Is Spike Lee racist or just a righteous asshat? Are you?

[Robby P]

Without even looking at the video, I am 99.9 percent sure that it's Spike Lee criticizing Tarantino for his use of the word "nigger".

[megladon8]

Without even looking at the video, I am 99.9 percent sure that it's Spike Lee criticizing Tarantino for his use of the word "nigger".


Not quite, but just as silly and hypocritical (as Lee is known to be).

[Ezee E]

Guess he must think it's exploiting slavery as an adventure type of movie, but I put it up more to Lee simply having a lifelong conflict with Tarantino as the real reason he won't see it.

With that, I really wish Lee would take on slavery in a movie.

[megladon8]

Hm. Elucidate? How is that stance hypocritical, exactly? Not sure about "silly," either.


Not so much that one stance of his (I do have to give him points for being quite clear that he feels this way but wouldn't force his beliefs on others - at least there's that) but his stances on racism have always felt terribly backwards.

I find Lee can be an interesting filmmaker from a stylistic standpoint, but his stances on racism are really tired, and his paranoia is kind of hilarious.

I just wish he could shut up about racism already. It makes him look like a bigger racist than a lot of the people he points the finger at.

He's become a caricature of the fight for black rights. In his younger years he was militant, but in the last decade or so he's more like that crazy guy you hear about on the news who wants blackboards taken out of schools.

[Mr. Pink]

I'd say it's incredibly silly since he doesn't give an actual reason for why he thinks watching Django would somehow disrespect his ancestors. He hasn't seen it, and doesn't plan on seeing it, so why exactly does he think it's automatically disrespectful?

Him being a fucking baby is the only reason I can think of.

[Winston*]

Is it really hard to understand someone objecting to seeing an irreverent take on a historical subject that holds such personal significance to them? Decendants of Holocaust survivors objected to Inglourious Basterds and they were well within their rights to do so.

[Mr. Pink]

I'm not saying he doesn't have a right to be offended by something he hasn't even seen, but it's still silly.

[Winston*]

One of the only American films focusing on slavery comes out, and maybe the only one with a black man as the protagonist, comes out and it's a fun popcorn take called Django Unchained, from a director with a prior history of films he already finds racially problematic.

I don't think Lee's reaction as someone emotionally invested in the subject and its popular representation is silly. Does he have to see it to verify it's not a sincere probing examination of the impact of slavery on American life or whatever?

[Pop Trash]

At what temporal length do we detach ourselves from what the hell our ancestors did? My ancestors in the 19th Century might have been slave owners or total assholes or both but who cares since it's almost 2013.

[Mr. Pink]

One of the only American films focusing on slavery comes out, and maybe the only one with a black man as the protagonist, comes out and it's a fun popcorn take called Django Unchained, from a director with a prior history of films he already finds racially problematic.

I don't think Lee's reaction as someone emotionally invested in the subject and its popular representation is silly. Does he have to see it to verify it's not a sincere probing examination of the impact of slavery on American life or whatever?


Yeah, he should see it before making any asinine statements like that. He doesn't know it's a "fun popcorn take" on slavery any more than he knows the material isn't handled perfectly, and would become his favorite movie of all time because of it. But since he's too short-sighted to even give it a shot, he won't ever know.

He only had a problem with Jackie Brown because a white person put the word "nigger" in a movie too many times, even though he knows damn well it's an accurate portrayal of how someone like Samuel L. Jackson's character would talk. That just shows you what an insufferable baby he really is.

He can't judge the movie's sincerity any more than anyone else who hasn't seen it, and objecting to it without seeing it is silly.

I don't see how watching a movie is disrespecting his ancestors any more than I would be paying respect to mine if I saw it.

[Mr. Pink]

Not sure how you're seeing that. He's always been consistent (and admittedly vocal) about his viewpoints, which makes him the opposite of hypocritical.



More context:



https://twitter.com/SpikeLee/status/282611091777941504


He's judging something without having seen it. It's really that simple. And that twitter quote is ridiculous. His ancestors weren't stolen from Africa as much as they were sold off to the highest bidder by his other ancestors, and he's not honoring or dishonoring anyone by skipping a movie that deals with slavery in some capacity that he won't know of because he's not gonna see it.

I'm not saying it wasn't a horrible blight on America's history, but he also doesn't know Django isn't saying that too, since he isn't gonna watch it.

[Mr. Pink]

Welllllll ordinarily, I'd agree with you -- not seeing it would be a problem.

But.

This is Spike Lee. Spike Lee isn't a stupid man. And by that, I mean he can look at the credits and look at the trailers and put two and two together.

What are the chances hat Quentin Tarantino will ever do a historically accurate, or even barely authentic, period piece? Zero. Zilch. Not gonna happen.

I don't think it's a great leap to look at the advertising and look at QT's own history and come to certain conclusions. From what I've read, Lee isn't criticizing the movie itself, but saying that his seeing would disrespect his own ancestors. If I were to guess, doing so would be, in his mind, condoning the content, which could easily be seen as trivializing the black experience in America.

PS: I've always found QT's use of "nigger" to be ridiculous, and completely indefensible on the grounds of "authenticity."

QT doesn't make authentic movies, he never has, and he's never tried to. He doesn't write dialogue to make people sound as if they live in the real world. He makes movies that are there own insular, little, self contrained movie-universes and his dialogue reflects a specific kind of un-reality.

Using "nigger" in his movies, as he does, smacks of a little boy learning a taboo word and employing it repeatedly, machine gun style, because he's aware of its power. Tarantino pretty much did that same thing in "Basterds" with his overuse of the word "Jew."

The best he can do is assume. If slaves existed during the time Django is set, then it's already somewhat authentic and historically accurate. From what I've heard, Django is Tarantino's most emotionally mature movie yet, so it's best not to assume anything.

And if you were gonna assume something, it's that Tarantino isn't dumb enough to make a light-hearted, fun popcorn movie about slaves.

Since he hasn't seen the movie, he doesn't know if it is trivializing anything; he's assuming it is, so he's talking out of his ass. You can't say just because it's a Tarantino movie where the main character is a slave automatically means the subject matter isn't handled with care/caution.

Again, watching Django isn't honoring my ancestors any more than it is disrespecting his. You can't honestly make that judgement until you've seen it.

[number8]

Mr. Pink seems to really like Tarantino.

[D_Davis]

I think QT sees himself as a post-racist, or at least an honorary black person because of the way he grew up. He was raised by his single mother, and her best friend - a black woman - lived with them. He basically had a black mom and a white mom, and this has informed his love of strong female characters as well as his views on race. He also grew up watching a ton of ethnic cinema. I'm not saying that he's right, or anything, because I don't know if there will ever be a post-racist time, but I do believe that he truly does see things in those terms.

[Raiders]

I think most people have something very important to them that they don't have a sense of humor about, and certainly for Lee he has never been able to really see slavery, or the country's treatment of black people extending beyond slavery, as anything other than an issue requiring the most reverent and sincere handling. He's a bit of a righteous asshat about it, but he has that right. He makes it clear here he is only speaking for himself and in his mind, a spaghetti western made by a notoriously irreverent filmmaker who finds joy in the taboo, is something that eats in his mind as dishonoring the lives of his ancestors.

His anger about his ancestors and his contemporaries has always been what drives him, certainly many of his early efforts. It's who he is. Sure, we can say that he needs to have a better sense of humor and to understand that evils from over 150 years ago are not really something any of us currently should have to atone for or keep as sacred to use as the basis for an irreverent work. But, for him, it is something that will never be OK to move on from, an injustice that will forever define him, his family and our country. And that it was, as he states, a holocaust of his people. There can never be an OK time to use it for a film such as it appears Tarantino has here.

[number8]

PS: I've always found QT's use of "nigger" to be ridiculous, and completely indefensible on the grounds of "authenticity."

QT doesn't make authentic movies, he never has, and he's never tried to. He doesn't write dialogue to make people sound as if they live in the real world. He makes movies that are there own insular, little, self contrained movie-universes and his dialogue reflects a specific kind of un-reality.

Using "nigger" in his movies, as he does, smacks of a little boy learning a taboo word and employing it repeatedly, machine gun style, because he's aware of its power. Tarantino pretty much did that same thing in "Basterds" with his overuse of the word "Jew."

I don't think it's either. Tarantino concerns himself with being authentic to pop culture, not actual culture. He portrays people as they are defined in movies, not in real life. So for Jackie Brown, his overuse of "nigger" isn't meant to say that that's how black people really talk, it's how those types of characters talk in the blaxpoitation movies that he views as his point of reference. Similarly to how he portrays gangsters in Pulp Fiction to have an immensely (and unrealistically) bushido-like reverence, to the point where Marsellus would actually forgive Butch's double-cross out of honor. Similarly to how ridiculously posh Michael Fassbender and Mike Myers' English characters talk in Basterds. Or how overly verbose and formal and allegorical all the characters in Kill Bill talk, emulating period wuxia flicks.

[Grouchy]

What are the chances hat Quentin Tarantino will ever do a historically accurate, or even barely authentic, period piece? Zero. Zilch. Not gonna happen.
Well, you know, apart from the fact that they kill Hitler, I don't know if I wouldn't call Inglourious Basterds an "authentic period piece". It portrays ideological warfare through German cinema quite accurately. Also, the behavior and speech of the characters doesn't strike me as anachronistic.

[Sven]

Cat People.

[number8]

Pretty sure there are a lot more deliberate anachronisms in it than just Cat People, but I'm not a historical expert. I just know that Tarantino freely admitted that his influences and references when making Basterds were films from the period, rather than actual history. He based a lot of the portrayals on the 40s WWII propaganda films.


David Wasco, the production designer, noted that while many old photographs and documents were used to reproduce the period, about ninety percent of what they produced was based on film references, referring to the portrayed time as, “a Quentin period world.” In responding to whether audiences would understand his references, Tarantino responded:

I actually believe that when it comes to stuff like that, you should aim over the audience’s head and let them reach out for it. If they have any interest in it, maybe they will now know who G.W. Pabst is now and maybe they’ll investigate it. Actually, when I was a kid, they did that in children’s art all the time, just to give you an example. Maybe at this age, I would know who Baron Von Richthofen was. [But] I knew who he was when I was five because they put him on Snoopy. Because Snoopy fought him all the time. And they weren’t thinking, ‘Hey little kids aren’t going to know who Baron Von Richthofen is. Nope, we’re going to teach them.’

From this great rundown of the films references in it:

http://thefilmstage.com/features/the-classroom-hyperreality-in-inglourious-basterds-tarantinos-interwoven-cinematic-world-in-1940s-france/

In some sense, you can apply that to his use of words, too. He trusts the audience to figure out his motives when he portrays incendiary stuff, and seems to get annoyed when people don't. Maybe it's somewhat naive, or careless of him, but certainly not ignorant.

[Mr. McGibblets]

That explains why he uses the word in Jackie Brown, but it's still uncomfortable when he writes it into his character's mouth in Pulp Fiction.

[Mr. Pink]

Mr. Pink seems to really like Tarantino.

Not nearly as much as I don't like people like Spike Lee.



I think most people have something very important to them that they don't have a sense of humor about, and certainly for Lee he has never been able to really see slavery, or the country's treatment of black people extending beyond slavery, as anything other than an issue requiring the most reverent and sincere handling. He's a bit of a righteous asshat about it, but he has that right. He makes it clear here he is only speaking for himself and in his mind, a spaghetti western made by a notoriously irreverent filmmaker who finds joy in the taboo, is something that eats in his mind as dishonoring the lives of his ancestors.

His anger about his ancestors and his contemporaries has always been what drives him, certainly many of his early efforts. It's who he is. Sure, we can say that he needs to have a better sense of humor and to understand that evils from over 150 years ago are not really something any of us currently should have to atone for or keep as sacred to use as the basis for an irreverent work. But, for him, it is something that will never be OK to move on from, an injustice that will forever define him, his family and our country. And that it was, as he states, a holocaust of his people. There can never be an OK time to use it for a film such as it appears Tarantino has here.

These are fair points. I understand where he's coming from, and I know he's only speaking for himself, but he still sounds like an ass. I was just looking at some of his twitter responses, and it really is ridiculous. He calls someone a "retart," and accuses the person of not knowing history, like he isn't selectively focusing just on America's use of slaves and demonizing white people. All that says is he is too dumb to recognize that slavery was essentially used everywhere, and that black slaves were bought from other black people who were already using slaves, just like everyone else in the world was doing/had done.

I know black slavery in America had further-reaching impacts, but, like pop trash said, maybe it's time to start looking at things from a historical/cultural perspective. Some white people also got in a war to end slavery, so maybe he needs to shut the fuck up and stop disrespecting my ancestors who fought to end slavery (see how dumb that sounds?).


I saw a clip of Katt Williams (the shitty comedian) saying anyone who accepted to do Django should die because he read the script and it said "fuck that nigger" 150 times (probably an exaggeration). Yes, it's an offensive statement, but it's supposed to be, since that's actually what it was like.

Like I said, they have every right to be offended by a movie they haven't seen, and they can assume Tarantino is trivializing the material all they want, but until they see it they don't actually know so they're taking everything out of context and talking out of their asses. That's mainly what annoys me. It's not a movie about slavery, it's a western with a slave as a main character, and I don't see why that's automatically off-limits just because slavery on the whole was a horrible thing that happened.

[megladon8]

Good post, Pink.

And honestly, what's Lee's problem with the film anyways? The black dude gets freed from slavery and gets to kill a whole lot of white people.

He should absolutely love that shit!

[Ezee E]

Spike Lee may be offended quite easily, but what is it that makes him racist?

[megladon8]

Spike Lee may be offended quite easily, but what is it that makes him racist?


Have you ever read some of the shit that has come out of that guy's mouth?

[dreamdead]

Good post, Pink.

And honestly, what's Lee's problem with the film anyways? The black dude gets freed from slavery and gets to kill a whole lot of white people.

He should absolutely love that shit!

:| This sounds reads quite incongruous given your bewilderment with "feminists"...

Spike Lee's not a fan of Tarantino's career trajectory. Let's not make him so militant that he too becomes a sole stereotype. He does have nuances to his judgment.

[number8]

Katt Williams went crazy, led cops on a car chase, assaulted Target employees, fought audiences, called evolution bullshit and atheists idiots for believing it, and quit comedy. I don't think anyone should argue their point by proving him wrong. Just an aside.

[megladon8]

:| This sounds reads quite incongruous given your bewilderment with "feminists"...

Spike Lee's not a fan of Tarantino's career trajectory. Let's not make him so militant that he too becomes a sole stereotype. He does have nuances to his judgment.



Again I have to ask if you've ready any of the stuff he has said.

When he went to South Africa in the early '90s, his response to the suffering the blacks were going through was that he wanted to "pick up a gun and start shooting white people" and these problems could only be solved "through bloodshed".

He also famously stated that it is impossible for a black person to be racist, but all white people are inherently racist.

Oh and my all time favorite, that the levees around New Orleans were systematically destroyed by the American government to kill black people.

[Ezee E]

Have you ever read some of the shit that has come out of that guy's mouth?
Yes. I follow Spike Lee very closely actually. His views on racism are incredibly strong and he has no fear about voicing them. It's in every one of his movies. But I wouldn't say he's actually racist. What quotes are you speaking of?

Can't wait for his version of Oldboy.

[Mr. Pink]

Katt Williams went crazy, led cops on a car chase, assaulted Target employees, fought audiences, called evolution bullshit and atheists idiots for believing it, and quit comedy. I don't think anyone should argue their point by proving him wrong. Just an aside.

I forgot to mention the audible moans from the mostly black audience when he mentioned the script saying "fuck that nigger" 150 times, as if somehow Tarantino was just saying it for the hell of it for no apparent reason.

Point was, Spike Lee isn't the only one offended by a movie they haven't seen. I mean, shit, at least Katt Williams read the script.

[Grouchy]

Hahah are those true?

[Ezee E]

Katt Williams went crazy, led cops on a car chase, assaulted Target employees, fought audiences, called evolution bullshit and atheists idiots for believing it, and quit comedy. I don't think anyone should argue their point by proving him wrong. Just an aside.
Did he quit officially? His stories in Denver are pretty sad to listen to for a comedian.

[Mr. Pink]

Did he quit officially? His stories in Denver are pretty sad to listen to for a comedian.

Yeah, but he's quit a few times before, too.

[megladon8]

Aaaaanyways, all this discussion is doing is making my blood boil. I appreciate Lee as an artist and filmmaker (and I too am anxious to see what he has done with Oldboy), and I'll leave it at that.

I'm still not sold on seeing Django in the theatre. If it had gotten the rave reviews of Inglourious Basterds I would be there opening day, but the few people I know IRL (and the reception so far on here) has me on the fence.

I've seen two Tarantino films in theatre (Kill Bill Vol. 2 and Death Proof)and didn't much like either one.

I do wish I had seen IB in theatres, though. I put that one off for so long, and when I finally got around to seeing it, I adored it. I really felt Tarantino had visibly (and audibly) matured with that one.

[Russ]

all this discussion is doing is making my blood boil.

Why?

Why do you let it get under your skin the way you do?

[Ezee E]

And I think your references to Lee's racisms are exaggerated stories.

[D_Davis]

Here is an article about Spike Lee's racism, with some of the remarks meg is talking about.

http://www.humanevents.com/2012/03/26/spike-lee-hollywood-hatemonger/

I read it, and think, OK, the guy might be a bit racist. But then again, he is historically justified to feel that way.

But then I read further down, in the comment section, and I immediately became really uncomfortable with the number of really racist remarks towards Lee and other black people. I am typically uncomfortable with white people making remarks about reverse racism when it comes to people like Lee, Sharpton, Jackson, etc. There is this belief with many white people that we are living in a post-racist world; they act bewildered as to how some like Spike Lee could still be upset about our nation's history, and appalled that minorities might feel less than positive about white people because of they way they've been treated; they think, well I'VE NEVER been racist, so these people obviously have chips on their shoulders. These remarks are usually surrounded by comments like "I'm not racist, but...." or "I've got lots of minority friends, and..."

Also, the link comes from an ultra conservative blog, and if there is one group of people who should definitely be keeping their mouths shut about racism, it's ultra-conservatives.

[Skitch]

I also think Lee is kind of a nutter, but I hesitate to comment on his views when it comes to race. I encourage you guys to read some of the things that Samuel L. Jackson has had tweeted at him over the last few months. They are insanely appalling. I have felt like we've made a lot of progress, but reading the amount of racism pointed at him purely for supporting Obama is just...discouraging. And as a white guy, I have no idea what it is like to have to deal with that every day in my face. I would have a lot of hostility if I had to deal with that shit too. I mention this with Samuel L. because I don't think of him as any sort of political activist in the public eye (and I sort of think of Lee that way), and he's getting that level of hate? I can't imagine what Lee gets.

[number8]

And I think your references to Lee's racisms are exaggerated stories.

Sor of. I dunno if the first one even happened, but i remember the other two and they are out of context.

The second quote, he was talking about institutional racism. Lee clarified saying that black people can be prejudiced, but he interprets racism as oppression, so black people can't racially hold white people down because they don't have that kind of power in our established institutions. He's actually right.

The third one, he said that Katrina was a man-made event, referring to how the tragedy was preventable, but because of governmental incompetence (and a bit of racism), the levees broke. Which is true.

[D_Davis]

And as a white guy, I have no idea what it is like to have to deal with that every day in my face.

Exactly. We can be the most progressive, ultra-liberal, I DON'T SEE COLOR BS kind of white guys (and the fact that we're male only adds to that) around, and we'll still never know what it is like to not be white (or not male). The idea of white male privilege is a very real thing. I'd like to pretend it's not, but that's not the truth of the reality in which we live.

[D_Davis]

A really good example of this is from my own life. The elementary school I went to was 65% southeast Asian. Many of my friends growing up were Hmong, Laotian, Vietnamese, etc. At my high school, whites were the minority. Growing up like this, and not being raised to have racist thoughts, can make one think that he is above racism, or not capable of being racist because 1) I'm a minority in my social circle, and 2) I live in a culturally diverse area.

Well, one day my friends and I were all sitting around telling very racist jokes, because HEY!!! we're not racist, and we're all making fun of each other's race. Well, one of our friends didn't see it that way, and he got super offended at me. I said some terrible things and I really, really hurt this guy's feelings (this was in high school). But, what's worse, I said some things that brought back some terrible, violent, hateful images and memories in this guy's past, all having to do with escaping from Vietnam, where he lost many of his family members and friends.

So while I may have not been racist, I still can never really know what it's like to be a non-white. Just being born in America, to middle-class parents, gives me certain things that millions of people will never have. Being born white and male gives me even more things. I think it's important to remember this.

[number8]

Which is exactly what Spike Lee was saying when he said that black people can't be racist. There is no institutional privilege for black people to do the same to white people.

The worst is when people try to downplay that by pointing out stereotypes where black people "win," and then falling short. Like big cocks and being great athletes. Yes, that totally makes up for being suspected of burglary just for walking near a nice house.

[D_Davis]

Which is exactly what Spike Lee was saying when he said that black people can't be racist. There is no institutional privilege for black people to do the same to white people.

The worst is when people try to downplay that by pointing out aspects of life where black people "win" and falling short. Like big cocks and being great athletes. Yes, that totally makes up for being suspected of burglary just for walking near a nice house.

Or when people get mad at affirmative action, or minority scholarships.

[D_Davis]

That incident with my friend still haunts me today. I lost a great friend. I don't blame him for never forgiving me. I mean, he might have by now, but we were never friends again after that moment. It was a rude awakening.

I also really liked his sister. She was this totally cute Vietnamese goth chick. Man, I totally blew it.

[number8]

Or when people get mad at affirmative action, or minority scholarships.

...Okay, fine, those are classier examples.

[D_Davis]

...Okay, fine, those are classier examples.

I don't know - you can do a lot with a big dick.

[Skitch]

I have several older uncles who recently were referring to Obama with the N word. Made me so mad I had to leave the room. On the other side of my family, I have black relatives I've grown up with. My family is so weird. I fucking hate racists. It's so appallingly ignorant I can't even process it.

[megladon8]

The third one, he said that Katrina was a man-made event, referring to how the tragedy was preventable, but because of governmental incompetence (and a bit of racism), the levees broke. Which is true.


In the Bill Maher interview, he said that it was perfectly reasonable to believe that the levees were bombed by the government to kill poor black people.

[EyesWideOpen]

In the Bill Maher interview, he said that it was perfectly reasonable to believe that the levees were bombed by the government to kill poor black people.


Governments have done worse.

[megladon8]

Why?

Why do you let it get under your skin the way you do?


Because with someone like Lee, I see his views as being regressive, and it bothers me that he tries to put himself on some sort of pedestal as a positive role model for blacks, when really all he does is feed the hate and paranoia and add to the problem.

I am not blind to there still being racism in the world, and I am not against affirmative action, minority scholarships, anything like that.

What I cannot agree with is reverse racism somehow being excusable.

Yes, I am a white male, and no, I will never know what it's like to be a black male and feel discriminated against. I don't think that means it should be OK for those who have been discriminated against to, in turn, discriminate.

Being passionate about racial issues is admirable, but the execution of this passion is horribly misguided with Lee. I feel like if I ever met him, he would want me to apologize for what whites did 150 years ago (even though in the research of my family history, at no point did my family ever own slaves or take part in that practice).

Peace and equality cannot be achieved through more hatred.

[megladon8]

Governments have done worse.


Did I say they haven't?

[Dead & Messed Up]

I don't know - you can do a lot with a big dick.

A staff writer for the Onion agrees with you. (http://www.theonion.com/articles/mock-me-if-you-will-but-this-huge-cock-has-gotten,10688/)

[MadMan]

I like both QT and Spike Lee as directors. Now I find what they both say at times to be objectionable, but I'm still going to see their movies.

[Spinal]

Reverse racism is such a silly phrase. It reminds me of the pro athlete who gets arrested for domestic abuse and then protests that his 120-pound girlfriend hit him first.

[Ezee E]

I have some feelings on affirmative action. Firefighting testing is ridiculous, and should be on another thread.

[number8]

In the Bill Maher interview, he said that it was perfectly reasonable to believe that the levees were bombed by the government to kill poor black people.

Not so much.


Bill Maher: “You did make a movie called Get on the Bus, which was about the Million Man March which was, I can't believe it, ten years ago, and this past Saturday Lewis Farakhan did a kind of reunion of the Million Man March. I don’t think we got a million people this time. But he was saying, last Saturday in Washington, that he thinks that the federal government, there was a conspiracy to actually blow up those levees so that they would flood the poor black districts in New Orleans. I have to tell you, I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I don't believe it. But when you see some of the things that have gone on in this country.”

Spike Lee: “Exactly. It's not far-fetched. And also I would like to say it's not necessarily blow it up. But, the residents of that ward, they believe it, there was a Hurricane Betsy in '65, the same that happened where a choice had to be made, one neighborhood got to save another neighborhood and flood another 'hood, flood another neighborhood.

It's not that big of a crazy fringe theory, actually. The rich white neighborhoods were well protected, whereas the Ninth Ward was abandoned. It's a source of a lot of resentment over there after the storm.

[Sycophant]

The big takeaway from all of this for me is that Spike Lee's retweeting format is a bit confusing.

And sometimes I feel like I'm the only person on Tumblr who's ever paid him a compliment without getting a retweet

EDIT: Oh, and that I really wish QT had a Twitter.

[megladon8]

Not so much.



It's not that big of a crazy fringe theory, actually. The rich white neighborhoods were well protected, whereas the Ninth Ward was abandoned. It's a source of a lot of resentment over there after the storm.



That's just part of the interview. He goes on to argue with the other two guests that it was entirely possible that the levees were purposely bombed.

[Ezee E]

That's just part of the interview. He goes on to argue with the other two guests that it was entirely possible that the levees were purposely bombed.
Full Recap of Maher/Lee (http://m.newsbusters.org/node/2441)

It's sort of Barty-sensalitionlism from Spike Lee more then anything. Again, just his paranoid thoughts about being attacked, but not necessarily him being a racist.

[Russ]

Thanks for the split.

[Raiders]

Gee, yeah, thanks there, Russ. :|

And what's with editorializing the hell out of the thread title? That's under my name and I would never fucking say that. I am a HUGE fan of Lee, FFS.

Give me the ability to edit that shit, Raiders, or FUCK RIGHT THE HELL OFF.

No problem. Fuck you too. See ya guys.

[Skitch]

Give me the ability to edit that shit, Raiders, or FUCK RIGHT THE HELL OFF.

Overreact much?

[baby doll]

Nightjohn is a terrific movie about slavery. That's about all I have to add to this discussion.

[number8]

Somebody quit smoking again.

[megladon8]

Nice catch, Ezee. I think you nailed it -- Lee isn't necessarily wrong, but he's got to do some intellectual backflips in order to maintain his position.

The weirdest part of that show is that he fights it out with Tucker Carlson, of all people.


The weirdest part being that Tucker Carlson is the one in the right in this instance.

Lee is just hate-mongering, adding fuel to the fire.

[baby doll]

The weirdest part being that Tucker Carlson is the one in the right in this instance.

Lee is just hate-mongering, adding fuel to the fire.I think there's a difference between a conspiracy theory (i.e., 9/11 was an inside job, or in this case that the United States government blew up the levees deliberately) and hate mongering. Given how much actual hate mongering goes on in the United States ("retribution" attacks against Muslims following 9/11, for instance), to single out Lee for perpetuating and helping to legitimize a conspiracy theory strikes me as misguided. There's enough actual hate mongering happening in the world to make Lee's remarks seem fairly trivial and not worth getting upset about.

[Grouchy]

I gotta tell you, watching that clip only makes me side with Spike Lee more. The other guy is just chickening out, like "ooooh this is a serious accusation, I can't believe you are saying that against my government". Jesus fuck, mate, you're wearing a bow tie. What's the matter with you?

[D_Davis]

I don't trust any white man who wears a bow tie.

[Ezee E]

Spike Lee remains consistent though. He goes over the top in most of his movies too, and thats why I love many of his movies.

Oldboy takes place in New Orleans. I'm really curious what he's going to do with it.

[MadMan]

This thread title is hilarious.

[number8]

I don't trust any white man who wears a bow tie.

Now I know why you dislike Doctor Who.

[ledfloyd]

That explains why he uses the word in Jackie Brown, but it's still uncomfortable when he writes it into his character's mouth in Pulp Fiction.
it's a clear homage to scorsese's scene in taxi driver.

[Pop Trash]

it's a clear homage to scorsese's scene in taxi driver.

I dunno if it's that clear.

[baby doll]

Was the Scorsese character in Taxi Driver married to a black lady? When the redneck dude says, "Take your foot off the nigger," the implication is he's a pretty racist dude, and when Samuel L. Jackson or Ving Rhames says it, the justification is that some black dudes use that word, but it seems improbable that a white dude who's married to a black lady would say it so often, even if he's pissed. In other words, I think the reason Tarantino uses words like nigger, gook, bitch, etc. in his films is simply to make his dialogue more punchy and memorable. Would anybody remember that scene if he had said, "Is there a sign on the front of my house that says deceased African-American storage?"

[Dead & Messed Up]

Can he be both?

[Wryan]

Get on the Bus is terrific.

[Ezee E]

That's always been a minor gripe about Pulp Fiction for me. Mostly for Tarantino's rather bad performance more then anything. The character was completely fine with it, so perhaps being in a position of power, and it being granted by Marsellus Wallace (?) made it common for him to say.

[Sven]

Tarantino's performance in Pulp Fiction cracks me up. I think it's hysterical. "Oak is nice."

[Ezee E]

Tarantino's performance in Pulp Fiction cracks me up. I think it's hysterical. "Oak is nice."
I've always thought it would've been perfect if he and Buscemi switched roles.

[Scar]

I've always thought it would've been perfect if he and Buscemi switched roles.

Great, now I'm going to have this awesome scene playing in my head, but unable to ever watch it.

[Rowland]

If Tarantino was playing Jules or something, that obviously wouldn't have worked, but I always thought his character was supposed to be a goober, so his performance works fine.

[Ivan Drago]

No problem. Fuck you too. See ya guys.

:sad: Come on, guys! It's Christmas time!

[Winston*]

White people fighting amongst each other. This is what Spike Lee wants!

[Pop Trash]

If Tarantino was playing Jules or something, that obviously wouldn't have worked, but I always thought his character was supposed to be a goober, so his performance works fine.

True. There is a fair amount of self-deprecation in the casting. He's "Mr. Shit" after all.

[MadMan]

White people fighting amongst each other. This is what Spike Lee wants!:pritch:

[Dukefrukem]

This makes me want to pirate Oldboy now.

[D_Davis]

Now I know why you dislike Doctor Who.

It runs deep, man.