Whither Spike Lee

Roger Simon opines regarding the basis behind the filmmaker’s current spat with fellow director/actor Clint Eastwood, and I happen to be in agreement.

Like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, time has been passing Spike Lee by. His worldview comes from another era and he has never really sought to revise it, to open his eyes. Proof of that is that for more than a decade Spike has barely made a film any of us can remember. Compare that to Eastwood, who, although some twenty-seven years Lee’s senior, is at the top of his career, having scored big in 2003-2004 with Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby.

No wonder Spike’s jealous. So what does he do? He reaches back to an era when he was more successful. He plays the old identity/race card. Now we could all laugh and say this is just another case of an (prematurely) aging artist grasping for attention, but these times are more complex than that. We don’t know which way we are going – toward a post-racial future or back to a racist past.

I enjoyed Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers, and appreciated the historical research put into the film. As much as Lee’s upcoming Miracle at St. Anna appears to pique some interest, I’m beginning to wonder if Spike is going to dwell on the race card instead of presenting a film worth seeing.

Then again, I’ll probably go and see a Spike Lee Joint when Spike stops smoking joints and picking stupid fights.

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