(ThyBlackMan.com) Spike Lee doesn’t need my help to defend him, but he does deserve our gratitude and respect.
I remember watching Pulp Fiction for the first time. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, if not loved it. It is fair to characterize it as a classic piece of American cinema. But that doesn’t in any way mitigate the impact or excuse the “Dead N***** Storage” joke(s) in the film. They were unnecessary and wholly arbitrary in nature. They weren’t for expository effect or “authenticity.”
They were to generate laughs. He got none from me.
Then came Jackie Brown. This time, it was more of the same but for a lesser quality movie. Samuel L. Jackson was once again (like Pulp Fiction) used as the loudspeaker for the supposed humor. In fact, it was used 38 times. Again, not for expository effect or “authenticity” sake, (although Tarantino has argued publicly that the movie was an homage to the Blackxploitation genre in which the word was often used.)
But again… used to generate laughs… and I didn’t.
My familiarity with Tarantino’s work was neither linear nor chronological in nature. It wasn’t until after Jackie Brown that I went back and discovered Reservoir Dogs… and there it is found too. Say it again with me… not for expository effect or “authenticity” sake.
This time it wasn’t necessarily for laughs per se, but was used by “Mr. Pink” to specifically degrade and deride as an insult.
This is largely the history of Quentin Tarantino leading up to Django Unchained, a movie whose script was widely circulated in the year prior to its release. Spike Lee read it, I’ve read and virtually everyone else involved in entertainment had read it long before the movie premiered.
Spike Lee, made it clear that he did not plan to support the movie, finding the whole premise of spaghetti western slave drama to be “disrespectful” to his (and my) ancestors. In response, Spike Lee was criticized and castigated for not having viewed the movie first and for being a “hater,” as the reductionist, simple-minded argument would go.
Spike Lee’s critique is not, was not and will never be dependent on the “quality” of the movie. It never was about the movie, it’s about the very premise. I don’t need to actually view “Slavery — The Broadway Musical” starring Jennifer Hudson to forward the idea that slavery as a musical is wholly disrespectful in its very conception. I don’t need to sit through “Slavery – The Daytime Soap Opera” starring Shemar Moore or “Superman The Man of Steel Frees the Negroes” co-starring Flava Flav either to come to this reasonable conclusion.
If you need to see the movie to gauge the accuracy of Lee’s point… you’ve in fact already missed it.
Let me say it again and in bold, because I’m sure somebody below in the comment section will say to “see it” first.
If you need to see the movie to gauge the accuracy of Lee’s point… you’ve in fact already missed it.
Those familiar with the horrible premise of The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer, which aired briefly on UPN should already get the point.
Please save your Django movie review, it’s not relevant to this discussion. No matter if you loved it or hated it… not germane to the issue. Keep it to yourself while debating this issue.
It is and always was about the premise (and predilection) of Tarantino.
Spike Lee was called (among other things) a “thug” and “punk” by comedian Dick Gregory and a “conniving and scheming Uncle Tom” by former 2LiveCrew leader Luther Campbell. I respect the former and laugh at the latter. Dick Gregory has a long, undeniable civil rights history, but such a classless rebuke for a film he wasn’t in and criticism not directed at him is curious at best. And you also mean to tell me, the man BEST known for debasement of countless women of color and a career of misogyny, Luther Campbell was calling the director of Four Little Girls, When the Levees Broke, Malcolm X, Do the Right Thing and Miracle at St. Anna (producer) an “Uncle Tom?”
That would be laugh-out-loud funny if it weren’t so sadly ignorant. Campbell knows about as much about Harriet Beecher Stowe as I do quantum physics.
…As in nothing.
Each one of Spike’s aforementioned movies was a very sincere and detailed love letter to the African-American community. Love letters, not just movies. While Spike Lee was forever changing the future of film and how Black directors and actors would be utilized back in the late ’80s… Campbell was in the midst of a 19th century minstrel show revival, cavorting and undulating to “Oh, me so horny.”
And now Campbell feels both comfortable and confident to say Lee is an “Uncle Tom?”
It is silly to think such stupidity was going to pass unless I said something. If nobody else tells the truth, I will.
I have not agreed (or appreciated) all of Lee’s work (including use of the N-word), or even his depiction of women in many of his films. And for that I have summarily criticized him over the years, check the record. But be absolutely clear, you can’t question how much he loves the African-American community and his sincerity is above reproach. Know that before Denzel and Halle accepted their Oscars, it was Spike who made them into viable silver screen options. It was Spike who introduced Samuel L. Jackson to the world, paving the way for Tarantino to use him in films, not vice-versa. It was Spike who laid the path for contemporaries John Singleton, Ernest Dickerson, F. Gary Gray, Tim Story, the much-maligned Tyler Perry and Antoine Fuqua who also publicly chided Lee with respect to Django.
That would be the same Antoine Fuqua, who directed Training Day, featuring the very same Denzel Washington (and N-words) as a vehicle to an Oscar. Spike Lee says “you’re welcome” Antoine.
When there were none of them, Spike Lee was fighting FOR them, telling stories on film traditional Hollywood refused to support. A director doesn’t make films like 4 Little Girls to make himself wealthy or in the hopes of winning Oscars. He does it because he’s in love with us.
Oscars are given out for questionable roles like those in Training Day and Monster’s Ball… not Malcolm X. They are given out for movies like The Help, Glory, Precious and Driving Miss Daisy… not A Huey P. Newton Story or Bamboozled. Lee was making movies for us and about us… not primarily for wealth, fame or Oscars. To call him a “hater” is to say you really haven’t been paying attention for the past 25 years. To call him a “thug” (Dick Gregory) means that you really are just a comedian and not to be confused as a real confidante of Dr. King.
Our history can’t be denied, one which Lee has dedicated his life to chronicling and preserving.
Turning the corner…
There is nothing to suggest in Tarantino’s personal history that he loves us (We grew up less than a mile apart in the same housing track in Harbor City, CA). Fascinated maybe… but love, absolutely not. It is not unlike those who made the argument that Elvis loved and respected African-Americans because “he had ‘Black girlfriends.'”
Um… yeah. Waking up next to “us” doesn’t mean you love us and neither does a slavery movie in which the protagonist happens to kill all the “bad White people.”
Tarantino’s behavior reeks more of fascination with the Black experience, complete with an N-word fetish; not respect or reverence. Not to mention, his cavalier use of the word even outside of the film realm (i.e. backstage at the Golden Globes) gives me great, great pause.
I don’t have to wonder whether Lee has a deep and abiding respect for our history and contributions to this country, even beyond slavery. His record is inarguable. Conversely, Tarantino’s record is equally inarguable. The only thing Tarantino has proven is that we can count on “N*****” to be a staple in his films, past, present and future.
If you disagree with Spike… fine. But to disrespect and disregard him in the expression of that disagreement is wholly unacceptable. Spike Lee has earned better.
We collectively missed Spike Lee’s point and owe him a huge apology. Quentin Tarantino has never fought for, or to uplift us. Luther Campbell definitely has never fought for us and the next uplifting thing he does will be his first. Spike Lee doesn’t need my help to defend him, but he does deserve our gratitude and respect.
Staff Writer; Morris O’Kelly
To read more of this brother stuff, head over to; The Mo’Kelly Report.
good perspective @Black Atticus
I think what’s sad is whether you’re defending the movie or defending spike’s point, VERY FEW of us in these discussions believe that we can come up to a conclusion WITH OUR OWN DEDUCTIVE REASONING without it being influenced by our own skin tone. So because I’m a black man, my mind can’t think outside of the black experience; i’m just locked in. that’s B.S. One of the most LIMITING statements I’ve read from blog to blog was “can’t no one outside of our race tell our story” –that’s like saying, I can’t study world religions, fathom their history, people and culture — learn their language and speak just as fluently as the natives, TELL THEIR STORY ACCURATELY (on some GRIOT shit) without so much as a hitch or a flaw? Then tell me that the BASIS for me not being able to do so,is because i’m black!?; cause i’m not “them” —that’s very limiting. I’m sure the guy running our country right now heard a lot of the same crap, but I digress…we don’t owe Spike an apology. Spike owes his fans (of all races and colors) an apology for stooping down to just complaining; INSTEAD of using his INFLUENCE in a more productive way.
another thing about the use of ‘Nigger’ in QT Films; not ONE time did I disagree with how the word was used in DJANGO — mainly because I know the power of racism, my parents were raised in the south and I’ve lived down here most of my life; i KNOW that’s how they really think — what was very ironic after the movie was over, i actually saw some white people disgusted at how ACCURATE QT’s film captured ignorance. I for one was NOT shocked; i was thinking: ‘Yes…that’s how your forefather’s thought and acted…’ and truth be told, whether is a brother on a horse or rolling in an Audi, that “well i’ll be damned…(jaw dropping in bewilderment)” thing still goes down today.
It sound to me like you’re intentionally ignoring hundreds of years of *intentional* resource hoarding, violent white terrorism, jim crow (old and new) and social power dynamics.
I guess black people just thought up slavery and structural inequality for the last hundreds of years. Let me just close my eyes and tell myself that were all the same….wait for it….yeah, I GOT NOTHIN.
Don’t come in here with that “we all just need to pretend that racism doesn’t exist and it’ll go away” stuff. You will not blame black people for being victims of white supremacy. Words have power (especially when they’re backed by years and years of violence and institutional power).
Really interesting article, well thought out and well written and certainly inspired me to check out Lee’s back catalogue (something up to this point I’ve missed). But I still have a problem with it – your use of the word “us” – “There is nothing to suggest in Tarantino’s personal history that he loves us…”. As soon as you start using the term “us” that instantly begets the term “them”, and that’s where racial prejudices always begins, with this “us” and “them” mentality.
It sounds to me you are reinforcing a difference, that being black somehow makes you different from being white. It doesn’t. There is no “us” based on skin colour, there is just people. Different upbringings, different cultures sure, but I would never say I was different to someone else just because of my skin colour. Prejudices will never fade away as long as people keep this “us” and “them” mentality. That maybe naive but it’s what I truly believe.
With Tarantino, sure his films are two dimensional, and perhaps even exploitative, however all ‘N*****’ is, is a word. By keeping it as an offensive, hallowed word it maintains it’s power. If people used it in as any other word, it’s meaning would evolve and change as language does and it would no longer be this vile thing that it is. That’s the one positive with it being scattered in Tarantino’s films, it takes away it’s power.
Spike Lee has my (limited) gratitude and respect – and I STILL disagree with him. Freedom means being able to say yes AND no. I agree that we shouldn’t judge Lee wholesale for his patriarchal and classicist messages. His legacy shouldn’t be reduced to his shortcomings.
But his legacy never has been, and never will be, *representative* of the entire black experience and we need to stop promoting that LIE. Spike Lee does not speak for Malcolm just because he made a movie about him.
Spike Lee’s films are not keeping black people in poverty – and they ain’t lifting us out of it. So I don’t understand why we keep placing his films on par w/ the underground railroad and black race salvation. I don’t get why blackness is threatened when one of our celebrities faces public critique or outright dislike by other black people. When do we get to agree with or disagree with black people because we want to and not because of some mandatory allegiance?
It’s really easy (and quite the convenient defense mechanism) to call us slaves for our disagreement or take our embrace of a film as automatic embrace of QT and everything he ever did wrong. Or to equate it with slander and an attempt at destroying Spike Lee…It’s really easy to accuse people who like the movie of having some kind of diminished or ‘romanticized’ version of slavery and black history. I wonder if there are those who might have a bit of a romanticized version of Spike Lee? I wonder if too many people are superimposing their own love of Spike Lee onto to what it means to be black?
If black folks wanna like the movie because they wanna see a black man save his woman – let them. If black folk wanna see evil white people pay with their lives – let them. No one has the right to take that from them.
honestly, much love to spike, but anybody who stereotypes black people (or any flesh tone) from any form of entertainment is a moronic pea brain.
live life. meet people. talk to them. determine if they are good, honorable people or backstabbing, lying fuckfaces. and make your decisions based on that but quit bitching about dumb ass movies.
life is short.
evolve and move on.
or sit & cry about hollywood bullshit.
Thank you…
“…i Could have freed more slaves if they knew they were slaves…”
Harriet Tubman
…those upset about the dreaded word are still slaves.
This entire debacle has had be back and forth on the fences about whose side is more right than the other and I’m left to believe both have valid points that are inarguable. ONE point I’m not seeing made and which has me at odds with Spike Lee is the fact I’ve heard more complaining coming out of his corner over Tyler Perry, Tarantino, and anyone else he feels is making films that don’t represent the black community and our history in a light or fashion that he sees fit. NOT music, NOT a stage play, NOT a racist lawn ornament or some factory that makes ‘racist anti-african american’ bumper stickers, but FILMS, FILMS, FILMS. Which means, it’s “right up his alley”, “his forte” right? I’d much much much much much rather see SPIKE LEE with Tyler Perry’s money and resources so he can continue to pump out the movies and films he’s makes, maybe even take on some protege’s — but that’s not the reality. the reality is, he COULD decide to make a new film in response; or just put out what he feels black america should be seeing or keep pumping out what he feels needs to be done, but yes…..i don’t see him complaining about FINISHED WORK, new, fresh, here, today, TOPIC of discussion, currently in rave review pieces — as productive. The most this has drummed up is negative attention; this blog here is a freakin’ call for an apology after tons of slanderous accusations tossed his way, but is this all necessarily the most creative way Spike Lee can EXPRESS himself? I believe when he dies, he’ll go down in history for his films. Just like Tarantino will. and like it or not — if Tarntino was black, yellow, green, or blue, he won’t be famous cause he’s a white director who offended black america…..there’s tons of white boys with cameras to do that. he’ll do down in history for putting out some of the most radical films and storyline’s ever. period. he has a distinct style, just like spike lee has a very distinct style, but only one of them is currently sticking to their lane and ‘running it’ while the competition’s complaining.
SPIKE HAS A VALID POINT — is it a new point? is pointing at the problem, EVER helped? is Spike being the most effective he can be? has anyone heard of a new spike lee joint coming out? has he picked up any new black directors that anyone knows about? could be putting more black actors and actresses to work right now instead of complaining? has anything spike said off film hit you harder than the first time you saw ‘school dayz’ or ‘malcom x’? — that’s a lot of “NO’s” . I think my points clear. ON ANOTHER NOTE:
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I just got to talking with a friend about Tyler Perry and Spike and I’ll say this briefly. Tyler’s films weren’t considered cooning when he was running it on the ‘chitlin circuit’, in black theatres and churches only in major cities. Once it took mainstream, we suddenly feel guilty about laughing at it, Spike calls it bafoonery once Tyler’s numbers creep him into being considered a major force in the FILM industry (Spike’s soar spot) — so how is it productive to all of “black america” that one of the main ones talking bad about the ONLY MAN (black white green red or blue) to open up a movie studio on the East Coast, to be one of our very own? and when Tyler opened up to Spike and said “hey…you been at this longer than me, come talk to me, guide me, and let’s shoot what you’d like to shoot” — Spike can’t do it, cause that would mean swallowing his pride. Or did I miss something?
You can’t call out people for being disrespectful or going to far with their disagreement without holding Mr. Lee accountable as well. He is reaping a bit of what he has sown. That doesn’t make any of it right, but let’s not act brand new like people are *attacking him* out of the blue or pretend that Lee doesn’t have a history of bullying himself.
Also – I don’t owe Spike Lee a thing and to hold him up as *the* one who paved the way for everybody else is to negate and erase all the women and men who were in the trenches of film and television production before and beside him.
To assume that people have a problem with Spike Lee because they don’t *get* him or his work is insulting and classist. To dismiss another person’s opinion (and refer to them in derogatory racialized terms – that white ppl used to call us!) because you don’t like their version of black is despicable and wreaks of internalized hatred. NEWSFLASH: Black people are not one big monolithic organ, the sooner we accept that, the healthier we’ll be.
Great point Sankofa – “Regarding those who defend the movie and attack Spike Lee, overstand that while Spike has his glaring faults don’t be so starved to see ourselves in idealized settings, just any old way that we excuse the coloration of the idolizing of our people in the way Yurugu wants us to see us.
Spike and other Django detractors are pointing out that this is not a ourstorical movie but a shoot ‘im up western movie set in a historical period. There is a big difference. Don’t miss the objective being pointed out by watching the finger doing the pointing. In following this and other threads like this, I have concluded that the defenders of Django tend to defend it on a romanticized notion of hero over coming great odds. This is a theme put on steroid, in all European movies.”
@Craig Brabant… and all the other Caucasians, stop coming to this blog and commenting on this site by either stating that this site is “racist” or commentating on issues we are struggling to deal with among ourselves. We don’t do this to your ethnic group. We talk about y’all among ourselves, just like you do to us. But this neo slave master nonsense about correcting us or giving your opinion about things we never asked you is getting tired. It’s unfortunate that this blog allows interlopers to interrupt us when we are trying to hash shit out among ourselves. Just by commenting on this thread you are trying to justify Torrentino’s historical bullshit when it comes to making movies about us.
Regarding those who defend the movie and attack Spike Lee, overstand that while Spike has his glaring faults don’t be so starved to see ourselves in idealized settings, just any old way that we excuse the coloration of the idolizing of our people in the way Yurugu wants us to see us.
Spike and other Django detractors are pointing out that this is not a ourstorical movie but a shoot ‘im up western movie set in a historical period. There is a big difference. Don’t miss the objective being pointed out by watching the finger doing the pointing. In following this and other threads like this, I have concluded that the defenders of Django tend to defend it on a romanticized notion of hero over coming great odds. This is a theme put on steroid, in all European movies.
But it can’t be a ourstorical movie because it was not a sensitive one, directed and or produced by someone who has our experience. Hence the cavalier throwing out of certain words and images. Using our self hatred and use of a word Yurugu conditioned us to embrace, does not excuse him from doing the same and unnecessarily dumping that hateful, derogatory word onto us.
To the people dogging spike for his negative review, don’t let his past attacks on others, cause you to automatically dismiss his words regarding this movie. He is sending a warning that all Hollyweird needs is your compliance and the flood gate of slave based movie as entertainment
I agree with this article. And, yes, Spike Lee might not be the most diplomatic person in the world. But his knack for generating stimulating controversy may be a good thing. I have to disagree with Dick Gregory who accuses Spike of being mad at Tarantino for something that goes way back, while he himself is angry at Lee for his film Malcolm X which was shot 23 years ago. As for Red Hook Summer, it was pretty bare bones, but its message packed a wallop. I highly recommend it.
Did not see Django unchained, yet. Came across this from another site and clicked the link to bring me here. To give you a ref. I am white or should I say Eroupren American or African American if you go far enough back in time. Q.T. should not use the N word in his movies. I found the term “dead N***er storage” offensive. I grew up in the San Francisco bay area, I had two “black” friends and two “white” friends. My black friends would call each other N***er all the time, and my friend James even told me I could call someone “Nigga” as long as I ended my statement with an “A” not an “R”.
Q.T. and Spike are both great directors, the difference- Spike has “our people”, Q.T. doesn’t. Mo’kelly (very cool Pic by the way) says our history, the world is going to be a shitty place until Spike and Mo’kelly live life with our people meaning everyone on the planet. I don’t like some African Americans, I don’t like some Asian American, and there are even some Mexican American I don’t like. There are Blacks, Asians, Mexicans I love,the color of their skin has nothing to do with it. Movies come and go, we all know that they are NOT real life and not factual. If a director uses the N- word and promotes slavery and you dont like it, don’t go see it and if someone asks you why tell them, but do we really need to slam each other when we have enough real life problems?
Spike is a sore loser and it did not start with the Knicks. If you do not like a film and you have the means to tell it differently, then by all means do it, aka NIKE. I had the pleasure of once meeting Mr. Lee in New Orleans during the Essence Festival and came away thinking what a short little a++hole as he acted totally different from what I expected in relation to how I treated him. I realize that one, he is just a person and two, he could use some sensitivity training when it comes to being outspoken. We can agree to disagree and at the end of the day, we can still be friendly towards one another. Being creative does not require one to be a Genius per say, but one needs to connect to the ideas that are found all around us. All Tarintino did, along with Ben Affleck, is beat a man on his own turf as directors of some films that have been recognized for one thing or another. I did not need to see the films as I got feedback from others that saw them and their information was enough to hold me back from spending my dollars ineffectively. In closing I just urge Spike to “do the right thing” and get his stuff together for a future project that can be historically correct and will make us all better human beings. Peace out, Papacool.
@MO kELLY, I did read your article which is a good one I might add but Spike Lee has a history at going at everybody that doesn’t make the films that he feels they should make then he calls them coons and buffoons. In my field of writing I don’t always agree with everythign other authors write about but I don’t come out my face and trash them. If I don’t like your work I just won’t support it. Reading a script is one thing but seeing the actual finished project is another. That’s like you reading a draft of one my books and then saying that i can’t write when I haven’t published the final product that’s what i was saying abotu Spike. Another thign all of Spike Lee’s characters and films aren’t positive and uplifiting ex: Inside Man, 25th hour, she’s gotta have it. jungle fever, clockers,mo better blues, sucker free city. He said it himself blacks aren’t monothielstic which means we all aren’t the same, we don’t have the same backgrounds, we all don’t have the same vision eithier. I bet if Spike made DJango yall would praisin this as his best work. Had he talked to Tyler Perry like a man face to face then maybe perry could have gave him advice on how to handle his film studio so he would have to make cheesy low budget films like “red hook summer”. #Checkmate.
I believe one of Spike’s biggest gripes about Tarantino and other directors/producers (including Perry) is that while many African-American movies are being placed in the theaters and shows are on TV, what is being promoted/discussed the most is the negative aspects of us instead of positive. Take what we have in this article for example…Miracle at St. Anna, Four Little Girls, and Bamboozled are great movies, but they don’t get as much publicity/buzz as Madea’s Family Reunion, Django Unchained, and Act Like A Woman Think Like A Man. Same case goes for sitcoms/tv shows. Gone are the likes of Amen, 227, The Jeffersons, Good Times, The Cosby Show, or as recently as the Hughleys and My Wife and Kids…Basketball Wives, Housewives, T.I. & Tiny, and recently Scandal are the ones in the forefront, which isn’t good programming.
There are better options out there, and due to the fact that the Shawty Lo show got pulled shows that more of us are getting tired of this bit to show our people in a negative light…
Blacks need to understand that some conversations need to take place behind closed doors! Nobody is perfect! Instead of criticising other directors especially when they are beginning in the business, it should be done privately!
Shawn…you commenting here without READING the editorial highlights the hypocrisy of your comment.
He read the screenplay…which is more than enough to evaluate a project. And he…never mind. If you’re not actually willing to READ the editorial and recognize how immature “hater” is, your words don’t mean much in the grand scheme of things.
Copy/pasting your comments from other sites is one very lazy manner of argumentation.
Spike is a hypocrite. What about the mess he put out there, I agree with Dick Gregory. This is nothing but envy. He misses the limelight.
Kudos man for this post. I read the Dick Gregory response and the fact that he admittedly saw the movie 12 times, tells me all I needed to know. I too have been critical of Spike in his public attack on Perry (not because I like Perry) instead of speaking to him directly. I have been critical of him because I think he had lost the guerrilla film making attitude and became expectant on hollyweird to sponsor his film. But as you said, Spike Lee gave a lot of these new Jack film makers the courage to create ourstory. In my eyes the best of us in the 20-21st century are Charles Burnett, Spike Lee and Haile Gerima, in that order, based on the body of work and what they crafted. Nobody else can accuse Spike of not being authentic. accept boot licking sycophants who believe anything THEY do about us is the truth!
Spike Lee has always sought after the limelite, he wants to be the center of all attention, he has some type of Napoleon Bonaparte complex which is associated with short men. It’s like when a pretty woman enters a room but nobody notices her, she then becomes angry and upset.
Sorry,
I (we) do not owe Spike anything!
I didn’t miss Spike’s point because hes a hater if you don’t like a film cool but to not see it and criticize it thats flat out hatin. If Tarintino was black then no one would have a problem with django.