[Residents Fan]

Spike Lee has taken issue with the Tarantino film
"Django Unchained", tweeting:

"American Slavery Was Not A Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western. It Was A Holocaust. My Ancestors Are Slaves. Stolen From Africa. I Will Honor Them,"

http://www.avclub.com/articles/spike...ed-obvi,90336/

Hmm. I can see Lee might have a point, but it would
help if he actually watched "Django Unchained" before
giving out about it.

[Anachrony]

Spike Lee generally doesn't like films that weren't directed by Spike Lee. The majority opinion from black critics who have actually seen it seems to be that his concerns are misplaced and that if he thinks there is a better way to do a film about slavery he should try doing it himself rather than just complaining.

[Dai13371]

The original Django was a spaghetti western directed by Sergio Corbucci.

[theonlyweeman]

I think he's just uncomfortable with a white person making a film about "black history" (A term I personally disagree with, but I'm not entirely sure how else to put it), he's already criticized QT for being white and using the n word in his films. It seems to be that he's so upset about racism and slavery (as he should be) that he's convinced himself white people can't portray it appropriately...

[Martin Blank]

Really? Spike made that comment without even seeing the film?

That's like University stupid. I had more respect for the man than that.

[The Terminator]

Spike Lee having a race whinge?

Not like him.

[mike65]

Spiky Lee

[Johnny Clay]

Not another 'Hollywood in not entirely accurate depiction of history' shocker?

Err, hello?

[Tal'shiar]

Well this is a turn up for the books. I mean Spike Lee is always happy for a non-black to make anything that remotely touches upon slavery.

Maybe if it had more Spike Lee Proto White Man* in it, he would be happy.

*you know the one. The one were old whitey is the root of all evil and an ever crushing force, whilst at the same time being weak and pathetic. Two things that do not really go together oddly enough.

Now if Tyler Perry had directed it, it would be much better.....

[elnombre]

Originally Posted by Dai13371

The original Django was a spaghetti western directed by Sergio Corbucci.

Your point being?

[SuperAPJ]

Originally Posted by The Terminator

Spike Lee having a race whinge?

Not like him.

Perhaps he'd like some salt and vinegar to go with that chip on his shoulder.

[Alrightmate]

Spike Lee appears to think that it's perfectly fine to depict white people the way he wishes in his own films which contain racial subject matter.
So I don't see how he can point fingers at other people when they decide to create a story of their own take on matters of race relations.

He can't claim a monopoly on how black characters should be depicted in films if he is able to depict white characters as he sees fit in his own films.

Of course he is perfectly entitled to criticise Quentin Tarantino's film.
But a basic requirement should be that he actually watches it first.

[Anachrony]

Originally Posted by Tal'shiar

Maybe if it had more Spike Lee Proto White Man* in it, he would be happy.

*you know the one. The one were old whitey is the root of all evil and an ever crushing force, whilst at the same time being weak and pathetic.

It pretty much has that already. An escaped slave mows down scores of utterly inept white slavers. All but one white person in the film is both comically evil and incompetent.

There's nothing Tarantino plausibly could have done to both make a watchable film and appease Spike Lee.

[jenzie]

seriously who cares?

it's how one director interprates something that matters

[Big Boy Barry]

"American Slavery Was Not A Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western. It Was A Holocaust. My Ancestors Are Slaves. Stolen From Africa. I Will Honor Them,"

The people who sold his ancestors into slavery were also Africans.


So I'm sure we'll be seeing a historically accurate slavery movie from Spike which depicts this.

[Alrightmate]

I saw a clip of Quentin Tarantino speaking about the film yesterday and he was very specific that it was an homage to Sergio Corbucci, and not Sergio Leone.

[Dai13371]

Originally Posted by elnombre

Your point being?

Spikey boy was being too clever for his own good and got the wrong Sergio.

Ah, just read the post by Alrightmate, seems Tarantino thought it necessary to hi-light that point too.

Satisfied?

[wiseguy100]

Would Spike Lee still have a problem with this film if Tarantino were black? I doubt he would. So what would that make Lee? a racist.

see what I did there?

[mialicious]

Spike lee has only ever made 2 good films and he is always moaning about QT, they used to be friends QT even had a small part in one of his films (girl 6) and they had a falling out after that i think it was because of a quip QT made about how he and Ricki Lake were more revered then spike lee in the black community.

[Residents Fan]

I wonder will Tarantino's next film feature Michael Vartan as a heroic Armenian who hunts down and kills the evil Turkish
soldiers who slaughtered his family.

[Takae]

Originally Posted by Alrightmate

Spike Lee appears to think that it's perfectly fine to depict white people the way he wishes in his own films which contain racial subject matter.
So I don't see how he can point fingers at other people when they decide to create a story of their own take on matters of race relations.

He can't claim a monopoly on how black characters should be depicted in films if he is able to depict white characters as he sees fit in his own films.

The difference is, we frequently see white characters in leading roles in film and TV while black characters and characters of other minorities usually appear in secondary or minor roles. When they do appear as leads, they are a lot more likely to be portrayed by white directors and scriptwriters than by directors and scriptwriters of non-white minorities. And their portrayals are usually designed to make the (white) audience feel good. The Help, The Green Mile, Blind Side, The Legend of Bagger Vance, etc.

There are black directors, writers and producers who do try to get stories of their own onto the silver screen, but they are usually blocked by studios' refusal to invest in them, let alone distribute their films. You're really kidding yourself if you believe that successful black film and TV directors are offered the same opportunities as successful white film and TV directors get because they generally don't. Statistics back this up, e.g. Directors Guild of America's survey results on TV directors.

Haven't you noticed that almost all A-list black actors are also producers and that the films they appeared in with the all-black cast are the ones they produced? Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, etc. Will Smith is a producer of 80% films he appeared in because otherwise he wouldn't have those roles. The film industry really does limit its doors to black film-makers and film-makers of other minorities, especially where the stories with black leads are concerned. Even George Lucas, one of best known white film-makers in the world, had problems getting his own black-cast film out into the mainstream distribution. (Lucas co-produced the film, and black film-maker Anthony Hemingway directed the film.)

As the result, black characters are more likely to be portrayed through white directors and writers' eyes than black directors and writers' eyes. It wouldn't be a problem if it was all equal, but the fact is that it's not equal. The majority is still white, so black characters are still filtered through the white lens.

Quentin Tarantino, the darling of critics and fanboys, gets to portray a black character and slavery however he likes, regardless of how black people feel about his portrayal. Pretty much everyone knows he doesn't give a shit as long as it's "cool" and "edgy".

So yeah, any African American including Spike Lee has every right to voice their opinions, positive or negative, on the portrayal of a black leading character or black history. Even if they haven't seen the film yet. Most times they don't need to because they have seen it happening again and again and again. There were objections to The Help when it was adapted as a film, and their objections were validated when we saw the film. They were right all along.

We certainly can disagree with some of their opinions, but we have no right to say that they can't express their opinions or indeed "have a monopoly on how black characters should be depicted in films".

[theonlyweeman]

Originally Posted by Takae

The difference is, we frequently see white characters in leading roles in film and TV while black characters and characters of other minorities usually appear in secondary or minor roles. When they do appear as leads, they are a lot more likely to be portrayed by white directors and scriptwriters than by directors and scriptwriters of non-white minorities. And their portrayals are usually designed to make the (white) audience feel good. The Help, The Green Mile, Blind Side, The Legend of Bagger Vance, etc.

There are black directors, writers and producers who do try to get stories of their own onto the silver screen, but they are usually blocked by studios' refusal to invest in them, let alone distribute their films. You're really kidding yourself if you believe that successful black film and TV directors are offered the same opportunities as successful white film and TV directors get because they generally don't. Statistics back this up, e.g. Directors Guild of America's survey results on TV directors.

Haven't you noticed that almost all A-list black actors are also producers and that the films they appeared in with the all-black cast are the ones they produced? Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, etc. Will Smith is a producer of 80% films he appeared in because otherwise he wouldn't have those roles. The film industry really does limit its doors to black film-makers and film-makers of other minorities, especially where the stories with black leads are concerned. Even George Lucas, one of best known white film-makers in the world, had problems getting his own black-cast film out into the mainstream distribution. (Lucas co-produced the film, and black film-maker Anthony Hemingway directed the film.)

As the result, black characters are more likely to be portrayed through white directors and writers' eyes than black directors and writers' eyes. It wouldn't be a problem if it was all equal, but the fact is that it's not equal. The majority is still white, so black characters are still filtered through the white lens.

Quentin Tarantino, the darling of critics and fanboys, gets to portray a black character and slavery however he likes, regardless of how black people feel about his portrayal. Pretty much everyone knows he doesn't give a shit as long as it's "cool" and "edgy".

So yeah, any African American including Spike Lee has every right to voice their opinions, positive or negative, on the portrayal of a black leading character or black history. Even if they haven't seen the film yet. Most times they don't need to because they have seen it happening again and again and again. There were objections to The Help when it was adapted as a film, and their objections were validated when we saw the film. They were right all along.

We certainly can disagree with some of their opinions, but we have no right to say that they can't express their opinions or indeed "have a monopoly on how black characters should be depicted in films".

Studios won't make all black films, because they tend to make less money. Lucas co-financed Red Tails, and it didn't make it's production budget back...

No, Spike Lee was complaining about a specific film, if his comments were generalised, people would have been fine. It's perfectly legitimate to question Spike Lee specifically complaining about a film he hasn't seen...

[The Terminator]

Originally Posted by Takae

So yeah, any African American including Spike Lee has every right to voice their opinions, positive or negative, on the portrayal of a black leading character or black history. Even if they haven't seen the film yet.

Well yeah technically they have the right...but they'll just look like an idiot when spouting off about something they haven't seen and really don't know about.

[Takae]

Originally Posted by The Terminator

Well yeah technically they have the right...but they'll just look like an idiot when spouting off about something they haven't seen and really don't know about.

News flash: almost every one of us is guilty of criticising a film before we even see it. Why single Spike Lee out for doing the same? Other directors do it, so why can't he?

[Takae]

Originally Posted by theonlyweeman

Studios won't make all black films, because they tend to make less money. Lucas co-financed Red Tails, and it didn't make it's production budget back...

Jesus Christ.

No, Spike Lee was complaining about a specific film, if his comments were generalised, people would have been fine. It's perfectly legitimate to question Spike Lee specifically complaining about a film he hasn't seen...

According to some in this thread, he should shut up and make a film of his own if it bothers him so much. Hence, my response.