Spike Lee Slams Clint Eastwood Over Representation Of Black Soldiers

UPDATE: Clint has responded Spike and told him, among other things, to "shut his face."

********

CANNES, France - Spike Lee is slamming Clint Eastwood over his two recent Iwo Jima movies, saying the filmmaker overlooked the role of black soldiers during World War II.

Lee _ whose next film is this fall's "Miracle at St. Anna," the story of an all-black U.S. division fighting in Italy during the war _ said Eastwood's 2006 movies "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters From Iwo Jima" were whites-only affairs.

"He did two films about Iwo Jima back to back and there was not one black soldier in both of those films," Lee said Tuesday at the Cannes Film Festival, where he was a judge in an online short-film competition.

"Many veterans, African-Americans, who survived that war are upset at Clint Eastwood. In his vision of Iwo Jima, Negro soldiers did not exist. Simple as that. I have a different version," Lee said.

Eastwood was in Cannes for his missing-child drama "Changeling," starring Angelina Jolie. At a news conference for the film, a reporter tried to ask for his reaction to Lee's criticism, but the moderator cut her off and told journalists to limit questions to Eastwood's own movie.

Due in U.S. theaters in October, "Miracle at St. Anna" centers on four Americans _ played by Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso and Omar Benson Miller _ in the Buffalo Soldiers division in Tuscany.

___

On the Net:

http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en.html

Comments

[TrustMeImASalesman]

Spike, Spike, Spike! Well, There he goes again! Race card, gender card, sexual preference card, ethnic card, political affilation card, and he's still not playing with a full deck!

Try as he may, he'll never make it on Wide World of Poker Tourneys or any other televised card playing program. Spike, you are just a "Sour Grapes" kinda of BIO-LOGICAL, HUMAN-OID, of Negro Ancestry,UP-RIGHT WALKING, non-created, ape evolved , CONSERVATIVE BASHING, ENVY HARBORING, HOLLYWOOD WANNABE!

Let's see how Spike might direct a similar movie: View Point from Race perspective: Oriental mix of Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese soldiers! Starring at the invaders of Anglo-Saxon Caucasians, mixed with African American slave decendants, Mexican-Americans(Possibly some un-documented)and a smattering of actual Native Americans! Athabaskan stock of North American Indians-- Navajo I believe.

Sexual preferences: 98% Horny mostly straight. 1 % Gay and 1% un-decided.
Religious Affiliation: 30% Secular Humanist, 68%Religious =(40% Christian 8% Jewish 1%Muslim, 45% Bhuddist-Shintu, .07% New Age, balance un-committed. They're secular humanists(including agnostics atheists) prior to the invasion. During combat all WANT TO BELIEVE IN GOD! SONG.."Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammmunition.."!

Political View Point: It was America's fault that the Empire of Japan was on a world conquest vision. Although Roosevelt was President, it's those damned neo-cons and the Bushes that did this!

[Kremfresch]

do you ever read what you write? No? Well, don't bother, there's no point.

[Dorraj]

"This is why a lot of white people dislike blacks. It's because they seem like the only issue they think about is race and every other issue has to be viewed through the prism of race"

I make this point alot but I will make it again, you still have PRO-SLAVERY flags hanging from state capitals. WTF!! Literally from VA to Texas people are walking around with these confederate flags on everything and people are like "Why do blacks always bring up race". That would be like asking jews why are they upset if we had nazi flags hanging from anything involved with the govt. We have had 4 states in a row (Ohio, Penn, WV, and Kentucky) where one-fifth of the voters said they cant vote for the black guy. Seriously why not just say I dont give damn about black people's problem I have my own and move on. Atleast that would be honest and accurate.

Instead we get this "I dont know what blacks have to be upset about" or "slavery ended almost a 150 years ago". Well please let the South and better yet all of America know so those damn flags can come down. Alot of you didnt have to go through the humiliation of going to schools like Jefferson Davis Middle School. A School honoring a man who fought to keep people like me a slave. Please explain anything comparable that whites in this country has to endure. I'm all ears .

[Tator]

Typical ignorant Liberal.

You place "your" meaning of the flag on why we fly it. Normal Liberal behavior. It has nothing to do with race, but with regional pride. Today it is far more of a "Flip the government (and Liberals) the bird" meaning.

And lets be honest, shall we...as someone who travels the US a lot...by far the most racist area of the country in the North-North East US.

[bugsbonzai]

This is just stupid. I'm sick of Spike Lee in general. His bravado is obnoxious. And Clint Eastwood is a big blowhard. However, both are very talented, and both have produced work of widely varying quality.

The same, dumb, mind-numbing argument could be made against Spike Lee: "Why weren't there more sympathetic white characters in Spike Lee's Malcolm X? There were plenty sympathetic, non-racist white people in that time period. Why, if he's portraying a historical period, it's Spike's duty to be accurate, and he failed. He falsely represented white people in the 60's."

In reverse, this argument is seen for what it is: hollow and meaningless. Film is a collaborative art form, and has no duty other than to honestly represent the perspective of those involved. Spike Lee should shut his yapper, maybe make a decent film once in awhile, instead of the junk he's been putting out for a decade. (His only movie of note in the last 10-15 years was the Katrina documentary). And Clint Eastwood needs to make one or two more films and retire on a high note, without devolving into the mediocrity of his early career.

[wm1066]

Good points!
But I am dissappointed in Clint, he should have spoken up when the Bush Admin. was destroying our freedoms, he IS a republican. When good men do nothing,,,,evil flourishes.
Of course, maybe Clint really believes in what they did was okay. Man that bums me out big time.

[Mattie]

should white people be upset that 92% of blacks are voting for Obama. What's the difference.

[Quinagin]

Spike's entitled to his opinion which are many and sometimes a bit over the top. Clint's entitled to make movies with the vision he sees fit to best tell the story to his audience. The ire and bile spewed in response to this post is laughable. It's so not that serious to inject Obama and Hillary. More like childish. I don't think Clint's a racist; he told stories in two movies from a specific point of view. Spike is Spike. *shrug* Love some of his movies don't like some others. Some people really need daily meditation to tamp it down.

[CaptainSunshine]

As an African American, I have always revered and will always support Clinton Eastwood. He has included many African Americans in his films. Morgan Freeman played a prominent role in Million Dollar Baby. I also love Spike Lee movies. Spike Lee is a visionary. He has to realize that it's not necessary for blacks to be in every historical movie which seeks to portray events in which blacks may have had a role. It would be cool for me to watch a film about the civil rights movement that centered around the contribution that whites and Latin Americans made during that time. And, if the director did not include a single black, that would be cool. If Spike wants to criticize someone, let him criticize Woody Allen.

[Kundera]

Yes, because it's very important that Spike Lee criticize someone.

[Mattie]

wouldn't it be strange if ye actually looked for someone's work he could praise. I'm sure there must be someone out there, that isn't racist. I challenge Mr Lee to find that one person, other than himself of course.

[MercedesGabriella]

P.S. Forgot to say that Clint dealt with racism in "Flags of Our Fathers". To me, the shameful treatment of a Native American war hero was the movie's main theme.

[amanda85]

"Forgot to say that Clint dealt with racism in "Flags of Our Fathers". "

Yeah, by depicting the Navajo soldier as a drunk and sociopath and never even once mention the vital work the Native-American code talkers did in the Pacific Theatre... That was indeed a great service to the Navajo Nation...NOT!!

[wjb0965]

Since amanda85 continues to state facts that are not true, I will repeat what I wrote in reply to the last post in which made the same statement.

Ira Hayes was the American Indian (she finds this term offensive, so I will also say "Native American) who was one of the men credited for hoisting the flag on Iwo Jima. He was NOT a Navajo. He was from the Pima tribe. He was NOT a code talker, he was a marine paratrooper....but don't let facts get in the way of your argument. The ACTOR who played Mr. Hayes is the same actor who played the Navajo lead in "WindTalkers" with Nicholas Cage. Different movie and I'm sure that you don't believe that all Indians were Navajo Code talkers....that would almost sound....racist. He's also stars on "Law and Order SVU", and the COP that he plays isn't a code talker either.

Again, I suggest that you actually WATCH the movie. The movie does NOT portray him as a drunken sociopath as some people may believe he was who don't know better. It tries to show the reason why he turned to alcohol to battle his demons and died at such a young age. It shows howthe horrors of war and the guilt that he carried around for not only surviving but for also leaving his unit, tore him apart inside. It also shows the racism that he had to endure.

[TheWarOnHorror]

Ira Hayes was not Navajo. He was a Pima indian.

In reality, Ira Hayes suffered greatly from PTSD. He abused alcohol -- as many with this disorder do -- in an attempt to deal with the horrible things he saw during his time in service. This is not uncommon, and had NOTHING to do with his race.

He died in 1955 of alcohol poisoning and exposure.

In my opinion, Hayes was not depicted as a sociopath in the film. He was depicted as an honorable man who was simply overburdened with rage, sorrow and guilt. Adam Beach did an excellent job of portraying this heroic Marine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ira_Hayes

Obama/Webb '08

[wjb0965]

and once again amanda85,

Ira Hayes was the "Nagive American" who was one of the men credited for hoisting the flag on Iwo Jima. He was NOT a Navajo. He was from the Pima tribe. He was NOT a code talker, he was trained as a marine paratrooper....but don't let facts get in the way of your argument. The ACTOR who played Mr. Hayes is the same actor who played the Navajo lead in "WindTalkers" with Nicholas Cage. Different movie and I'm sure that you don't believe that all Indians were Navajo Code talkers....that would almost sound....racist. He's also stars on "Law and Order SVU", and the COP that he plays isn't a code talker either.

Watch the movie please before talking about how he was depicted as a drunk and a sociopath. I haven't talked to one person who actually watched the move who felt as though he was depicted that way so it's obvious that you haven't watched it.

[Horus]

So from now on, in every movie made, the director needs to call his casting director to the side and ask, "So, did you find out how many races lived in NYC in 1986? .......Really?! That many?? Well, I guess go out and find one of each...or someone is gonna bitch."

Come on, a movie is art and art should come from the mind of the artist or artists with no external pressure making them bend and scrape all to make sure someone doesn't cry little self pity tears into their F****N soup.

[RRK70]

With all due respect to Spike Lee, I do not think Eastwood is at fault here. Of the two films mentioned, one was about the fighting as seen from the Japanese soldiers perspective, and the other film was specifically about the Marines who raised the flag on Mt. Suribachi, none of whom happened to be black. The sad fact of the matter is that the Amered forces at the time were quite segregated. No African American pilots may have been portrayed in a movie about Midway, but then again, most likely (as a result of the segregation) there WERE no African American pilots who flew at Midway. There are movies about the Apollo moon flights, none of the astronauts were African American, is this racist.? This should not take away from the vital contributions of African Americans throughout our history, it's just that certain portrayals of historical events may not be well suited for protraying the roles of minority groups.

[Promisin1]

Wow, reading these posts from likely Obama supporters, it appears that racial sensitivities are not germane to Clintonites. Don't want to be too simplistic here but simply substituting Barack's name for Spike's name and Hillary's for Clint's. People could be talking about the '08 democratic primary election between Hillary and Barack. For example, "Perhaps Spike should make Spike Lee movies...and Clint Eastwood should be left the responsibility of making Cint Eastwood movies." Since we all know that Spike makes movies primarily with Black casts and Eastwood the converse, one could easily, without much of a stretch read a poster or blogger comment hear on HuffPo like this one: "Barack should stick to garnering the Black vote and Hillary should be left to garnering hardworking White votes." I have read other posts that make my case far better. So, I challenge you to try doing the same and seeing this for yourself before commenting on my take. It could be an eye opening experience.

Obama '08

[Kundera]

BHO/Lee 08

[JohnPone]

you're a dork.

[picodegallo54]

the issues of racism and exclusion also came up with ken burn's documentary about WWII, only in his case, he failed (intentionally or not) to include the many valuable contributions made by hispanic members of the military. i know, one's a movie, the other is a documentary. but to portray an event like WWII while excluding ALL americans who helped win the war and limiting it to a select group is an insult to the soldiers of ALL colors and race who died for the cause. hollywood isn't stuck in the 1940's, movies about WWII should reflect a more accurate picture of the participants, white, black, brown, red, etc. it's a known fact that after the war, while this country celebrated victory and many members of the military were treated like heroes (as they should have,) the returning soldiers of african american and hispanic american descent had to come home and begin fighting another war; one for equality and civil rights. i enjoy and appreciate the movies of both eastwood and lee, but in this case, lee's complaint is legitimate, and i look forward to hearing mr. eastwood's response.

[wjb0965]

"Letters from Iwo Jima" is told from the Japanese point of view using Asian actors. Did anyone who is criticizing the movie actually watch it? That movie did an amazing job of humanizing the Japanese soldier which has always been lacking in WW2 movies. Eastwood did the same thing with the American Indians in his 1976 film "The Outlaw Josey Wales".

Maybe Clint should have made an 8 hour version of "Flags of Our Fathers" and showed the contribution of every race, religion, and sexual preference who took part in the Iwo Jima Invasion. There were over 100,000 serviceman who took part in the invasion. 900 were black. That is less than 1%. Yes, we had racist military policy which limited the duties of those men to support positions. Yes, some were forced to fire their rifles during the chaos on the beach, but those moments were not really part of the film for either white or black soldiers and many of the scenes were distant shots. Could he have put one black face in a crowd of every 100 soldiers whose faces couldn't be seen anyway? I guess, but would that have made everyone happy? I doubt it.

More movies need to be made depicting the courage, honor, and sacrifice of the Black soldiers and Lee's upcoming movie is important for that reason. If Lee was not trying to promote that film, I doubt that he would have brought this up in the first place.

[TheWarOnHorror]

Did you actually see "Flags of Our Fathers"? If you did, you might have noticed how a Pima indian named Ira Hayes "had to come home and begin fighting another war; one for equality and civil rights". In fact, that became quite a focal point of the plot about halfway in.

And, no, Lee's complaint is not legitimate. He said, and I quote from above, "[Eastwood] did two films about Iwo Jima back to back and there was not one black soldier in both of those films."

Bravo Sierra.

Again, 16 minutes into the film you see a handful of black Marines -- identified as men of the 8th Ammo Co. (BTW, a Marine is not a "soldier", Mr. Lee) on the deck of a troop ship.

The 8th Ammo Co. was part of the shore party and was a segregated unit. The 8th Ammo Co. did not land with the first wave of Marines, to my knowledge. The first wave of the 5th MARDIV was the landing that Eastwood was focusing on.

AGAIN, BLACK MARINES WERE, IN FACT, SHOWN IN "FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS".

I am interested in seeing Lee's film, though, because not enough attention has been paid to the MTO campaigns in cinematic history.

[ishok]

Maybe Spike should make Spike Lee movies...and Clint Eastwood should be left the responsibility of making Cint Eastwood movies.
While I understand his concern on this issue. Black Soldiers and their depiction (or lack thereof) in film is not new. It existed over the last 80 years including the 20 years that Spike Lee has been on the scene as the African-americans' most prominent film maker. He makes a movie 20 years in and all of a sudden he gets on a soapbox.

[Peddler]

Is Spike Lee playing the "race card" .............or is it "ENVY?"

[cranialknowledge]

Explain to me how Spike Lee, complaining that there were no black actors in a movie about a war in which there were black men fighting and dying, is playing the race card, or envy?

[triplbee]

I think Spike's grievances are completely legitimate. There were plenty of black soldiers fighting for the US on Iwo Jima. Clint would almost have to go out of his way to make two movies about Iwo Jima and not have a single black soldier.

[TheWarOnHorror]

Again, about 16 minutes into the film "Flags of Our Fathers", black Marines of the 8th Ammo Company are clearly depicted.

One more thing -- "soldiers" = army. A Marine is referred to as a Marine.

Here's some info on Black Marines in the PTO of WWII, to all interested parties. The info on the black Marines depicted in "Flags of Our Fathers", the 8th Ammo Co., is at the bottom of the page.

http://www.nps.gov/archive/wapa/indepth/extContent/usmc/pcn-190-003132-00/sec10.htm

[realpolitic]

Letters From Iwo Jima, if i recall, was almost entirely about the Japanese soldiers who were on the island at the time. The movie told their stories.

[Hare]

Only Japanese actors in the movies?

[realpolitic]

Yes, there are so many American-made movies dominated by Japanese actors that it does get a little old! Just kidding, of course!! And it was not even a martial arts film.

[Warmglobe]

Spike Lee is known for one movie and ever since he is spending his time playing the race card, with the exception of when he accused Spike TV of using his name (like it is worth stealing). Maybe he should seek gainful employment.

[oliviasmommi]

Known for one movie? If you only know him for one movie, then you must not be well versed enough with his work to make such comments.

Do The Right Thing
Mo Better Blues
Get on the Bus
Malcolm X
School Daze
Crooklyn
Jungle Fever
Inside Man
The Kings of Comedy

Just to scratch the surface...

[xmw]

yes and to add a few more:

Love and Basketball (OMG)
Clockers
Good Fences
school Dazes
25th Hour
He Got Game
The Best Man
She's Gotta Have It

Spike has actually pruduced more movies than Clint Easrwood. Nothing against Eastwood it's just that because he raised an issue (a valid historical one) his mork should not be negated by posters who don't know their facts.
Girl 6

[Citizen54]

Bamboozled.

(More people should see that one.)

[xmw]

oh wow, you really need to get out more or just stop posting stuff that you don't know anything about.

[cranialknowledge]

Your post appears to be from someone who is uninformed, and possibly racist. ( see gainful employment).

[chronic]

Warmglobe,

Your employment dig at Lee proves nothing more than you being an ignorant racist.

[triplbee]

One movie? You're not serious are you?