The Top Five Spike Lee Movies

Hello again world and welcome back to my blog. Today's entry is a retrospective of classic American cinema, as we count down the top five movies of filmmaker Spike Lee. As the prime years of his career range from the late 1980's to the 1990's, Lee (seen in the above photo as his Air Jordan saavy alter-ego Mars Blackmon) told stories of the modern black community, accurately depicting its views and opinions concerning racism, sexuality and class. His unique brand of realism would both counter the imaginary, superheroic "blaxploitation" era of a decade before, as well as usher in a cadre of black filmmakers who would be inspired to tell stories from their own specific point of view (i.e. John Singleton, Lee Daniels, and even Tyler Perry). Here are my top five Spike Lee movies, films that I think display his genius at mixing cultural, diasporic values with biting political commentary.

5. He Got Game (1998)



As we all know Spike to stay front row center at any given Knicks game, in "He Got Game" he uses the love of basketball to propel dissonance in the relationship between an estranged father and son.

4. School Daze (1988)



The satirical title for this film is accurately appropriate; it simultaneously praises and criticizes HBCUs while exploring deeper levels of difference in the black community regarding class, education and skin color.

3. Get On the Bus (1996)



Set against the backdrop of the Million Man March, "Get on the Bus" is a movie that I venture to say is truly specific to the black male audience. To attend the march, a small group of black men ride a charter bus cross-country from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in hopes of finding solidarity within their race and communities. As we watch the group's pilgrimage unfold, we observe every possible interpretation and relationship of the black man, ranging from old to young, father to son, convict to lawman, even homosexual to homophobic. Though their individual personalities and lifestyles do provide division, it is at a cost that the group ultimately achieves the solidarity they journeyed for.

2. Do the Right Thing (1989)



Hailed by many to be Spike's greatest film if not his best known, "Do the Right Thing" parallels the hottest day of the year with rising, explosive anger towards gentrification in a black neighborhood. It could be said that most of the characters in fact do not do the right thing; they talk at each other rather than to each other, and each side wants the other to accommodate their culture while not being willing to do so themselves. The arguing and frustration catapult the film's most memorable scenes, such as when the comedically defiant Buggin' Out and friends have a dispute with a white neighbor over scuffed Air Jordans, or when the movie's breakout character Radio Raheem has a semi-hostile interaction with Korean store owners while trying to buy batteries for his boombox. The ending of "Do the Right Thing" is intentionally ambiguous, I think because Spike wanted the audience to draw their own conclusions about what was right or wrong, racist or defensive.

1. Malcolm X (1992)



Through this telling of Malcolm's epic story, the combination of Spike's direct narrative with Denzel Washington's commanding performance accomplishes the impossible; it makes an already iconic figure more grandiose in legacy but also more relatable to a new generation. "Malcolm X" was a total labor of love for Spike, as he had to fight to direct, produce and finance the film to be as accurate to his vision as possible. The film brilliantly evaluates Malcolm's constant and truthful spiritual evolution by breaking his life up into four parts that intermingle when necessary to show genuine feeling or thought behind certain events. His fiery yet elegant persona is perfectly embodied by Denzel in what is one of the greatest acting performances I've ever seen.

In recent years, Spike's range has expanded through directing both stirring, thought provoking documentaries (4 Little Girls, When the Levees Broke) and feature films that have his core audience relate to non-black, outlaw type characters (25th Hour, Inside Man). While some of this latter signature-styled films (She Hate Me, Miracle at St. Anna) have been more serious in subject matter but less playful in depiction, they nevertheless showcase his continued ability to tell stories accurate to black American society both historical and current. I hope that he will continue in this style in his upcoming remake of the Korean film "Oldboy", as some of the principles of that story can be amended towards his point of view. Though some of his releases have been initially recieved as controversial and insulting, Spike Lee used his movies to help the advance for "culture clash" in modern American society, as he pushes his audience into observing then relating to other races and cultures more in a common ground.

Well, that's about it for now folks. Thanks for taking the time to read to blog, and let me know what you think about this and other entries. Until next time, peace out.

Our Revolutionary Braggarts: Ali vs. Pac

Hello again world and welcome back to my blog. For today's entry I've decided to do a compare and contrast between two of our culture's greatest anti-heroes, my definition of that term meaning that these two are individuals whose own specific ideals, actions, and dealings with their own unique opposition helped shape the societies in which they lived. These two anti-heroes, boxing legend Muhammad Ali and hip hop icon Tupac Shakur, are a generation apart but have striking similarities as well as outstanding differences both because of their rebellious legacies. I'll take it a step further and say that Ali and Pac symbolize being what could be known as a "revolutionary braggart", as their sociopolitical upbringings gave way to their defiant stances against conformity, prejudice and even traditional masculinity.

So how exactly are Ali and Pac "revolutionary"? You could start by evaluating them in their professional fields, where their legacies have reigning influence to this day. Since Ali, the main prototype of the modern black athlete has become more dominantly focused towards winning, thus becoming more unapologetic in determining the needs and surroundings they must have in order to win. Modern day hip hop has this sort of logic also, as it is verbally "athletic" due to its known competitive sparring- a facet of the genre that Pac would further influence (i.e "Hit 'Em Up"). But Pac's greatest contribution is allowing future hip hop artists to be more limitless in their musical and personal definitions, allowing them to be more multi-faceted and diverse within themselves than before.




Ali and Pac's professional legacies, of course, tie in to how they are culturally "revolutionary", but to appreciate the fullness of this particular aspect you must look at their own upbringings, as both came from and into social movements that were bred from modern anti-heroic, vigilante schools of thought. Cassius Clay's interpretation of the world became much broader due to his joining the Nation of Islam; and although they advocated total racial separation, Clay's devotion to this group informed him that there is a higher purpose and standard that he must fulfill, and he chose to display this through his celebrity and "rebirth" as Muhammad Ali. Tupac Shakur was literally born into the struggle as his mother, a Black Panther member, carried him during a short prison term and gave birth to him one month after her release. It is through his mother and her fellow radical allies and friends that Tupac began to gain awareness of his people, their struggle and a calling to make others socially and culturally aware.




So now that we've defined Ali and Pac in the "revolutionary" sense, how exactly are they "braggarts"? I think the most obvious answer is in how they both would never tire from proving their "righteousness" in their personal yet public battles. Ali and Pac would stop at nothing to make sure their presence and opinions were known through unconventional bravado that would resonate with their audiences yet intimidate their (chosen) opponents. In this spirit their bragging thus must come from the truths that represent themselves, their agendas and even their opponents. Both figures used this truthful bragging with great ability, but is here by their own personal usage of it that they begin to diverge. As an athlete, Ali figured out that he truly would have to incite his opponents through statements and antics that could be hurtful and insulting. This tactic would thus invoke his opponent with more emotional desire towards beating him; in doing it like this, Ali would perfect the art of "challenging entertainment". Pac, however, is more emotionally charged in his battles, as he sees his opposition more as the enemy that must be destroyed at all costs. Therefore, Pac's bragging uses the truth as a weapon that must vanquish those he deems unworthy in this challenge.

In all, I think that through their revolutionary bragging Muhammad Ali and Tupac Shakur became figures who represent a new kind of "eternal youth" that coupled fresh yet radical criticizing with a sort of sage wisdom that was beyond their years. Their courageous ability to stand for their convictions thus led them to condemning convictions, as Ali's draft refusal and Pac's murder, both at age 25 when these events occurred, robbed their audiences of truly seeing them go into their prime. It is because of this that their audiences helped shape their legacies as "the greatest" in their fields, as they inspired Ali to win professional and cultural victories past that prime, and they carried Pac's words, emotions, even (in remembrance of) his mistakes into their lifestyle and lexicon. Undoubtedly, these two revolutionary braggarts changed the expectations and capabilities that we set for ourselves and our future.

Well, that's about it for now folks. Thanks for taking the time to read this blog, and let me know what you think about this and other entries. Until then, peace out.