“Schwarz ist in”: Racial Fetishism, Sexuality, and Black Masculinity in Lothar Lambert’s 1 Berlin-Harlem

This essay uses queer of color critique to explore racial fetishism in Lothar Lambert’s film 1 Berlin Harlem (1974). Upon release, critics suggested the film exploits black bodies, despite its disavowal of racism. Queer of color critique insists on an understanding of the black protagonist’s sexuality as it intersects with race, gender, and class. While the German characters may abstract black men, reducing them to “always willing,” hypersexual deviants, Lambert’s aesthetics force the audience to question their own voyeuristic desires for blackness and consider the material causes behind the protagonist’s behavior.