Talk:Spike Lee

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Contents

[edit] Personal Views

I do get the sense that much of the text entered by users is HEAVILY influenced by personal opinion and that the tone of this article needs to be altered if it is to be seriously considered as a neutral, informative document which is not currently. Having a section called racism suggested that Spike Lee is bigoted. It is perfectly reasonable to state any constroversial statements made by Lee and any reactions to those but these can not be intertwined with POV's which here are arguably anti-Spike Lee. There is a lot of this in Wikipedia and it detracts from the quality of it as a information database. Bababouska 18:00, 8 April 2006 (UTC)


I agree that this is way too influenced by personal opinion. I would personally like to see more about his style of cinimatography. Like, for instance, how the film Network influenced him. Dkceaser 23:51, 16 January 2007 (UTC)dkceaser

[edit] Category:Racism

An anon contrib added Category:Racism to the article. I'm perplexed. Lee does deal with Racism in his films, a lot. But does he belong in that category? :-? Project2501a 02:07, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Of course not. Vandalism is what that was. --FuriousFreddy 5 July 2005 17:19 (UTC)
Removed it. --Dvyost 20:31, 27 July 2005 (UTC)
I disagree. How can you say he isn't racist after seeing his films? His portraits of whites are offensive caricatures in the vein of blackface in the 20's. The criticism of purported racism in SL films is limp-wristed at best. 24.181.29.106

His characters are a little skewed for effect, but this is true of blacks and whites. Besides that there are plenty of likeable white characters in his films. Still the article might have a point on the Italian thing, I'm not sure.--T. Anthony 07:21, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Lee hates white people"

Just removed this sentence pending some citation: "Many people feel Lee hates White people." For a controversial figure like Lee, it's probably best to boil this down to specific allegations (unless Gallup did a poll on people's opinions about Lee hating white people =)). Did he make some particularly controversial comments that we can include? Did some notable film critics, filmmakers, or political figures claim this? --Dvyost 00:02, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

I disagree. He's not racist, he's often creating caractures. Also, how is his anti-semitism oft-observed? it's rarely observed, if that. I don't think this article is balanced. I think its biased
Please sign your posts on talk pages per Wikipedia:Sign your posts on talk pages. Thanks! Hyacinth 20:12, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

You can think what you want about Spike Lee. I am not a Spike Lee fan, I am African-American but I don't think nor there is any proof that Spike Lee hates white people. Can that be justified because he makes movies that have all his movies starring majority blacks?

Don't worry--it's long been pulled from the article. --Dvyost 15:42, 23 December 2005 (UTC)
I've read in many places Lee has expressed the desire to be interviewed only by blacks, or about the demand of same, etc. Anyone have a source? If so I think it belongs in this article. Mr. Me

[edit] Why is he controversial?

The article mentions he is controversial but does not explain why. Why he is controversial should really be explained in the article. --Cab88 12:37, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

spike lee is against interracial dating. he states he hates seeing a black person with a white person. he's very open about this in interviews. i guess he isn't quite "judging people by their character" instead of their color as the great Dr. MLK stated in his "I have a dream" speech.

The controversial points seem rather standard for any public person of Lee*s stature. Famous people generate press by their actions.

Please sign your posts on talk pages per Wikipedia:Sign your posts on talk pages. Thanks. Hyacinth 10:32, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

why he is controversial- have you seen "get on the bus" ? i've seldom seen such open jew-baiting. there's an argument to be made that he chose to take 'inside man' as a project to rehabilitate his public image in regards to jews. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.162.29.77 (talk) 18:36, 23 May 2008 (UTC)


[edit] Religion

There should be a description of Spike Lee's religious afiliation over the course of his life in the biography section of the article. I know that he converted to Islam (around the time of the "Malcolm X" movie), then he seceeded (un-converted) from Islam. I remember that both of these events were reported in the news, so I think a passage describing his religion would be relevant.

69.39.172.5 04:57, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Inter Milan

Is it necessary to have the additional information about Inter Milan being one of the strongest clubs in Europe/Italy. One may as well as one edit did, add this to the comment about Arsenal or the New York Knicks. Having the information just added to Inter is superfluous and suggest a US-centric article. Y control 21:50, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] A Spike Lee Joint

The trivia about the tagging of his films with this line needs explanation. What is meant by joint?

"joint" is slang for venture, deal, place where something's happening, like a jazz joint. Project2501a 21:23, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

He does not call When the Levees Broke a joint. - In an interview in Advocatehe said "Yeah, joint is just like a nickname, slang for a good place to be--a juke joint or whatever joint. A hip place" (Advocate: The National Gay & Lesbian Newsmagazine: 66, August 17, 2004. ISSN: 0001-8996) I'd add it to the article but I'm not too sure how to go about it with the correct citations and all, and I'm too busy atm to figure it out.

The article claims that Inside Man is not a 'Spkie Lee Joint', but it says so right at the begining of teh film, after Clive owens little opener. |x —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.149.139.85 (talk) 22:35, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] When the Levees Broke

"Lee claimed that the government had probably blown up the levee in the lower ninth ward to flood it and rid it of black people, citing on Real Time with Bill Maher the government's past atrocities including the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. However, many whites from the New Orleans Area suspected Lee was just out for attention because there is no way to flood the Lower 9th Ward without also flooding Arabi and Chalmette in St. Bernard Parish, which are predominantly white communities." I am assuming this quote is in reference to When the Levees Broke, since he states this in a different way in his interviews for the movie. The problem here is that in interviews, Lee goes out of his way to emphasize that the breaking of the levee wasn't so much to get rid of just the black people, but all *poor* people. It wasn't an issue of race so much as of class. Just thought that should be emphasized and maybe this paragraph rewritten. I know there's a short version of the interview on CNN.com video right now. Might want to theck it out. Uncreative 06:30, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Lee does in fact call his film Inside Man a "Spike Lee Joint." It appears in the opening credits. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hlmorgan (talk • contribs) 21:23, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

There actually was a flood in the 1920's when the New Orlean's Levee's were intentionally blown up to save richer white residents, and it killed many poorer and blacker residents. There is already a wikiepedia article on this. This is what Lee is referring to. I made a documentary about New Orleans and have researched this. Dkceaser 23:49, 16 January 2007 (UTC)Dkceaser

[edit] Trivia section is a little too long

Someone needs to go through it and try to whittle it down. Much of it seems to have enough weight for its own section (or to be incorporated into an existing section). Much of it is too trivial even for trivia. Pele Merengue 07:08, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Not Larry

-removed Fishburne from list of actors whose careers Lee "helped launch" After three Francis Ford Coppola films, including A.A.nominated Apocalypse Now, and a Steven Spielberg one (AA-nominated The Color Purple), Fishburne's career was already in flight before he worked on School Daze. Some of us older folk (over 25) actually knew him before The Matrix. ;-) I believe the only new thing with Spike Lee (on School Daze) was that Fishburne started using Laurence as his credited name instead of Larry.

[edit] Epithets and Trivia

Update on edits: The Italian epithet comment is pointless as more black epithets are present in his films. I removed rumored anti-semitism comments, they're uncited and furthermore unfounded. removed pointless "shit" reference (the actors spoke that way, as in many movies, it wasn't scripted). Removed inaccurate Spike TV reference: when it was settled out of court, Walter Tolub lifted the 2 million dollar bond that would have been paid (so contrary to what was posted, Spike Lee never had to pay "millions" to them).

[edit] Lee & The Basketball Game

The last paragraph of the "Controversy" section contains no references, and before i edited it slightly, was written very poorly.

It might warrant removal - I don't know, I don't know Spike Lee's story well enough to make that decision. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ventolin (talk • contribs) 08:53, 12 December 2006 (UTC).

[edit] Discussing Columbine at Cannes in 1998?

The Columbine incident occured in April of 1999. I seriously doubt anybody asked him questions about it at the 1998 CFF. That should either be edited to be accurate (after research, that is, not just by changing the year to 1999), or removed. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.142.55.85 (talk) 23:52, 17 December 2006 (UTC).

[edit] Discussing Columbine at Cannes in 1998? (as referenced in the "Controversy" section)

The Columbine incident occured in April of 1999. I seriously doubt anybody asked him questions about it at the 1998 CFF. That should either be edited to be accurate (after research, that is, not just by changing the year to 1999), or removed. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.142.55.85 (talk) 23:53, 17 December 2006 (UTC).

[edit] Actor Listing (trivia section)

In the trivia section can we remove the list of actors who played in several films and the list of actors who played themselves in the films? This information is available on individual actors' pages along with the wiki pages for each movie. This trivia section needs to go, so if we can whittle it down by removing those rather large lists that would be a good start --Csodennc 02:05, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

I have placed the lists of actors in a section of their own to make it easier to decide what to do with them, and so that the trivia section is only a list of unrelated facts - a real trivia section as it were. The list of actors who played themselves already seems to have been deleted. Coyets 18:42, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Don Imus and School Daze

I placed the incident under Controversy rather than Trivia, since the trivia section says not to put stuff there. Feel free to modify it however you all feel fits the article best. CodeCarpenter 17:27, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

spike lee is tight I'm killing the Imus reference since "jigaboo" was a well known slur since before Spike used it in School Daze (1988) - it was used in Police Academy (1984) for example Anechoic Man 16:05, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Never mind, I read the transcript, and saw the Imus directly referenced the movie. Anechoic Man 16:12, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

I'm deleting the part about Don Imus and the nappy headed hoes quote, simply because there's no relationship between the 2. Don Imus never saw School Daze, I promise. The fact that it was said by Don Imus and in that movie is purely coincidental. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.254.194.198 (talk) 05:25, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Anthony LaPaglia

How can Anthony LaPaglia be listed as an Italian-American due to the fact he is Australian. doesn't really make sense to me.

    Yeah, I thought the same so I deleted Tony's name from the list....
    Hutchy xix 02:02, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Career in film section is way too short!

She's Gotta Have It...some ads...and that's it? And then a long section about controversy? Boy, what about Do The Right Thing? Figureground 03:24, 5 August 2007 (UTC)

What about it? Go ahead and add something about it. Nightscream 04:00, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

I do not understand why Spike Lee's film "Higher Education" is not mentioned. Not even in list of important films he directed. 149.99.88.236 21:07, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

There is no film by that name listed on Lee's imdb page. If you're referring to Higher Learning, that was John Singleton's. Nightscream 04:00, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Citations Needed

Lots of places that could use a citation Directed pilot for TV Show "Shark"  : http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000490/ Larsplaysthefish 22:01, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

First of all, please begin a new section if you're going to start a conversation on a different aspect of the article than the one mentioned immediately above. Second, why don't you just add that citation into the article? Why put it here? Nightscream 04:16, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Recurring Actors

Hi. I made the new chart for the Recurring Actors section. I feel that a chart is better for comparing and contrasting for actors' and actresses' filmographies. I have no real concern or for this article (I've only seen one film from the guy, but I felt this would be better than just listing it down like it was. MwNNrules (talk) 01:52, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

Looks good. Kudos and props. :-) Nightscream (talk) 05:13, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
Thanks. MwNNrules (talk) 21:02, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:Mars Blackmon.jpg

Image:Mars Blackmon.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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BetacommandBot (talk) 16:09, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Spike Lee's Mother?

Spike Lee's mother is not cited. There are sources that say she is deceased. However, there is a commercial running which shows Bob Lee, Spike Lee, and a woman - much alive - that appears to resemble Spike Lee. She is performing commericals in California for supporting the arts. Is there any definitive sources on his mother - pictures? --69.109.243.231 (talk) 12:12, 24 April 2008 (UTC)