The growing bandwagon against Spike Lee

Shame on Spike Lee. That’s what it seems Clint Eastwood feels in commenting on the comments of Lee about the absence of a single African American in the nearly 6 hours of film Eastwood created in 2 films about Iwo Jima. And Eastwood is not alone in rebuking Spike Lee.

Amazing. I’ve already made my comment on this issue, where I’ve agreed with Lee and am upset with Eastwood. And yes I do realize that the number of Black troops were less than 1000. Still nearly 6 hours of is more than enough to have one Black face in a background shot at least. Acknowledging the existence of the African Americans that fought and died in WWII is not a lot to ask for. Not that Hollywood has ever cared, as evidenced by the flood of films featuring or including Blacks in WWII films.

But I am now hearing how Spike Lee is being called out for his portrayals of Italian Americans.

“Spike Lee is very talented, but I sometimes wish he'd practice what he preaches," Dal Cerro said. "His points about African-Americans are well taken, but, ironically, he does the same thing to Italians in his films.” - Bill Dal Cerro, president of the Italic Institute of America

Oh really?

This annoys me. Unlike the overwhelming number of movies made by virtually every director since movies have been made, the movies by Spike Lee have diversity in them. People of all colors appear in most of his films. They may not be leading characters but they are there. The same cannot be said of Hollywood in general.

But Spike makes Italians look bad? As far as I recall the Godfather was out long before any film by Spike. As far as I can recall Italians have been portrayed as loud, rude, violent, under-educated, mafia members in dozens of movies and television programs for decades. Spike Lee had nothing to do with the Sopranos. He did not direct Andy Garcia or Robert De Niro in the Untouchables. I really don’t need to go on do I.

There is no absence of Italians in hundreds of films a decade. There is no absence of Italian actors in films, television and the theatre of every style and genre an any year. So this claim against Spike Lee is just a grab at attention, and a means to damage his image. It supports Clint Eastwood and the perception that African Americans were anywhere but fighting for America in WWII.

When the critics of the many films of Spike Lee want to take him on, I suggest they first take a look at our media. When they can prove that Black actors and films are not the trend of the year or the forgotten red-headed stepchild of Hollywood I’ll accept the claim that there are not enough Whites in his films. I’ll accept at that time that historical and current portrayals of Italians, Britians, Germans, French and every other nationality of Whites may be insensitive or detrimental. But when we stop listening to the rhetoric and pay attention to the facts before our eyes we realize that such a dramatic change is still a long ways away.

Hollywood movie bias, the reality - 1.25.2007.1

Sometimes you have to wonder what people are thinking. I mean that I can see a point being made, yet I think the extreme view being posed is just gratuitous. If you wonder what I am referring to, it’s a new report by the Islamic Human Rights Commission in Britain on how movies portray Muslims.

I will give this report the fact that since 9/11 Muslims are the ‘bad guy’ choice du jour. More than any other group they are the favored group to be seen losing to the good guys and that of course is due to the current political and social environment in the world. I can see how that can annoy the tens of millions of Muslims that live quiet lives, being productive citizens of their respective countries.

While the emphasis is on Muslims, today, there continues to be the re-enforcement of the African American as a negative image in every medium in America. Long before Arabs and Muslims were picked on, Black Americans (particularly males) were the only pimps, dealers, petty criminals and poor in movies. While Black Americans were the first minorities to be included in American films, the roles were even worse with portrayals as slaves or complete caricatures. This negative image is no less consistent now, with 60% of all images in news of poverty or lack of education or violence being matched with images of Black Americans.

While I admit this is not a fact I have seen quoted, it is something that is often commented on. Some may recall the Mr. Carlos Mencia Comedy Central episode that provided 2 news reports focusing on images of people in waist deep water right after Hurricane Katrina. One image had a Black American in holding a bad, the caption accusing him of being a looter. The other image had 2 White Americans in similar water each holding a bag, the caption reading that they were trying to scrounge for food. Neither image included any background buildings or any indication that either of the people had food or goods in their bags. Some may recall my post where Yahoo News placed an image of Mr. Chris Rock along side a completely unrelated article dealing with investigation by the government on the mob. [Chris Rock, Andy Garcia, M:I3 and Snoop Dogg] The people in the article were all white. Watch the evening news and any time there is a mention of unemployment, welfare, government aide, and similar stories you will see a predominance of images of Black Americans – regardless of where in the nation you live or the fact that since African Americans only make up ~14% of the nation it’s impossible for us to be the only, or even major, cause or recipients of these items.

So I can appreciate the feeling by Muslims that it is now their turn on the negative public image machine that is Hollywood, movies and other media. Still to carry the extreme to say that movies such as Disney’s Aladdin were negative is silly in my opinion. They are shooting themselves in their own foot with such an accusation. All the characters in that movie were Arabic, and yes the architecture, timeframe, and clothing indicate they are all Muslim. But I cannot agree that this movie was done in bad faith. Equally off-base to me is the claim that Raiders of the Lost Ark made a similar negative portrayal. As I recall one of the leading supports is an Egyptian Arab character, and a good guy. Virtually all the bad guys are White and Nazi’s. Perhaps I am naïve, but I do not recall any stereotypes that were not balanced by other characters that were neutral if not positive. And any negative images were minor compared to the positive main characters in both movies.

American media and Hollywood in particular, love to portray all minorities in a horrible light. That is a fact. Minorities are excluded from having major impact in front of and behind the camera to this day, though it is incredibly slowly changing. Addressing the fact of this imbalance, and its consequences, is a positive for change. To go to an extreme, claiming insult where none was seen for literally decades does not help but hurt such a cause.

Muslims should not be unfairly judged. Neither should Black Americans, Latino/Hispanic Americans and other minorities. But at the same time it should be noted that some leeway must be given when a nation is at war. Much as the Germans, Italians, Japanese and others have been made objects of anger for a time during conflict against America so will be any other group. That’s just human nature. Rather than place a blanket on all things ever done, seek the positives and note the negatives. Your cause will be better helped I think.

This is what I think, what do you think?