Rose Jackson in Fear of a Black Hat (1993)

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What could be so scary about a colored chapeau? Fear of a Black Hat (1993) never really answers that question, but this precise and pitiless parody of rap-music culture is so efficient in bitch slapping the sacrosanct icons of the MTV-bred hip hop nation that the rib-clutching viewer is unlikely to complain. Think of what This Is Spinal Tap (1984) did to expose the ludicrous self-mythology of that era's heavy-metal blowhards, then insert inner-city rhyme makers with a taste for malt liquor and BET infamy in place of the shaggy-headed limeys. Executed from a young, black, and brilliant perspective, Fear is killer commentary with a laugh track. The depictions of rappers on the rise and fall must have been funny enough to keep the real gangstas laughing--otherwise, the film's entire cast and crew would have long ago been murdered in retaliation.