Shit here we are with the most inspiring, level headed, pragmatic presidential candidate in decades who could inspire Americans to be truly great, doesn't take the low road in politics, and is actually half white but offers a referendum on what the American Dream is and our history of slavery and what's possible in this nation... And 50% of you all are scared shitless by him because he's half black. USofA has some issues.

Spike Lee is like the SAT's...

people complain about the SAT's and their biases, and how smart kids that are creative can't do well on the SAT's, and mediocre students that happen to be great at standardized tests do disproportionately well, etc. but really it boils down to these truths (and trust me, I taught these kids for more than a while, I'm not making this shit up):

-VERY smart kids will always do well on the SAT's
-smart kids usually will do well on the SAT's
-kids of average intelligence will do averagely well on the SAT's, and occasionally quite well, with extra tutoring -dumb kids will NEVER EVER EVER do well on the SAT's

so although it's flawed, it is not completely useless, as some suggest. some dumb kids can get straight A's, and the SAT's are the safety net.

Spike Lee is the SAT's for mild-to-overt racism in white people:

-white people who are not racist in any way will ALWAYS take Spike Lee movies at face value. some of them will be enjoyed, some not so much, but they will never deride him as a useless filmmaker.
-white people who are sorta scared of black people will just avoid Spike Lee movies because they are disinterested in his viewpoint, and his statements both on film and off. but they won't have much of an opinion either way, if asked.
-white people that truly are racially biased, whether they would admit it or not (and almost always not) will ALWAYS hate Spike Lee. they will ALWAYS say he's a "loudmouth" (code for "uppity nigger"), a "race-baiter" (code for "someone who sticks up for his own race") and a "shitty filmmaker" (code for "black filmmaker".

so before any of you from above (including some regulars that I'm shocked by) that have used these terms start getting up in arms. ask yourself this:

if your argument is with Lee's filmmaking, and not his race (or racism), then why is that hardly ever discussed? and if your argument is with his race (or racism), and not his filmmaking, why do you descend into this talkback about his latest film (which Mori seemed to like a lot) just to shit on him? why not start www.spikeleeisracist.blogspot. com and voice your shallow opinions there?

face it. you're the dumb kids. you're the closet racists.

food for thought.

you've perfectly captured the disconnect I was describing above...

(and if you don't know this guy, google is your friend...trust me, it's sad and funny at the same time)

However, I do think that Lee is one of those autuers who isn't content to sit back and let his film speak for itself, he wants to be heard, he wants everyone to know who he is, and he will use whatever forum necessary to speak his opinion, including (but not limited to) film. As a result of this (as well as his Nike ads, and his Knick rooting) he becomes a personality, an icon, that the vast majority of Americans tend to pick sides on. I think this is a vastly unfair way to approach films, but it sort of goes with the territory.

Also, I may be alone, but I really enjoyed Inside Man, I felt like it was an engaging, watchable, and incredibly entertaining film, and seemed to be a bit of a departure from what my previous experience with Lee "biased" me as to what I might expect to see.

This sounds a lot like me. I've only seen INSIDE MAN and it didn't do much for me and I don't really have an interest in Lee's films, but I'm not scared of black people in any way so is there a sub-category here? People like me who have no fear of black people and have no real interest or opinion of Spike Lee?

Though he does come off as a bit of an ass-hat in a lot of interviews.

ColWTH is the dumbest kid in my analogy. the fact of the matter is, anyone who is not afraid of black people (and Lee, who is, last time I checked, a black person) has to admit he is an important filmmaker. I completely agree that the fact that Lee is left off of this unofficial list of cinephiles-turned-filmmakers is unfair and ridiculous. I also think that because he's studied a lot more than say, Tarantinto or Kevin Smith or whoever, and had a pseudo-mentor relationship with Scorcese, puts him a cut above, actually. at least technically. (I still think that as great as Pulp Fiction is, and how well written end edited it is, it looks like it was directed by the key grip)

but anyway. idiots will be idiots. I just wish they could do it outside of the talkbacks.

you named after Maceo Parker?!?!

use The Shins when you want to feel stoned without drugs

and thank you for speaking honestly about Lee (and his detrimental aspects) without resorting to the bullshit racist shit that most do...

It's true, America. On all racial fronts, people will always have biases about others who appear different from them, at least with our history available to everyone and the influences of our parents and grandparents.

SCENARIO:A white person supports equal rights, likes Spike Lee films and sympathizing with his viewpoints, and socializes with blacks, maybe even a best friend that is black. Then one night he is walking down a shady street alone one night, and from the opposite direction approaches on or more black men. His heart rate goes up, he looks for somewhere else to walk, maybe even crosses the street and goes around, and perhaps if it was a group of white men he wouldn't have felt unsafe at all. Is he a full-out bigot? Is he against desegregation? Does he think Obama shouldn't be president because of his skin color? NO!

He knows it's wrong to assume he's going to get mugged, but the fear is still there. With our access to past and present news & media, there will always be racism, even slight racism that we know is unsupportable. Perhaps someone should do an experiment and raise some children of all races (one of each) completely isolated from racist ideals and all visual and documented racist incidents, then observe how they interact with one another and what their opinions are. Maybe then we'd find out where racism stems from and figure out a way to stamp it out. But since that kind of experiment is unlawful, I suppose we'll never know.

It's true, America. On all racial fronts, people will always have biases about others who appear different from them, at least with our history available to everyone and the influences of our parents and grandparents.

SCENARIO:A white person supports equal rights, likes Spike Lee films and sympathizes with his viewpoints, socializes with blacks, and perhaps has a best friend that is black. Then one night he is walking down a shady street alone, and from the opposite direction approaches one or more black men. His heart rate goes up, he looks for somewhere else to walk, maybe even crosses the street and goes around. If it was a group of white men, maybe he wouldn't have felt unsafe at all. Is he a full-out bigot? Is he against desegregation? Does he think Obama shouldn't be president because of his skin color? NO!

He knows it's wrong to assume he's going to get mugged, but the fear is still there. With our access to past and present news & media, there will always be racism, even slight racism that we know is unsupportable. Perhaps someone should do an experiment and raise some children of all races (one of each) completely isolated from racist ideals and all visual and documented racist incidents, then observe how they interact with one another and what their opinions are. Maybe then we'd find out where racism stems from and figure a way to stamp it out. Since that kind of experiment is unlawful, I suppose we'll never know.

oh and their movies generally fall into the 'does not suck' category.

The only thing Spike "hates" is ignorance and intolerance.

For the record: Spike NEVER called Eastwood a racist. Spike NEVER said Eastwood should have changed the race of the flag carriers in Flags Of Our Fathers. All Spike did was raise the issue of black visibility/invisibility in Eastwood's film. It was the media who (predictably) pumped it up into being a fight between the two men. I was disappointed Eastwood responded with the "he should shut his mouth" comment. Really Clint?

Clint Eastwood had to go back and add in black soldiers after criticism because there were hundreds at Iwo Jima. But ignorant people still think there were no black folks in WWII because they don't see it on the screen.

Think about that for a second. White people complaining because minorities want to be represented in historical films because they don't think there were any because they've never seen any in historical films. Talk about circular ignorance.

People are really desperate to explain away their own racism on the topic of Spike Lee movies, even going so far as to ignore films he has made that contradict their opinions.

Once again: All Spike did was cite Flags Of Our Fathers as a recent Hollywood WWII film in which few or no black serviceman were visible. There's nothing unresonable about making that observation. I'm quite sure the grandchildren of the many black men who loss their lives defending a country that (at the time) had little or no respect for them are saddened to see just how many times they're ignored by filmmakers. I guess that's one of the many reasons Spike made his movie.

I may at least rent this movie if this is the tone he has. I felt that this very issue was a real sore spot in Saving Private Ryan: Spielberg clearly had no interest in that movie to give any humanity to the German soldiers. I mean, did he REALLY have to specifically reintroduce the same German that the Allies let go (and took pity on) to quietly and methodically kill one of those same Americans, shushing and chiding him like a child as the knife went in?

I'm not a big fan of Lee, but Kudos to him for that bit of insight.

BTW: I thought both Flags Of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima were outstanding. Pity they didn't perform better at the box office.

"I give interracial couples a look. Daggers. They get uncomfortable when they see me on the street."

Speaks for itself, no?

It is interesting that both articles are written by (it appears right-leaning) African American men critical of Spike.