Five reasons why I’m not a Spike Lee fan - Part V

This is Part V of a five-part series, Five reasons why I’m not a Spike Lee fan.

Read:

Five Reasons why I'm not a Spike Lee Fan - Part I
Five Reasons why I'm not a Spike Lee Fan - Part II
Five Reasons why I'm not a Spike Lee Fan - Part III
Five Reasons why I'm not a Spike Lee Fan - Part IV

  

No Likey

    

    

Finally, and without consideration of how I may feel about him personally, for me, the reality is that I don’t really find any of his films entertaining. I’m just not feelin’ his moviemaking. Viewing his films is not a pleasurable cinematic experience for me. There were a few that I liked, i.e. 25^th Hour and Summer of Sam. I thought School Daze was mildly entertaining. Maybe one or two others. 

    

For one thing, the movies are too damned long!

    

And that God-awful camera. I despise those utterly stupid, pointless and unnecessary camera tricks that do nothing more than detract from the film.

    

    

Closing Remarks

    

    

I see why we have embraced him. He was one of the first and best known modern day mainstream black film directors. We were proud to have one of our own making movies; didn’t matter what kind of movies, and I think his messages, his musings were perceived as good and uplifting and pro-black. I believe black people were just happy he was making movies. And we were glad. And we gave him praise… then… and now.

    

Didn’t Spike Lee risk it all and make She’s Gotta Have It on credit cards? I think the story went something like that. I think people were inspired by that.

    

I wonder how many people honestly examine his films’ true artistic merit.

    

With those things said, I kind of get what he’s trying to do. But I think he’s terribly self-absorbed. And it shows.

    

I’ve heard it said that Spike Lee is a genius. I don’t know if he’s a genius or not.

    

I will, however, give credit where it’s due. Despite the fact that he often uses the same actors repeatedly, Spike Lee is credited with giving lots of these performers their “first chance,” and highly necessary “exposure.” I agree. And I applaud Spike Lee for that.

    

Moving forward, I will continue to watch his work. People change, mature, learn, respond to criticism and make different creative choices as they age and as their viewpoints and perspectives change.

    

To Mr. Lee: If nothing else, I implore you to be kinder to black women. You’re vicious. 

    

    

What do you think?

    

For more on Spike Lee, visit the SPIKE LEE category on this blog.

Comments

[aulelia]

I agree with you when you say "his musings were perceived as good and uplifting and pro-black". I think pro-black messages are extremely important.

The image of the black woman is harder to nail. Could that be because black male directors will never understand the plight of being a black woman?

[Kimi]

re: being terribye self-absorbed ... it DOES show & ITA.

Remember when that Spike TV cable channel started & Lee tried to sue them cuz he said they were using his name to promote this new channel? I was like COME ON snap outta it.

for me Spike was one of the first in my generation to kinda break through. When I look back at some of his old work I don't see the appeal any more but initially I got to the theater to see the next Spike Lee joint.

My faves of his are Do The Right Thing & Malcom X.

I was in college & pledging during School Daze & have to admit that he hit the nail on the head with many issues in that flick of life at college for AAs.

The others I can take or leave depending on how bored I am.

I too will continue to watch ... dunno if I'll pay full price at the theater to see, but I will check him out when it hits cable.

Aulelia raises food for thought tho ... where are our AA FEMALE directors out there who can show our experience from a woman's perspective/eyes?

[theblackactor.com]

@ Aulelia

"The image of the black woman is harder to nail. Could that be because black male directors will never understand the plight of being a black woman?"

Aulelia, I think that's a great question you raise. And I don't know the answer. But I do know that regardless of the answer, as black women we should expect, at the very least, if not an understanding -- then a sensitivity. Maybe we should insist on it.

@ Kimi

Kasi Lemmons comes to mind. I loved Eve's Bayou. And she helmed Talk to Me, which was released a couple of months ago. Yeah I remember that controversy about the cable channel. LOL.

[aulelia]

@ Kimi + The Black Actor.com = I loved Eve's Bayou too. Excellent film. I think one reason why there is a dearth of black female directors/producers is because of the stereotypes that exist in most films. The Black female character is never the centre of a mainstream film and if she is the centre or one of the key figures, she will be singing or dancing. I like musicals just as much as the next person but do black people always have to be singing to be seen? Do black women always have to be looking pretty and singing? I don't know if many black female producers would purposefully promote that stereotype but since many people watch films and make assumptions from them, it is safe to assume that the black woman has become a stereotype. deeply saddening because the black woman needs to be carved and portrayed truthfully. and to an extent, i only think black female directors can do this.

black male directors of course can try but i think what they will mostly achieve is create an image of what they think is a real black woman. is that fair?

[invisiblewoman]

I'm in agreement with a lot of what you've said; check out my Spike Lee posts on my blog (2) where I talk about his films.

[jazzyphile]

@TheBlackActor:

Although "She Hate Me" was not a comedy, didn't it lean on comedy and absurdity to make it's point.

[theblackactor.com]

What point was that, Jazzyphile? Cuz I totally missed it.

[jazzyphile]

You didn't feel "Do The Right Thing"? Some folks though it might cause a riot--it didn't.

[theblackactor.com]

@ Jazzyphile

No. I didn't. It was a nice idea and all...