (1995). It's disappointing for me because I've read excellent non-fiction books about pimps and prostitutes. However, most movie reviewers seem to like it.
Albert and Allen Hughes expose real life pimps by focusing on 30 black men who explain their experiences of living off the avails of the world's oldest profession. Coast to coast, they are quite similar and reveal themselves as misogynous capitalists. Pimping is often a family tradition, handed down from father to son, with rarely a retirement from the business.
The pimps are flamboyant, larger-than-life, cocky, confident, and charismatic. "Mack Daddies" have names such as: Filmore Slim, C-Note, Gorgeous Dre, Charm, Rosebud, K-Red, and Bishop Don Magic Juan. They speak the same words, constantly using "bitch" to describe their "ho's", and constantly say, "You know what I'm saying?", "Motherf***er", and "S**t". The pimps' attitude is,"A ho's a ho, you know? It's a once-a-month bleedin', pussy havin' ho. That's what she is. What else could she be?" Rosebud's strategy is to "steal a bitch's mind".
Some Quotes:
Kenny Red: "I'm a junky. S**t, I need money like a junky need heroin."
C-Note: "Priests need nuns, Doctors need nurses. So ho's need pimps."
Charm: "If a ho don't have instruction she's gonna be headed for self-destruction."
Rosebud: "If you're going to ban pimping because of violence, you're going to have to ban marriage, because more husbands have put their wives in graves than pimps have hos. There are bad pimps, but the majority aren't. I'm not a bad person just because I manipulate women. Dogs and children get manipulated all the time."
A few of the women are interviewed. They hustle hard every night, turn over all their earnings to the pimps, and steal anything they can from clients. We also meet a woman legally employed at a Nevada brothel, and her white legal pimp wants all prostitution legalized.
The Hughes Brothers use clips from "blacksploitation" pimp films such as THE MACK (1973) and WILLIE DYNAMITE (1974) to compare fantasy with reality. Their bleak view of the pimp subculture lacks objectivity and tends to glorify the parasitic and manipulative exploitation of women. It's entertaining at times, but frustrating and monotonous because of the little information provided.
The cast includes: John S. Dickson (Rosebudd), Antonio Fargas (Link Brown), Heidi Fleiss (herself), Hugh M. Hefner (himself), Dennis Hof (Himself), Bishop Don Magic Juan (himself), Rudy Ray Moore (Dolemite), Conan O'Brien (himself), Roscoe Orman (Willie Dynamite), Kenny Redd (K-Red), Todd Anthony Shaw (Too $hort), Clarence Sims (Fillmore Slim), Carol Speed (Lulu), Andre Taylor (Gorgeous Dre), Mel Taylor (himself), and others.
We never learn why prostitutes have pimps. Why are the strange, unattractive pimps appealing to the women? One says, "Well, hos just can't handle their money by themselves. I need to do it for them." Are pimps very well endowed? Not many answers from this film. I know because I've read about it in reputable books. You should do the same, and avoid this mostly depressing movie. However, it does show pimps in ways that cannot be found in books.
