Mr. Lee said that black actors appeared in war films too infrequently.''Clint Eastwood made two films about Iwo Jima that ran for more than four hours total, and there was not one Negro actor on the screen,'' he said, adding, ''There's no way I know why he did that -- that was his vision, not mine.''
Translation: Clint Eastwood is a racist.
Not wanted to be characterized as a racist, Clint shot back:
In the interview with The Guardian, the British newspaper, Mr. Eastwood defended the historical accuracy of his movies, saying that black troops were not involved in raising the flag at Iwo Jima. “The story is ‘Flags of Our Fathers,’ the famous flag-raising picture, and they didn’t do that,” Mr. Eastwood said in the Friday interview. “If I go ahead and put an African American actor in there, they’d say, ‘This guy’s lost his mind.’ ”
Now, Spike is not content with looking foolish once. He wants to do it twice:
But after the remarks were reported around the world, Lee hit back, reminding the older man that they were not "on a plantation".
The reference to times when a white man could tell a black slave what to do came after Lee first issued a raft of fresh accusations against 78-year-old Eastwood, who has won five Oscars and boasts a string of celebrated gritty film roles, including "Dirty Harry" Callahan.
Translation: See, I told you Clint Eastwood is a racist.
Either Spike Lee is purposely trying to incite racial divisions in America, or he is sadly mistaken. The fact is, Clint's film was based on a book, written by William Broyles, Jr. and Paul Haggis. If anything at all, Lee should be complaining about these guys. Clint only put the story they wrote, on film, on the silver screen.
So, whether he's being purposeful here or is honestly mistaken, it makes no real difference here. He is wrong. But being foolish and wrong makes no difference to Spikey. The real reason he wants this exchange to continue is simple:
Lee however promised to draw a line under the bitter war of words, alluding to the tone of the bid for the White House of Barack Obama, who went to see Lee's Do The Right Thing on his first date with his wife Michelle. Lee said of Eastwood: "Even though he's trying to have a Dirty Harry flashback, I'm going to take the Obama high road and end it right here. Peace and love."
There you have it America.
Normally one would not expect anything less from Mr. Lee. After all, it's how he has made his living. But we now know that Spike wants to keep America divided along racial lines, to get Obama elected. Doing it by winning the debate on the issues will not work for the Dems, they must have racial tension to regain the White House.
8 comments:
Why can't he make one himself? As to Eastwood, he should have just ignored him but it's hard to resist when labeled. Lee gets the last word and all.
As to the Obama connection, that's interesting. In a way he's causing some racial phantoms to come out, on both sides.
Agree with AC again - Eastwood could simply have responded, "Pfff."
If it were me, I would have said, "How come Spike doesn't have more white people in his movies? What's he got against whitey? This ain't Zimbabwe here!"
It's laughable this unspoken quota requirement in movies. Did any of you watch the horrible re-make of the Andromeda Strain? The team of scientists assigned to kill the bug are a hispanic male, a white moman, an asian man, and white man and a black woman. I mean, seriously! If only that were the stupidest part of the movie....
Ah, Spike Lee . . . the cinema producer/director of the ages. We tend to view art as an expression of human culture during a particular era, and of course, when we speak of art, we include painting, sculpture, architecture, music, theater, and literature. Cinema, it seems, includes several of these art forms: writing, music, acting, dancing, costuming, choreography, direction, and editing a final “script.” At one time, cinema reflected culture; it was one way to advertise America, our values, and our strengths. That doesn’t happen any more; Lee and others are focused almost exclusively on our weaknesses. By all means, let’s broadcast that, even if they represent a narrow field or are limited to a peculiar segment of the greater society.
What we see on film today, in too many cases, is ugliness. Few films are made in order to help Americans feel good about themselves or even to reflect on historic events so that we may not have to repeat past mistakes. Rather than a reflection of culture, Hollywood writers, directors, and producers (of which Lee is one) are engaged to redefine America (and our culture) according to how they see it. They only project the ugliness, sending, or reinforcing the wrong messages to everyone, including American young people. It is how they wish everyone else to see America, too. They may call it artistic license, but I think we know what it really is. They are creating “their reality,” and it so inundates our society that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Get used to it. This is just the start and there is much more to come and don't say I didn't tell you so.
Everyone who has a beef with race relations in this country over the past 200 years will be coming out of the woodwork within the next few months to put in their two cents worth.
Be on the lookout in case of an Obama loss in the November general.
//Why can't he make one himself? //
My question, exactly.
//"How come Spike doesn't have more white people in his movies? What's he got against whitey? This ain't Zimbabwe here!"//
More good questions. Unfortunately, asking these will get you accused of being racist.
//” At one time, cinema reflected culture; it was one way to advertise America, our values, and our strengths. That doesn’t happen any more; Lee and others are focused almost exclusively on our weaknesses.//
Bingo.
I do not find anything wrong with telling a story as it really happened, even if it shows a dark side. Just like the Iraq situation, these people want to bring the negative to light without showing the positive. Very often there are gray areas that are overlooked because someone wants to exaggerate, skew, and lie for political purposes.
Stories are never all good or all bad. Not one. Those that make these kinds of assessments are guilty of what the psychiatric community calls, splitting. And splitting is one of a host of diagnostic criteria, for several personality disorders.
//Be on the lookout in case of an Obama loss in the November general.//
Don't worry Rocket. this is nothing we do not already know. And not only this, if Obama gets elected, every time someone criticizes his policies or proposals, they will be branded racists by some people. I can see it now, the image is crystal clear.
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