Spike Lee: Clint Eastwood omitted black troops in WWII films

[celeb_2006]

I have to respectfully disagree with majority opinion here. Mind you I am the first to question the 'race card' and don't agree with everything Spike says, but that one person does have a point. It wouldn't have hurt to have at least a few Black people in the background in movies like 'Flags.' I mean, when you have days and days on the island and not even one Black person when hundreds were there, that kind of makes you wonder. Many people including myself didn't even know there were Black people on Iwo or other theaers of the Pacific. I'm not saying anything negative about Clint or that he or others are deliberately omitting Blacks, I like him and his movies, but still.

[sputnik]

Originally Posted by witchcurlgirl

^^ Yes, there were black soldiers in the battle on Iwo Jima

But Letters shows only the Japanese, the movie is about those men. Real men, that existed.

Flags is the story of what happened to the men that raised the flag on Iwo Jima....and those men were not black. Also, real men that existed.

If the stories filmed had blacks included in the real events, then Eastwood would be wrong to have left them out. But Spike is looking to rewrite history as it relates to these two particular stories.

exactly.

Originally Posted by Jane Doe

Spike has a short memory. He seems to have forgotten about

Clint's movie "Bird" starring Forest Whitaker; Clint's involvement in casting Morgan Freeman as a Black Cowboy in Unforgiven when it was wriiten for a white performance; Clint's involvement with the Documentary about Thelonious Monk; Clint's involvement with Scorsese's Doumentary on the Blues where Clint gave an audience to great Blues Pianists which many might not know such as Jay McSchann or Pinetop Perkins and many others; Clint using a great deal of Johnny Hartman's songs in Bridges of Madison County.

Bottom line, he needs to STFU!

Originally Posted by AgentOrange

I think Spike gave him a rap on the knuckles for the Charlie Parker film too. Spike thought that it was presumptous for Clint to make a movie about a black man. Clint defended himself, pointing out that he was coming from the perspective of a jazz and not of race; and he was making the film about one of his heros.

Incidentally Clint is a self taught jazz pianist, and used to sponsor jazz festivals down in Carmel, California.

Originally Posted by Grimmlok

Ok, from now on anything BLACK related will be the sole domain of Spike Lee. That seems to be what he wants.

so... spike bitches when clint leaves blacks out of his movie, and bitches when he makes movies about blacks. maybe if he stopped worrying so much about what other directors are doing, he would actually make a decent movie... remember when spike made good movies? i don't think i've liked anything of his since 'crooklyn'...

[Grimmlok]

he makes movies? It must have been 15 years since the last one.

He's too busy being obsessed with race to create anything of value.

[RevellingInSane]

Spike Lee was/is a brilliant man. His early movies were thought provoking and acted as a catalyst for the burgeoning awareness of social issues amongst young people of that era.

At this time, he is a hateful little man. He has said some absolutely disgusting statements that offended anyone who is decent and doesn't agree with bigotry in any form.

Yes minorities are underrepresented in Hollywood. When there are roles for minorities, many of them are stereotypical and insulting, but to feed the fire of hate makes him just as bad as those who lit the match.

Spike needs to understand, for some momentous occassions in history, not every ethnic group was represented by those present.

[GaPeach]

Originally Posted by celeb_2006

I have to respectfully disagree with majority opinion here. Mind you I am the first to question the 'race card' and don't agree with everything Spike says, but that one person does have a point. It wouldn't have hurt to have at least a few Black people in the background in movies like 'Flags.' I mean, when you have days and days on the island and not even one Black person when hundreds were there, that kind of makes you wonder. Many people including myself didn't even know there were Black people on Iwo or other theaers of the Pacific. I'm not saying anything negative about Clint or that he or others are deliberately omitting Blacks, I like him and his movies, but still.

because to include blacks would be a lie. Blacks and whites did not mix, so you can either do a movie about blacks ie The Tuskegee Airmen or you do one about whites. To throw in a few blacks would draw the remarks of the "oh theres the token black"

Spike throws around his bitter barbs but fact is if he doesn't like a movie he has the means to make his own.. STFU

[mamaste]

Originally Posted by Grimmlok

he makes movies? It must have been 15 years since the last one.

He's too busy being obsessed with race to create anything of value.

He's done a lot of movies that mostly feature white people, so nobody noticed.

[cynic]

...my Dad served in WWII and he told me that although the U.S. military had black soldiers, they were rarely used for fighting/combat roles.....most were cooks, drivers, etc......

...in those racist, pre-civil rights days, the U.S. military leaders thought that blacks could not fight and would run when fired upon....

....there were several documented cases where this was proven in reality to be completely false and that many black soldiers ended up fighting and performing heroicly....

Clint actually served in the military....Spike?.....join up or shut up.....

[celeb_2006]

Originally Posted by GaPeach

because to include blacks would be a lie. Blacks and whites did not mix, so you can either do a movie about blacks ie The Tuskegee Airmen or you do one about whites. To throw in a few blacks would draw the remarks of the "oh theres the token black"

Spike throws around his bitter barbs but fact is if he doesn't like a movie he has the means to make his own.. STFU

How would it be a lie to include Black faces in the background of a movie like 'Flags?' Are those Black Iwo Jima veterans lying when they talk about their experiences? From all accounts it was hell on earth, and when there's bombs and gunfire going all around you, I doubt segregation was the first thing on many people's minds. As the article said over 900 Blacks were on that island during the thick of it. Even if it was "only" grave detail, ammo or supply detail, they were still there mingling with the whites.

[sprynkles]

I am sure in the midst of war they were all brothers, even back then.
Spike is bitching about movie history, which is pointless. Get over
it and do something better if that's how you feel.

[sparkly]

Perhaps Spike should learn some history before he humiliates himself by playing the race card again. The POV of Clint's movie isn't about Caucasian or African American soldiers, IIRC.