Greetings, vicarious fest-goers! ROBOGEEK here with the first of two excellent reports today from my old buddy DORM LOG, who offered to be our eyes and ears this past weekend at the most excellent CINEQUEST San Jose Film Festival.
What follows is Dorm Log's astute eyewitness account of the "Conversation With Spike Lee" event that was held Friday night at the Fairmont Hotel, during which he (Spike, not Dorm Log) received the festival's Maverick Spirit Award.
A CONVERSATION WITH SPIKE LEE
Reported by DORM LOG, Special to AICN
The topic of this conversation was an expansion of the ideas expressed in his latest film, Bamboozled. Basically, how the media are responsible for the misrepresentation and degradation of minorities (not just African-Americans). Lee's primary focus was on the gatekeepers of the media and how they need to become more aware of the role they play in shaping the country's views.
Several things stand out from the conversation, and I will try to present those as clearly and fully as I can. The first was a discussion of the animosity between Lee and Quentin Tarantino. Lee stated that he feels Tarantino's use of the "n-word" in films like Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown is excessive; and like most filmmakers, Tarantino targets African-Americans in his use of vulgarity. You would never see, for example, the use of the work "kike" 50 times in a movie.
Lee branched off at this point and began to discuss how Jews are the only minority that seem to be protected from slurs. Gangster rap contains all sorts of racist terms for Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, etc., and no one does more than voice complaints. But when Michael Jackson had the lines "Jew me, sue me, kick me, kike me" in a song, the album was pulled from the shelves until he re-recorded it.
The conversation then turned to the Academy as the moderator asked him how he felt regarding Malcolm X's failure to win Best Picture. One of the more entertaining moments of the evening was when Lee talked about Do The Right Thing. Danny Aiello was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and the film was nominated for Best Original Screenplay. And what film won Best Picture that year? Driving Miss Daisy. "At that point," responded Lee, "I just said 'Fuck It.'"
Lee and the moderator discussed the way Oscar voting has changed in the last few years, especially how Miramax changed the face of the voting process by acquiring the list of Academy members and placing ads in their neighborhoods during the voting season. Lee responded by saying that Miramax has basically purchased the Golden Globe this year and went on to say that the same problem was happening with the Academy - that it was becoming too political. Actors were winning awards for the wrong films. To paraphrase Lee, "The year Malcom X came out, Al Pacino won for Scent of a Woman. Give it to him for Serpico, for Godfather I or Godfather II, but for his role in Scent of a Woman? Against Denzel?"
The moderator (sorry, I forget the name) next began to discuss his success overseas, and asked if Clockers was an attempt to break into the European Market. Lee responded that originally Scorsese was slated to direct the film but had to pull out at the last minute due to other obligations. Instead of abandoning the project, he asked Lee if he was interested. The idea of Clockers was to show the downside of gang violence, which was 180 degrees from the way that other films of the time were portraying gangs and the rap music scene. Lee went on to say that he loves gangster rap, and feels that the genre is the 21st century version of the minstrel show, but that the violence so often associated with it should not be treated so lightly.
The last section of his discussion before the floor was opened to questions was about the recent trend of films to show African-Americans as "noble slaves". He gave as examples Bagger Vance (which he constantly referred to as "Nigger Vance"), What Dreams May Come, The Green Mile, and Family Man. In each case the "mystical negro" character had amazing powers to heal or to help, but seemed only able to use them for the benefit of the White characters. If these people were so powerful, why were they not using their abilities to help their down-trodden brothers and sisters?
Then it was on to questions from the audience. The first was why the two quotes at the end of Malcom X seemed to be opposing one another. Lee's response was that he felt it was more the case of two powerful leaders (Martin Luther King and Malclom X) who were attempting to do the same thing, but were taking two very different paths. The moderator asked who would have been more influential had both survived. He felt unable to answer that question appropriately.
The next question asked how much of his work he felt was art, and how much propaganda. To him, they (art and propaganda) are interchangeable. As an example, he gave D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation, which to this day is considered one of the greatest films ever made. However, what historians rarely discuss is the fact that this was used as a recruitment film and was partly responsible for the resurgence of the Klan.
Lee was getting tired at this point (it was late on the West Coast and he had flown in that day from the East Coast), so only two more questions were allowed. Both were answered quickly. The first was which of his films he felt was most overlooked, and he said Crooklyn. Finally he was asked how he felt he had changed as a filmmaker over the years and he said that he felt he was more mature and was able to tell better stories.
At this point the conversation ended, and Lee was presented with the Maverick Spirit Award before we all broke for the evening.
- DORM LOG OUT -
