Foxy: My Life in Three Acts
By: Pam Grier with Andrea Cagan

I admit I had some preconceptions about Pam Grier and her book before I read Foxy: My Life in Three Acts. But it’s not my fault. Until now, I had to rely on second-hand information from other people who were alive during her heyday. That information varied drastically depending on whom I asked. All of my uncles smiled and looked away whenever someone mentioned her name. My aunts talked about her “bad threads” (which I’m told meant stylish clothes) and how she beat, stabbed, and burnt a bunch of no-good men on screen. Media reports labeled her as everything from an exploited victim who was drugged up while filming her infamous nude scenes to the first Black female action hero role model on the big screen. As usual, the truth falls somewhere in between both extremes.

I enjoyed this memoir because Ms. Grier used her life as a way to address two very important issues, for women in particular: sexual abuse and sacrificing independence for matrimony. Pam was very honest about being raped twice (first time at age 6) and how those experiences shaped the rest of her life. We know her as an outspoken sex symbol now, but she grew up as a stuttering tomboy who purposely downplayed her beauty as a defense mechanism against any future abuse. She’s over 60 years old now and still gets scared around men who wear striped shirts because one of her attackers wore a similar shirt.

Given how many men, from legendary athletes and performers to businessmen and janitors, wanted to breathe the same air as Pam Grier, I can’t believe how unlucky in love she was! Truthfully, she chose to date a bunch of drug-addicted losers. Even the ones who didn’t have a warning sign tattooed on their foreheads didn’t make great long-term partners for Pam. I don’t know if it was because of her past abuse by men, but Pam refused to allow herself to be controlled in any way by a man. She treasured her freedom and dropped anyone who put their addictions before her, felt God didn’t like Daisy Dukes, or covertly tried to impregnate her.

This memoir is recommended. Quick, entertaining read. She gives some juicy and shocking tales of her love life (see the Richard Pryor chapter), but there’s an overall message of defiance and triumph which supersedes the kiss and tell aspects of the book.

Donna
Russell Memorial Library