Well, in point in space time, we can call this questioning of spike.
Spike lee started his movie career with “She’s Gotta Have It”. (review) It brought mixed opinions. It was funded by his grandmother and had him and his father in it along with the three other characters. It was as indie as it gets. This movie had an all black cast. It was the first movie to show naked black women. The films following were also very controversial. They dealt mostly with race. In the past few years spike has diversified out of the race theme with films like “Inside Man”, a movie that doesn’t deal with issues in the black community. Is he a sell out? To do such an un Spike of a movie.
Unrelated but interesting he also had big a bike part in the Jordan campaign being the head of the marketing campaign. With his character Mars Blackman. This was a constant though the late eights and early 90’s. comercial
Why did he seemingly drop the classic realism Spike films after jungle fever? His movies took a turn many of them still had some the “black” motifs. miricale at st anna. but they were for a much less real, and much more diverse crowd for greater profit. Then in the past few years with inside man and now in production, inside man 2. (like he would have ever made a DTRT 2). Which is in no way similar to his roots no Brooklyn or real life to it. im not sure how I feel about this. Because inside man was a great movie. But there is something missing from it to be called a Spike movie.
He came back and did a collaboration with Jordan in 2006 a signature Jordan. The Jordan spizike. Still making profit but re engenering his old ties.
Clockwork orange, rocky horror picture show, plan 9 from outer space. All have their followings (none of them were particularly good) and spike lee movies do to. It is a cult following the people that watch these few, homogenous movies, over and over. They never get board. I was wondering why people do this. For the simple reason that I spend enormous amounts of time watching his movies. it could be the fact that he has good movies. But no. not all of them are great. Many of the early ones mostly had horrible acting. And there are other good directors that make more enjoyable movies. But none that present questions like spike. Like in SCHOOL DAZE he presents a problem. No answer, it is very ambiguous, it lets you color in the lines. And that’s pretty sweet. I feel bad not proposing answers but questions. But it seems its in the true form of spike.
You have a good style in presenting your post. You know a lot about Spike Lee and his beginnings.
ReplyDelete-eddy
I really enjoyed reading your blog. Your ending is especially clever, since you, like Spike, leave your reader to "color in the lines" of your post. Don't feel bad about not answering your questions!
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, I think it's great that you chose to write about Spike Lee, since we just watched one of his films on Friday. This blog gave me a better understanding of the movie we saw last week. and makes me want to watch more of his films.
--lindsay
ReplyDeleteI really have no knowledge about Spike Lee at all, so your blog was definitely an insight into something i know nothing about. The only thing i really know of his is Do The Right Thing because we watched in on friday. I liked how you incorporate those red sections into the post, because even though it was unrelated to your central argument, it still allowed us to know more about Spike Lee and incorporated your love of shoes into the post.
ReplyDelete-Alison
ReplyDelete"It was as indie as it gets" - what does this mean? What defines 'indie' and what sets it apart from other types of filmmaking?
ReplyDeleteYou explain that Spike Lee directs many films that deal specifically with race, then ask if he is 'selling out' by making a Blockbuster that does not deal as explicitly with race (although "Inside Man" does in some ways, doesn't it?) Is he selling out for making movies that aren't about the 'black community'? Is it his responsibility just to make films that portray or 'represent' a particular type of experience? What else makes "Inside Man" (which you view as an anomaly) an 'un-Spike movie'? I would love more background/details on what makes a 'Spike movie' and more details on what makes the 'Inside Man' so different so that I can participate in this discussion with you, because I don't think I know enough to do this yet.
And how is not posing questions 'in the true form of Spike'?
ALSO - the theme of 'cults' and 'addiction' are prevalent throughout these entries I've been focusing on. Scrabble addiction (Lindsay S.), prescription drug addiction (Lindsey D.), Spike Lee addiction (you). What's this about?
-Steph