Monday, December 24, 2012

Spike Lee Says Django Unchained is Disrepsectful

In an interview with VIBETV, Spike Lee says he has no desire or intention to ever see Django Unchained and that the reason is that it is disrespectful to his ancestors. "I cant speak on it cause I'm not gonna see it. All I'm going to say is that it's disrespectful to my ancestors. That's just me...I'm not speaking on behalf of anybody else." He then took to Twitter to say that slavery was like the Holocaust and that it should not be treated like some spaghetti western type movie and that he will honor his ancestors by not going to the movie.

56 comments:

sifichick said...

I love how he knows it's disrespectful but has never & will never see it. If you're going to spout off opinions at least educate yourself before you open your mouth.

FrenchGirl said...

1/ Spike Lee hates since always Quentin Tarantino
2/ if DJANGO is like INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, anyone can defend Tarantino's historic inaccuracies
3/Tarantion doesn't care about the historic accuracies,he's all about the cinematography's point of view

FSP said...

I have no desire or intention to ever see a Spike Lee Joint because I think the midget is racist.

Bleu said...

I have no problem with him not going to the movie and saying he's not going to go to the movie. Spike Lee has been famously outspoken in the past about Tarantino's use of the n-word. For fuck's sake, he doesn't have to go if he doesn't want to (and let's get real, Tarantino hasn't overnight changed, and neither will Lee's take on Tarantino).

Anonymous said...

Spike Lee is using Quentin Taratino's success to keep his own name in the press. By him saying he won't see djago,, banjo, whatever will just make people want to go and see it all the more. Good job idjit.

Aoife said...

Spike needs to go in the corner and sit down. Say you don't plan to see the movie. That's your prerogative.
I think it's time that the "n" word was put in its historical context. Maybe that will make people stop using it. Spike could've made a movie like this but he didn't.

We can argue about whether an African American director would've been allowed to make a movie like this (a more valid place to bitch from in my opinion) but he chose to go this route.

Jackie Brown had the least amount of violence of any Tarantino move IIRC.

Borg Queen said...

Come on Spike Lee. You are such an ass. You had an opportunity to make a film about slavery according to your liking. Now while Quentin's films are super violent, he does his best to be respectful to the material. (I think Spike is still mad that "Malcolm X" didn't win an Oscars nominations and in that respect, he is right to be angry but dont crap on other films that can be inspirational.)

timebob said...

from the clips I have seen it's not like Django is a victim, he beats the shit out of white men. He is just pissed he didn't think of it first.

Spike Lee can suck it

Anna V. Xol said...

Please spike lee. I'm still mad at your ass for She Hate Me!

Bleu said...

Okay, let's stop with this bullshit that Spike Lee is a fool who needs to shut up about race and Quentin Tarantino uses the n-word and Blaxploitation and now this slavery revenge flick out of some high intellectual anti-racist impulse rather than just because he thinks it's kewl and would look really rad on screen. Quentin is an uneducated nonpolitical ass and Spike Lee I assure you has been harassed relentlessly to comment on this, and what he said is he's not going to go see it and thus he's not going to speak about it.

Wen said...

Do as I say, not as I do.

Tampa Shawn said...

Looks like an interesting FICTIONAL movie to me. Nothing more, nothing less...

Bleu said...

Because Quentin Tarantino is a black man, got it.

a non a miss said...

Remember when he sued the channel Spike TV for using his name? He's kind of an ass hat.

msgirl said...

Well, the Holocaust has not been treated as a spaghetti western but I'm thinking of The Producers, which is very funny and also is about the Holocaust.

I happen to like Spike Lee and Tarantino, and both are entitled to their opinion. Spike admittedly can be sanctimonious, but I don't have a problem with what he's said here. I didn't know they didn't like each other.

katsm0711 said...

Who remembers the blind revealed to be Tarantino who was holed up in some Eastern European country with a prostitute I think he kidnapped or wouldn't let leave and made her do heavy drugs with him? Being that crazy, I think his movies are mindless eye candy but I don't care about his opinions on anything. I don't really know anything about Spike but I think as long as he isn't horribly bitter and mean to people who had nothing to do wih it, he's allowed to feel whatever he wants about slavery bc it was awful.

Bleu said...

Spike Lee's an asshole, and frankly so is Quentin Tarantino. But there is a place in film and pop cultural history for both Do the Right Thing and Pulp Fiction. I personally think both have blown chunks ever since --

Anon said...

A lot of Blacks don't want to see this movie so Spike isn't alone.The n-word is offensive to a lot of Blacks especially around Spike's age.
A lotta Blacks are still called nigger or treated like one (Trayvon Martin).

I just wish Spike would call out those liberal whites for using the word (Paltrow,Maher,etc) and the knucklehead Negroes who allow them to say that shit.

Folks wanna De-sensitize the word nigger but fine an athlete for saying fag/faggot in the heat of battle.
I still trip that Isaiah Washington got fired from Grey's Anatomy for saying faggot.

Honey Bunny said...

Dear Spike Lee,

I am here to inform you that this picture, is FAKE! Do you hear me FAKE! But one would think you would be glad about a movie where the slave gets his revenge on alot of white people.

P.S. I'll be there at the theater win this movie comes out with bells on. Luvs QT.

Cassidy said...

Amy-while Quentin Tarantino definitely/maybe made this film on impulse, you have to admit Spike Lee is being a little hypocritical. Even if a movie is based loosely on history, the context doesn't always have to be favorable as long as it's not blatantly offensive.

Can we all just agree they're douches and move on?

discoflux said...

I wish QT had used the money to get global distribution for the original Django, which is spectacular. Beyond the obvious exploitation of early African American culture, it just looks like a horrible movie full of assholey, over hyped actors.

Anonymous said...

It's a good thing for us that Spike would never dream of being "disrespectful to (his) ancestors"...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bamboozled-2000-posterimg.jpg

Anonymous said...

That having been said, I won't be seeing "Django Unchained" either. Mainly because I think Tarantino's glorification of over-the-top, gratuitous violence is bad for society. But that's just me...

tookiesmum said...

He's probably jealous he didn't get to make the movies. I can't stand this pompous ass.

tookiesmum said...

*movie.

Agent**It said...

Spike' s gotta have it.

Cheryl said...

Spike Lee and QT have both done some interesting movies and they have both done movies that suck. He is entitled to his position but Spike has a history of complaining about other directors. Speilberg begged Spike to direct The Color Purple because he felt like he couldn't do it justice. Spike Lee passed. Roger Ebert a few years back told him that basically he'd get more respect if he weren't so bitter about everything.

B626 said...

Can you spell
P-R-O-F-E-S-S-I-O-N-A-L
J-E-A-L-O-U-S-Y ?!

auntliddy said...

b626 said just what I was gonna say!! this man is always pissed off, I wonder why. He has lovely family, talent, money- I mean, whats the problem? Hey spike!! Enjoy your life!!!

Chilie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Aoife said...

@ just curious If African Americans are so upset about the use of the "n" word in this film they're being hypocritical. A look at any recent films aimed at black people by black people would show the use of this word over and over and over. And we don't have to talk about the crap that goes for music these days do we?

As I said before if Lee wanted to challenge why QT could make this movie and a black director can't (or won't) that is a valid argument. It's the only valid one in this situation. Personally I boycott all Tyler Perry movies and haven't seen a Spike Lee Joint in a long time.

All this chatter has made me want to see "Django".

And yes I'm African American. Just so we're clear.

Aoife said...

Thank you Chilie for putting the truth out there about Spike.

Christopher Cruz said...

Spike always seems so bitter about everything these days. What has he done to remain relevant? Piss and moan about what everyone ELSE is doing? I'm not a Tarantino fan, either, but I don't see the problem with this movie.

Frufra said...

@disco - just agreeing with you. Saw the preview for Django before Skyfall (which was, of course, totally awesome) - a horrible movie full of asshole types is just about right.

Mango said...

I think it was an attempt to get the Black audience to boycott the movie. I hope they make up their own minds and see whatever movie they want to see and not let someone with a chip on his shoulder make up their minds for them.

DewieTheBear said...

Translation: Spike Lee wishes he were still relevant, won't see movie because he didn't make it.

He is a horse's ass, always has been. Jealous, petty, small-minded, and incredibly overrated.

VeeBee said...

Here's the deal with Spike Lee and why I lost all interest in anything he makes or says. (Because early on I really enjoyed his movies.) Several years ago, when he was doing press for one of his films (Malcolm X IIRC)he said he would only speak to black reporters. While I thought that was kinda lame I figured, hey, that's his own business and I was fine with that. But THEN he refused to do an interview for The Advocate with a BLACK reporter who was also GAY. I was like whaaaaaat?!?!?! Oh hell no! Eff Spike Lee's hatin' ass. And I never saw another one of his movies. Now if I catch something he's said I just dismiss it as common douchebaggery from a bigot.

DewieTheBear said...

Also, I have to laugh at him "honoring" his ancestors by not going to a movie. Has a more pretentious statement been made lately?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to honor my ancestors by opening a bottle of scotch.

DewieTheBear said...

@Vee - interesting to hear. Bigotry comes in all forms, and Spike Lee's has been given a pass for a long, long time.

Chilie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
B626 said...

Ya know I never saw Inglorious Basturds at the theater, afraid of subtitles, whatever, but once I rented it at home I wished the HELL I could have experienced it at the theater so yes I AM going to trudge in there and cough up the bucks, it will be worth it!

Melpomene25 said...

FWIW, my friend met QT several years back while working the door at a gentlemen's club (yes that's PC for strip club :-)) and said he was very down to earth, friendly, and chatty but clearly on something. Spent the night in VIP sucking on toes...as long as he's cool people he can suck on whatever he wants!! Lol.. Sorry this had nothing to do with the topic but I wanted to share that story!

VeeBee said...

@Melpomene25 My brother met QT while he was filming From Dusk Till Dawn (out here in the desert where we live.) Anyway, he said he was a nice, cool, down-to-earth guy. And also that he talked super-fast and laughed a lot and mentioned George Clooney's love of practical jokes on set; said that's why they call him "Looney Clooney." I've seen ALL his movies and you can bet I'll be at Django too!

Pip said...

Hasn't Spike Lee always hated QT? Django is supposed to be exploitative and over the top. Also, QT made Inglorious Basterds, which did touch on the Holocaust. I didn't see it as offensive. Lee makes movies that are filled with racial slurs, yet he gets pissy when others touch on the race topic. He has no room to talk.

annabella said...

to say that spike lee is jealous of quentin t is laughable.

spike lee has a right to his opinion and he gave it and he was explicit about not wanting to see the movie. wtf is wrong with that? answer: nothing.

apparently, there are over 170 'f-you n-words' in the movie. so, it appears that people have a right to be offended.

Tara said...

Tangent alert. Saw Mario Africa speak about 7 years ago. He was, and probably still is, working to expose military recruitment lies, especially in the black community. He said they'd revoked Spike's "ghetto pass" after he made a military recruitment commercial.

Anon said...

A lot of AA who have a disdainment for the word DON'T go see movies that portray them as one.Sometimes what's popular isn't right.A lot of Blacks don't care for the images that Hollywood despicts of Blacks.
Cosby has taken his younger peers and the Black community to task for the way they portay themselves to the world.
The reason why Chappelle quit his show at the height of his peak because he realize white folks and other outside his culture were laughing at him and not with him.Basically,his pride was getting at him or as Mike Epps said "...he had white people on his show writing nigger jokes and it started to bother him."
There's an element of of our culture that's promoted over every other aspect of the AA community so much that non-Blacks think we all act like that.
Not all Blacks like to be called Niggas...fuck what Jay and Kanye say
Not all Sistas are like those coons on BBWs and "reality" tv.
When we don't hold ourselves accountable,the Paltrows and Mahers tend to creep in and dictate actions.

Anon said...

Lol,who are "they"...the black community as a whole?
I remember Spike's recruitment ad for the Navy,I believe.Years later,he said he wouldn't do another one for the military considering the climate.Honestly,I think did it because he needed the work and hadn't at the time made any popular AND profitable movies.

Anon said...

Are you sure this was the "Color Purple"? I remember Spike saying he hated the way that movie depicted Black men.

katsm0711 said...

@just everything you said gave me chills. Well said.
I'm not disagreeing with @aoi, I like it too, but I really like what @just said.

Della said...

I remember that. Big ass ass hat!

Anonymous said...

Agree w Amy

liteNOTSObrite said...

Damn. while we're at it can we boycott those corny ass Madea movies?

MadLyb said...

It's not like Tarantino is known for historical accuracy or even accurate depictions of reality in his films. They're pretty over-the-top. But Spike Lee was asked, and gave what he said was his own personal opinion, which he has a right to.

It does beg the question whether or not directors should be allowed to loosely depict some very serious subjects, like slavery or the Holocaust on film. I think in the name of artistic freedom, they should. And in the name of freedom of speech, people have the right to be critical.

Unknown said...

"Miracle at St. Anne's" was da bomb!

Brian said...

Sour grapes from Spike 'what have done lately' Lee...

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