Clint Eastwood: Spike Lee Should "Shut His Face", Lee Responds, "We're Not On A Plantation"

UPDATE:
"First of all, the man is not my father and we're not on a plantation either," Spike Lee told ABCNEWS.com about Clint Eastwood. "He's a great director. He makes his films, I make my films. The thing about it though, I didn't personally attack him. And a comment like 'a guy like that should shut his face' -- come on Clint, come on. He sounds like an angry old man right there."

"If he wishes, I could assemble African-American men who fought at Iwo Jima and I'd like him to tell these guys that what they did was insignificant and they did not exist," he said. "I'm not making this up. I know history. I'm a student of history. And I know the history of Hollywood and its omission of the one million African-American men and women who contributed to World War II."

"Not everything was John Wayne, baby..."

"I never said he should show one of the other guys holding up the flag as black. I said that African-Americans played a significant part in Iwo Jima," he said. "For him to insinuate that I'm rewriting history and have one of the four guys with the flag be black ... no one said that. It's just that there's not one black in either film. And because I know my history, that's why I made that observation."

******
PREVIOUSLY:

Clint Eastwood has advised rival film director Spike Lee to "shut his face" after the African-American complained about the racial make-up of Eastwood's films.

In an interview with the Guardian published today, Eastwood rejected Lee's complaint that he had failed to include a single African-American soldier in his films Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, both about the 1945 battle for the Japanese island.

In typically outspoken language, Eastwood justified his choice of actors, saying that those black troops who did take part in the battle as part of a munitions company didn't raise the flag. The battle is known by the image of US marines raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi.

"The story is Flags of Our Fathers, the famous flag-raising picture, and they didn't do that. If I go ahead and put an African-American actor in there, people'd go: 'This guy's lost his mind.' I mean, it's not accurate." Referring to Lee, he added: "A guy like him should shut his face."

Keep reading

-or-

Read Spike Lee's Clint Eastwood criticism from Cannes just last month:

"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.

Comments

[jadez]

ya gotta pick your fights wisely.

clint e. is one of the good guys.

lee should know that.

[NDUBB]

Robx,
I see you still handling your business slapping round moe, larry, and curly. hehehe.

[robXdion]

LOL!!! It's too much fun. There are so wound up with hate and ignorance they're reaching for tangental arguments and insults that have nothing to do with the issue at hand. The more they rant, the more they expose themselves. I should be getting paid for this. . . . . . . Now there's a thought!

[JimR]

LOL

WOW. And I thought Hillary Clinton was full of herself.

[Agentlady007]

Well, you could spend more time on the internet if they payed you and ask for less hours at The Piggly Wiggly.

[NDUBB]

You forgot Envy.

Sound like a Jeru da damaja song huh.

[JimR]

Maybe you two should get your own room, where you can cuddle and tell each other how great you are.

[robXdion]

Got Jealousy? Don't get mad because I've got fans. I told you people are reading this and LTAO at you!

[x88justy]

There were African Americans present at the battle of Iwo Jima? It would have been very hard to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces at that time as an African American, between acts of heroism going unrecognized and being sent out on dangerous missions without any backup, to being relegated to jobs in the back operations nobody wanted. This is a story either worth telling, like unrecognized acts of heroism and major participation in the battle, or just forgetting, like latrine cleaning.

[Agentlady007]

Letters From Iwo Jima - Trailer;

http://www.videodetective.com/movies/LETTERS_FROM_IWO_JIMA/trailer/P00553656.htm

[x88justy]

Hey, my post got a reply! I couldn't get the link to play and it crashed both my browsers, so I watched this one: http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/lettersfromiwojima/trailer1r/
Really didn't seem to be from the geniune Japanese point of view, but rather "based on the Japanese point of view as imagined by an American," and that doesn't scream "you gotta see this film!"

[LeanLeftAmerica]

Spike Lee is in the right... but he does his cause a great disservice by taking on a good person like Clint E.
And Spike... here's a history lesson for you... if you were on a plantation, the white guy would be doing much more than telling you to shut your face.
You are pittiful if you think Clint's treatment of you is anything close to what black people had to undergo in the past. Just sad.

[docpooh]

As we used to say back in 8th grade: "Doooom! Fight! Fight!"
Y'all better not do this near the school, though, 'cause you might get suspended! Find an alley. I'll draw a line on the ground between you two. The first person to step over it into the other's "territory" has thrown the first punch. Now, let's get it on--I gotta be home before dark!

[robXdion]

robXdion has already knocked out 4. I've got 3 more wanna rumble. Imma leave 'em scarred for life before I'm thru. They gotta learn!! LOL!

[Agentlady007]

What a joke.

[JimR]

Robxdion is a legend.... in robxdion's own mind.

[cosmic]

Clint, you shamed yourself. Apologize, be a man, not a big shot. Either that or join Moderate Racists Anonymous with Geraldine Ferraro with the rest of the folks who freak out and say stupid things when confronted with the issue of racial inequality in America. Some news: It isn't us vs. them, it's about recognizing a shared history, apologizing when needed, and working together. Speaking of, I'd like to see a film co-directed by you two. Spike can be the brains and you can look tough. Or better yet, do one of those WE commercials for the environment. Serious.

[MaryCarmela]

Spike Lee is right to raise the issue of why only actors with white skin were used to portray all the soldiers fighting on Iwo Jima in Eastwood's two movies, if that is what occurred. If that is true, Eastwood used apartheid tactics to staff his movies, and he should be asked to explain why. When so many African Americans fought and shed their blood in WWII (and during a time when segregation still ruled most of this country yet) and when hundreds of African American actors were available to Eastwood, then why did Eastwood choose to hire only white actors and not to portray a full picture of those who fought so bravely on Iwo Jima?

[aubrey8]

Spike's a pointy nose pimp.

[cosmic]

totally.

It's this modern Hollywood anti-aesthetics where race cannot be seen objectively outside of gender politics - it's self perpetuating, and it's why Hollywood movies looks soooo bad now adays. Did you see the Indiana Jones movie? What indignity! To think I wanted to be that guy when I was 7 :)

[robXdion]

All I've been stating.

[Agentlady007]

No, all you've been stating is why you hate white people and women. Go find a shrimp boat and sail off. You can't dock your racial hatred for America here anymore. It's not all about Africa.

[DumbDad]

Well now, wait a minute. Spike's right that he did not attack Clint, only the absence of the black soldier. On Clint's side it's perhaps useful to remember Unforgiven, which features a black former soldier whose rifle is the center of much attention and is an authentic Sharps rifle of the sort used precisely and especially by blacks who fought in the Civil War. SO Clint's historical take is not that faulty and certainly not racist. He still should shut his face before he suggests that someone else shut his.

[JimR]

Try learning some facts before you go tossing around the word apartheid.

You correctly note that segregation still ruled during WWII. But you don't stop to think that segregation existed in the armed forces, as well. African American soldiers were not part of the first wave that hit the beach. They were confined to munitions units. They fought bravely, yes, and performed an invaluable function. But if you were watching the first wave of Marines hit the beach, you probably would not have seen any African Americans.

There were about 110, 000 U.S. soliders involved in the assault on Iwo Jima. Of these, only about 1,000 were African American.

As a director, Clint Eastwood has given prominent roles to African American actors in many of his films. Did you bother to research any of this? Or do you just like to cause trouble?

[LawrenceL]

Another good question would be, "Why dozens of posts from "robXdion" are considered worth posting in this blog?"

[robXdion]

Answer: Because they are entertaining and enlightening.

And TWO other questions would be "Why are you reading them?" and "Did you learn anything?"

[Agentlady007]

I learned nothing from you except why racial hatred amongst blacks toward white people still exists and why you feel degrading woman makes you look more powerful. This attitude seems to be a disease that is incurable. It only makes me want to find a cure, and then not so much. When you get too close to something, you start to become it.

This is another article about all this, and Spike is not arguing, not like you are. He just questioned why blacks were left out of the picture. He's taking the Obama high road, whatever that means. He's acting like Clint's mother IMO.
http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/06/06/exclusive-spike-lee-says-ill-take-the-obama-high-road-in-clint-eastwood-argument/

[robXdion]

I forgot who you were at first. Oh I see. I must have made you mad. Grow up man.

To continue our discussion below, my post to you was: Did I specifically call you a bigot? And Cornel West and Spike Lee both have more ability to arbitrate than you or I.

[aubrey8]

they're not worth posting but Rob is consumed with wasting his time.

[robXdion]

While simultaneously wasting your own, right?

[KarlaElisa]

if this is a story it must be a slow news day.

[Calvincito]

why is the photo of Eastwood from about 20 years ago?

[VegetableMan]

clint is absolutely right, and spike's a punk. plus, clint makes dramas, not documentaries. someone should tell spike there's a difference.

[cosmic]

RIGHT! Dramas are emotional, not factual, and they don't have black people in them unless the script specifically calls for one. Besides, everyone knows white people only like black folks in documentaries, otherwise it totally interrupts the feel-good ride of an otherwise intense film experience. Your point is totally clear.

[Calvincito]

I have always wondered why Clint Eastwood's films have received such critical praise. The only film of merit I remember him making was the film with the female boxer. Unforgiven was incredibly flat. It's intersting to me because after hearing the back and forth between the two of them I have no compulssion to take sides and just chalk it up to two people that have issues with each other. Let's not make it the next world crisis.

[lyingtruth]

Have you considered being a judge on American Idol?

[Calvincito]

Clearly you are a Clint Eastwood and can't stand someone disagreeing with your opinion about your artistic tastes. Unless you're receiving royalties or commisions from his works you should keep your juvenile insults to yourself.

[cosmic]

I agree - they are middling, but in modern Hollywood where quality has plummeted in observance of the status quo, middling is excellence, and that makes Clint a big shot.

[ZenNonna]

Clint is wrong on so many levels He is too old to accept a critique He should get out of Hollywood if he cannot deal with an opposing point of view. He thinks he is Dirty Harry when he is just old old old and cranky.

Teling Spike to shut his face is wrong wrong wrong

[1sanevoice]

so you are replacing ageism with supposed racism? nice one there zennonna, real smooth

[cosmic]

yeah, Clint's getting old and ornery. it that's ageism, then I'm a spirulina. Buut, this issue isn't racism, it's inclusivity. That's the issue. Spike never said: you racist old bum. He said, couldn't we include black folks in WW2 movies, at least in bit parts or just as walk ons - they were there and fought. It's not racism, or accusing someone of racism to raise the question.

[JimR]

Nope. Clint is right on the money. You should get out of this comment section if you cannot deal with an opposing point of view.

[cosmic]

Dead wrong. You don't criticize someone by telling them to shut their face, whether or not you agree that he could have included some black folks. Use your intelligence and imagination. If you lived in a culture dominated by black media, and every time you went to a movie you saw NO white folks, even in historical movies about wars that your grandparents fought valiantly in, how would you feel? or would you shut your face?

[Agentlady007]

Okay, maybe Clint was ornery, and needs his Omega vites for memory loss, but the real question is - would you kick Clint Eastwood out of bed? I don't think so.

[lyingtruth]

You are wrong!
Lee's comment is at a minumum a veiled accusation that Eastwood has discriminated against black actors.
Considering that troops were segregated in WWll, who will Spike Lee attack next; Ang Lee for his next Chinese Kung Fu film?
Eastwood may be old but he is producing better films than most and no matter what his age; nobody has to take the kind of unwarranted, needless innuendo that Lee made.
So the fact remains that Eastwood is correct; Lee should have kept his face shut!

[robXdion]

The name fits you.

[robXdion]

Zen,

The posters below are the Four Horseman of denial. Ignore them. They're apologists that can't conceptualize anything beyond their own limited knowledge. Yes, Clint is wrong. We are seeing lots of grown adults act like kids these days. 78 and acting like a constipated John McCain.

[RobinLandseadel]

Jeeze, this is goin' on forever, ain't it?

I'm not altogether enthused at all the overtly racist comments, though I guess if Dirty Harry can get away with. . .

I'll repeat what I said earlier.

The two are great film directors, both have produced masterpieces. I'm sure they would respond differently if it was just up to their natural instincts, but the hype machine is still fully operational, and both filmakers have to feed it daily.

[Agentlady007]

Spike is a Pisces with a Sagitarius moon. This is what his moon sign reveals; ( His dark side)

----------­----------­----------­----------

Your Moon is in Sagittarius Spike:

Open and generous, you enjoy a wide circle of friends and acquaintances and you thrive on sociability and fellowship. You are adventurous, playful, freedom-loving, and always ready for a good time. You rarely allow obstacles or difficulties to keep you down, for no matter how bleak the past or present, you always expect a better, brighter future. In fact, you are uncomfortable with your own or other people's problems and emotional pain. You often try to "cheer up" or offer philosophical advice to those who are hurting, but unwittingly you avoid or ignore the emotions involved.

Friendship means a great deal to you, perhaps even more than love or romance. For you to be happy, your mate must be your best friend and encourage your aspirations and ideals. You also need a great deal of emotional freedom and mobility.