What about Antoine Fuqua or The Hughes Brothers?
Oscar Micheaux?
Gordon Parks?
Melvin Van Peebles?
I'll even throw in F. Gary Gray.
(I'll pass on the simplistic Tyler Perry and his effete perspectives and John Singleton and his After School Specials.)
But one has to know that Spike Lee is not the final word in Black cinema.
That Dick Gregory has taken Mars Blackmon to the woodshed and whipped his tiny little ass is good news for Blacks in America today.
That a Black man can criticize another Black man in defence of the work of a white man is progress in the realm of race relations.
Don't get me wrong - I'm a Spike Lee fan.
In fact, I just watched a boxed-set of Spike Lee films over the weekend with my girlfriend and her son in order to introduce them to Mr. Lee's body of work.
I used to shop at Spike's Joint when the shop was on Melrose back in the day.
I pay to see Spike Lee movies and buy the DVDs instead of checking them out on bootleg.
I support Spike Lee.
Mr Lee's beef with Quentin Tarantino goes back to Tarantino's Jackie Brown and QT's comfortable use of the word "Nigger" in his films.
Tarantino has been 'keeping it real' since True Romance and his use of "eggplant" to describe those involved in the Carthaginian conquest of Southern Italy.
QT made Sam Jackson famous with Pulp Fiction in a way that Spike Lee could not with Do the Right Thing.
Spike's theory that a white man cannot write, direct or produce Black-oriented entertainment is obsolete.
(Think; Kelsey Grammar with Girlfriends and The Game.)
When Larry King's son stated that he wanted to be Black because Black was cool - it caused an uproar for many racial polemics.
But think about what the kid was thinking.
The kid's favorite actor was probably Vin Diesel or Will Smith.
The kid's favorite athlete was probably Derek Jeter or Lebron James.
The kid's favorite performer was probably Lil' Wayne or Jay-Z.
The kid has seen Tiger Woods dominate golf, James Stewart dominate motocross and Venus and Serena dominate tennis.
The kid sees a Black president.
To that kid, and many others, Black is cool.
This is why I think Tarantino does a good job at portraying Black heroes or anti-heroes.
Quentin grew up in So-Cal and was exposed to many races and cultures.
While other directors placed Black actors in secondary staring roles - QT made Django the true star of the film.
While other directors handle Black history with kit-gloves (or; kit-gloves?), QT understand the time period and context of his story - and the use of 'Nigger' was common.
So as far as Spike Lee's criticism of Tarantino?
Sit down Mars.
2 comments:
Kid-gloves?
Django Unchained was the shit!!!
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