Spike Lee: 'Hollywood Execs Know Nothing About Black People'

I found this column fairly interesting:

http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/spike-lees-sundance-tirade-hollywood-execs-know-nothing-about-black-people-34669?page=0,0


It's basically Spike regurgitating the same old arguments he's been making since the mid-to-late 80's. The players have changed, but his argument remains the same. Or does it?

You see, I've often wondered what Spike (and people like him) expect from America and the rest of the world. Spike is bitter because he made a hit commercial movie, INSIDE MAN, several years ago, and was still not able to get any financing for his current film. Now, I don't have a degree in finance, and I have never worked in a film studio, but I think I can make a fairly astute observation as to why nobody wanted to give Spike any movie for his new film, RED HOOK SUMMER:

Nobody give's a rat's ass about life in a ghetto....project....slum.....or trailer park.

Occasionally you'll get a film that breaks out of the mold and turns into a decent sized hit: PRECIOUS, SLUM DOG MILLIONAIRE...but on the whole, people simply aren't interested in being entertained by pitiful accounts of food stamp abuse, drug dealing, homelessness, prostitution, black-on-black crime, etc......And yet that seems to always be what a fairly large amount of black artists want to write, produce, direct, and/or star in, and they are exasperated and frustrated when they can't find anyone to invest in their ventures.

And when you do get black actors who avoid those kinds of films and try to star in vehicles that appeal to a larger audience (Will Smith in....well, anything; Denzel Washington...yeah, that's about it) they get criticized for selling out.

Spike is always trying to get projects funded that show the lower end of humanity...the tragedies... the victims....his documentary about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was meant to get people indicted. His movies really aren't entertaining or uplifting. He traffics in human misery and pimps the race card out every chance he gets.

Maybe the rest of the world just isn't as in love with black people as Spike Lee thinks they should be (and they probably never will be).

Then again, didn't George Lucas make much the same point a few weeks ago?

I thought Spike Lee was an asshole ever since he tried to sue Spike TV over use of the word Spike. :roll:

I found one of his films watchable...Tales From The Hood...KKK Comeuppance was interesting....

Why is he crying about financing from Hollywood Execs? Can't Oprah finance him, or other rich black celebrities? Or maybe they don't want to be associated with Barbershop 4 or Jungle Fever prequel starring Mr and Mrs Loving. Hey, if Tuskegee Airmen can be regurgitated, so can that one. :afro:

Then you've got THE HELP, which is still the story of a pretty, rich white girl.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Then again, didn't George Lucas make much the same point a few weeks ago?

Which point? #1 That he had trouble getting films made outside of the Hollywood studio system unless he self-financed them, or that #2 no one in Hollywood wanted to finance his latest film, RED TAILS?

If your point was point #1, then it goes a long way towards dispelling the notion that Hollywood won't finance films with black actors or black directors. The problem with films with predominantly or all-black casts is that there is an unspoken, perhaps even unconsciously registered thought with white people, that such films aren't meant for them, but for black audiences only, and therefore never bother to see such films.

White people will obviously go see a film with a black actor, actress, or director, but they're less likely to see a film with an all black cast because they are going to assume it has something to do with drugs, gangs, prostitution, poverty, illiteracy or racism, and white audiences don't care about that and don't want to have to hear about it or read about it or see it. Yet that is EXACTLY what Spike's new movie is about.

Spike is a typical Marxist: he doesn't want to have to put his ideas out into the free market place and have them judged as successes or failures, but instead wants the government to help underwrite films, as has been explicitly stated recently by Robert Redford and MIchael Moore. He knows his films are not only unpopular with white audiences, but basically with black audiences as well.

I WOULD HAVE been interested in RED TAILS if Lucas had nothing to do with it, but his taint is all over this film, so it's a no-go for me. I also think Lucas was playing the race card in advance of RED TAILS' release to help explain away its inevitable failure, except that the film did decent box office.

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

drugs, gangs, prostitution

Sounds like my dream film.

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

Lucas was playing the race card in advance of RED TAILS' release to help explain away its inevitable failure, except that the film did decent box office.

Shome contradiction here...

Spike Lee hasn't made a decent film since DO THE RIGHT THING, and that's almost 23 years ago. The guy hasn't a leg to stand on.

He called Eastwood a racist, he's been off his rocker for years already.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Then you've got THE HELP, which is still the story of a pretty, rich white girl.

But what better way to help tell the story of racism, bigotry, prejudice, stereotyping, and ingrained injustice than through the eyes of pretty, rich white girls? Just as I have a better understanding of the fight against racism by viewing it through the eyes of white running backs/tight ends/receiveers and quarterbacks who were written off by the NFL before being given a chance to succeed, such as Peyton Hillis, Danny Woodhead, Wes Welker and Tom Brady.

Speaking of pretty rich white girls....love your avatar. Debbie Harry is still one of the best.

Sharky wrote:

Spike Lee hasn't made a decent film since DO THE RIGHT THING, and that's almost 23 years ago. The guy hasn't a leg to stand on.

I liked his documentary about the levies in New Orleans.

"The 25th hour" is a decent movie, but otherwise I can do without most of Spike's body of work.