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77-588: The Magical Negro is a trope in American cinema, television, and literature. In the cinema of the United States , the Magical Negro is a supporting stock character who comes to the aid of the (usually white ) protagonists in a film . Magical Negro characters, often possessing special insight or mystical powers, have long been a tradition in American fiction. The old-fashioned word " Negro "

154-404: A plot device to help the white protagonist get out of trouble, typically through helping the white character recognize his own faults and overcome them and teaching him to be a better person. Although the character may have magical powers, the "magic is ostensibly directed toward helping and enlightening a white male character". An article in a 2009 edition of the journal Social Problems stated

231-754: A true crime drama set in the 1970s centered around the true story of a black police officer, Ron Stallworth infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan . The film premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival , where it won the Grand Prix and opened the following August. The film received near universal praise when it opened in North America receiving a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes with the critics consensus reading, " BlacKkKlansman uses history to offer bitingly trenchant commentary on current events – and brings out some of Spike Lee's hardest-hitting work in decades along

308-565: A B.A. in mass communication from Morehouse. He did graduate work at New York University 's Tisch School of the Arts , where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in film and television. In 1983, Lee premiered his first independent short film titled, Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads . Lee submitted the film as his master's degree thesis at the Tisch School of the Arts . Lee's classmates Ang Lee and Ernest R. Dickerson worked on

385-730: A Board of Governor's Award from the American Society of Cinematographers . Lee met his wife, attorney Tonya Lewis Lee , in 1992, and they were married a year later in New York. They have two children. When asked by the BBC whether he believed in God, Lee said: "Yes. I have faith that there is a higher being. All this cannot be an accident." Lee continues to maintain an office in Fort Greene , Brooklyn , but he and his wife live on

462-582: A Mule Filmworks , has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut with She's Gotta Have It (1986). He has since written and directed such films as School Daze (1988), Do the Right Thing (1989), Mo' Better Blues (1990), Jungle Fever (1991), Malcolm X (1992), Crooklyn (1994), Clockers (1995), 25th Hour (2002), Inside Man (2006), Chi-Raq (2015), BlacKkKlansman (2018), and Da 5 Bloods (2020). Lee also acted in eleven of his feature films. He

539-438: A Mule, Lee has directed commercials for Converse , Jaguar , Taco Bell , and Ben & Jerry's . Lee's films are typically referred to as "Spike Lee Joints". The closing credits always end with the phrases "By Any Means Necessary", "Ya Dig", and "Sho Nuff". His 2013 film, Oldboy , used the traditional "A Spike Lee Film" credit after producers had it re-edited. Lee's films have examined race relations , colorism in

616-624: A cast on cracking form, Lee proves (perhaps above all to himself?) that playing it straight is not always a bad thing." On May 2, 2007, the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival honored Spike Lee with the San Francisco Film Society 's Directing Award. In 2008, he received the Wexner Prize. In 2013, he won The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize , one of the richest prizes in the American arts worth $ 300,000. In 2015, Lee received an Academy Honorary Award from

693-612: A certain perspective the character may seem to be showing blacks in a positive light, the character is still ultimately subordinate to whites. He or she is also regarded as an exception, allowing white America to like individual black people but not black culture. In 2001, Spike Lee used the term in a series of talks on college campuses to criticize the stereotypical, unreal roles created for black men in films that were recent at that time, naming The Family Man (2000), What Dreams May Come (1998), The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000), and The Green Mile (1999) as examples. Talking about

770-466: A comic-book superhero, Obama is there to help, out of the sheer goodness of a heart we need not know or understand. For as with all Magic Negroes, the less real he seems, the more desirable he becomes. If he were real, white America couldn't project all its fantasies of curative black benevolence on him. Discussing the Ehrenstein editorial at length, Rush Limbaugh at one point sang the words, "Barack

847-608: A dolphin (in Dolphin Tale ), and an ailing CIA mentor (in Red ) – in both roles he reprises the Magical Negro type, coming to save the day for his imperiled white counterparts. One could argue his gadget guru in The Dark Knight Rises fits under that same umbrella." Chris Rock made references to the trope on his show The Chris Rock Show , including one critical of The Legend of Bagger Vance , entitled "Migger,

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924-547: A film they produced. He said he could not make an antisemitic film because Jews run Hollywood, and "that's a fact". In 1992, Spike released his biographical epic film Malcolm X based on the Autobiography of Malcolm X , starring Denzel Washington as the famed civil rights leader . The film dramatizes key events in Malcolm X's life: his criminal career, his incarceration , his conversion to Islam , his ministry as

1001-467: A hot summer day. The film's cast included Lee, Danny Aiello , Bill Nunn , Ossie Davis , Ruby Dee , Giancarlo Esposito , Rosie Perez , John Turturro , Martin Lawrence and Samuel L. Jackson . The film gained critical acclaim as one of the best films of the year from film critics including both Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert who ranked the film as the best of 1989, and later in their top 10 films of

1078-477: A marketing campaign for the Air Jordan line. Later, Lee was asked to comment on the phenomenon of violence related to inner-city youths trying to steal Air Jordans from other kids. He said that, rather than blaming manufacturers of apparel that gained popularity, "deal with the conditions that make a kid put so much importance on a pair of sneakers, a jacket and gold". Through the marketing wing of 40 Acres and

1155-531: A member of the Nation of Islam and his later falling out with the organization, his marriage to Betty X , his pilgrimage to Mecca and reevaluation of his views concerning whites , and his assassination on February 21, 1965. Defining childhood incidents, including his father's death, his mother's mental illness , and his experiences with racism are dramatized in flashbacks . The film received widespread critical acclaim including from critic Roger Ebert ranked

1232-473: A movie musical about the origin story of Viagra , Pfizer's erectile dysfunction drug. He has signed a deal with Netflix to direct and produce more movies. In February 2024, it was announced that Spike Lee was confirmed as the director of the remake of High and Low (1963) , directed by Akira Kurosawa with Denzel Washington to star. In 1991, Lee taught a course at Harvard about filmmaking. In 1993, he began to teach at New York University's Tisch School of

1309-465: A musical drama film, Chi-Raq . The film is a modern-day adaptation of the ancient Greek play " Lysistrata " by Aristophanes set in modern-day Chicago 's Southside and explores the challenges of race, sex, and violence in America. Teyonah Parris , Angela Bassett , Jennifer Hudson , Nick Cannon , Dave Chappelle , Wesley Snipes , John Cusack , and Samuel L. Jackson starred in the film. The film

1386-867: A type of biblical exegesis ) is the historical study of tropes, which aims to "define the dominant tropes of an epoch" and to "find those tropes in literary and non-literary texts", an interdisciplinary investigation of which Michel Foucault was an "important exemplar". The use of the term in relation to cinema may be more common in American English than in other dialects. A trope is an element of film semiotics and connects between denotation and connotation . Films reproduce tropes of other arts and also make tropes of their own. George Bluestone wrote in Novels Into Film that in producing adaptations, film tropes are "enormously limited" compared to literary tropes . Bluestone said, "[A literary trope]

1463-412: Is a trope in cinema, television, and literature: the character is typically, but not always, "in some way outwardly or inwardly disabled, either by discrimination, disability or social constraint". The Negro is often a janitor or prisoner. The character often has no past but simply appears one day to help the white protagonist. They usually have some sort of magical power, "rather vaguely defined but not

1540-520: Is a way... of packed symbolic thinking which is specific to imaginative rather than to visual activity... [when] converted into a literal image, the metaphor would seem absurd." This article related to film or motion picture terminology is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Spike Lee Shelton Jackson " Spike " Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations , issues within

1617-580: Is also known for directing numerous documentary projects including the 4 Little Girls (1997), the HBO series When the Levees Broke (2006), the concert film American Utopia (2020), and NYC Epicenters 9/11→2021½ (2021). His films have featured breakthrough performances from actors such as Denzel Washington , Laurence Fishburne , Samuel L. Jackson , Giancarlo Esposito , Rosie Perez , Delroy Lindo , and John David Washington . Lee's films Do

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1694-617: Is his cousin. When he was a child, the family moved from Atlanta to Brooklyn , New York. His mother nicknamed him "Spike" during his childhood. He attended John Dewey High School in Brooklyn's Gravesend neighborhood . Lee enrolled in Morehouse College , a historically black college in Atlanta, where he made his first student film, Last Hustle in Brooklyn . He took film courses at Clark Atlanta University and graduated with

1771-475: Is seeing three men, and the feelings this arrangement provokes. The film was Lee's first feature-length film, and launched Lee's career. Lee wrote, directed, produced, starred and edited the film with a budget of $ 175,000, he shot the film in two weeks. When the film was released in 1986, it grossed over $ 7 million at the U.S. box office. New York Times film critic A.O. Scott wrote that the film "ushered in (along with Jim Jarmusch 's Stranger Than Paradise )

1848-530: Is used to imply that a "magical black character" who devotes himself to selflessly helping whites is a throwback to racist stereotypes such as the " Sambo " or " noble savage ". The term was popularized in 2001 by film director Spike Lee during a lecture tour of college campuses, in which he expressed his dismay that Hollywood continued to employ this premise. He specially noted the films The Green Mile and The Legend of Bagger Vance , which featured "super-duper magical Negro" characters. The Magical Negro

1925-740: The New York Post reported that Lee made an inflammatory comment about Charlton Heston , president of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA), while speaking to reporters at the Cannes Film Festival . Lee was quoted as saying the National Rifle Association should be disbanded and, of Heston, someone should "Shoot him with a .44 Bull Dog ." Lee said he intended it as a joke. He was responding to coverage about whether Hollywood

2002-404: The 2020 presidential election with champagne amid a crowd on the streets of Brooklyn . Lee endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 United States presidential election and spoke at one of her campaign rallies on October 24, 2024. In March 2012, after the killing of Trayvon Martin , Spike Lee was one of many people who used Twitter to circulate a message that claimed to give the home address of

2079-627: The Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary . In 2017, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2002, Lee directed 25th Hour starring Edward Norton , and Philip Seymour Hoffman which opened to positive reviews, with several critics since having named it one of

2156-531: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his contributions to film. Friends and frequent collaborators Wesley Snipes , Denzel Washington , Samuel L. Jackson presented Lee with the award at the private Governors Awards ceremony. Lee directed, wrote, and produced the MyCareer story mode in the video game NBA 2K16 . Later that same year, after a perceived long dip in quality, Lee rebounded with

2233-708: The Berlin International Film Festival for Get on the Bus . He won BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for BlacKkKlansman . Lee was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay for Do the Right Thing and Best Documentary for 4 Little Girls , but did not win either award. In November 2015, he was given the Academy Honorary Award for his contributions to filmmaking. In 2019, he received his first Best Picture and Best Director nominations. In 2015, at

2310-704: The Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". On May 18, 2016, Lee delivered the Commencement address for The Johns Hopkins University Class of 2016. He has been named as the recipient of the Ebert Director Award at the TIFF Tribute Awards for the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival . In March 2024, Lee received

2387-647: The Republican National Committee during the Republican National Committee chairmanship election . Saltsman's campaign imploded as a result of the controversy caused by the CD, and he withdrew from the race. In May 2015, theater and cultural critic Frank Rich , looking back at the coincidence of the 2015 Baltimore protests with the annual White House Correspondents' dinner in Washington, DC , wrote: "What made this particular instance poignant

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2464-1071: The Upper East Side of Manhattan . Spike Lee is a fan of the New York Knicks basketball team, the New York Yankees baseball team (although he grew up a New York Mets fan ), the New York Rangers ice hockey team, and the English football club Arsenal . One of the documentaries in ESPN 's 30 for 30 series, Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks , focuses partly on Lee's interaction with Miller at Knicks games in Madison Square Garden . In June 2003, Lee sought an injunction against Spike TV to prevent them from using his nickname; he claimed that because of his fame, viewers would think he

2541-567: The "minimal discomfort" they feel) over the role of slavery and racial segregation in American history, while replacing stereotypes of a dangerous, highly sexualized black man with a benign figure for whom interracial sexual congress holds no interest ... The only mud that momentarily stuck was criticism (white and black alike) concerning Obama's alleged 'inauthenticity', as compared to such sterling examples of "genuine" blackness as Al Sharpton and Snoop Dogg . ... Obama's fame right now has little to do with his political record ... Like

2618-539: The Academy ceremony Kim Basinger , who was a presenter that evening, stated that Do the Right Thing also deserved a Best Picture nomination stating, "We've got five great films here, and they are great for one reason, because they tell the truth, but there is one film missing from this list because ironically it might tell the biggest truth of all and that's Do the Right Thing ". The film that did win Best Picture

2695-436: The American independent film movement of the 1980s. It was also a groundbreaking film for African-American filmmakers and a welcome change in the representation of blacks in American cinema, depicting men and women of color not as pimps and whores, but as intelligent, upscale urbanites." In 1989, Lee made perhaps his most seminal film, Do the Right Thing , which focused on a Brooklyn neighborhood's simmering racial tension on

2772-578: The Arts in the Graduate Film Program. It was there that he received his master of fine arts. In 2002, he was appointed as artistic director of the school. He is now a tenured professor at NYU. In mid-1990, Levi's hired Lee to direct a series of TV commercials for their 501 button-fly jeans. Marketing executives from Nike offered Lee a job directing commercials for the company. They wanted to pair Lee's character, Mars Blackmon , who greatly admired athlete Michael Jordan , and Jordan in

2849-584: The Magic Nigger ". Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele , of MADtv and Key and Peele fame, followed suit in both shows with their own critical Magical Negro sketches. The 2019 indie film Cold Brook, written and directed by William Fichtner , included a Magical Negro named Gil Le Doux, played by Harold Perrineau . The role was a century-old trapped ghost who was saved by two middle-aged men experiencing midlife crises. The 2024 film The American Society of Magical Negroes critiques and satirizes

2926-487: The Magical Negro was an expression of racial profiling within the United States: These powers are used to save and transform disheveled, uncultured, lost, or broken whites (almost exclusively white men) into competent, successful, and content people within the context of the American myth of redemption and salvation. It is this feature of the Magical Negro that some people find most troubling. Although from

3003-463: The McClains filed a negligence lawsuit which accused Lee of "encouraging a dangerous mob mentality among his Twitter followers, as well as the public-at-large". The lawsuit, which a court filing reportedly valued at $ 1.2 million, alleged that the couple suffered "injuries and damages" that continued after the initial settlement up through Zimmerman's trial in 2013. A Seminole County judge dismissed

3080-488: The McClains' suit, agreeing with Lee that the issue had already been settled previously. At the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, Lee, who was then making Miracle at St. Anna , about an all-black U.S. division fighting in Italy during World War II , criticized director Clint Eastwood for not depicting black Marines in his own World War II film, Flags of Our Fathers . Citing historical accuracy, Eastwood responded that his film

3157-525: The Right Thing , Bamboozled , Malcolm X , 4 Little Girls , and She's Gotta Have It were each selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". He has received a Gala Tribute from the Film Society of Lincoln Center as well as the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize . Shelton Jackson Lee

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3234-513: The United States government. I don't find it too far-fetched that they tried to displace all the black people out of New Orleans ." In later comments, Lee cited the government's past including the Tuskegee Syphilis Study . In May 2020, Lee published a three-minute short film, NEW YORK NEW YORK , on Instagram that was later featured on the city's official website. Lee celebrated Joe Biden 's victory over Donald Trump in

3311-802: The Waterfront (1954) and A Face in the Crowd (1957), as well as Martin Scorsese 's Mean Streets (1973). Lee says that he befriended Scorsese after attending a screening of After Hours at NYU. In 1983, Lee won the Student Academy Award for his film Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads . He won awards at the Black Reel Awards for Love and Basketball , the Black Movie Awards for Inside Man , and

3388-670: The White-dominated film industry is "still doing the same old thing ... recycling the noble savage and the happy slave". Racism historians Francisco Bethencourt and John Beusterien trace the trope to late fifteenth century and early sixteenth century Spanish comedias de negros and their depiction of black "savior soldiers," who reinforce the stereotype of the supposed greater physical strength of Africans. These include El prodigio de Etiopía and El negro del mejor amo by Lope de Vega and El valiente negro en Flandes by Andrés de Claramonte. Christopher John Farley , referring to

3465-524: The age of 58, Lee became the youngest person ever to receive an Honorary Academy Award . Lee received the award as "a champion of independent film and an inspiration to young filmmakers". Frequent collaborators Denzel Washington , Samuel L. Jackson , and Wesley Snipes presented Lee with the award at a private ceremony at the Governors Awards . In 2019, Lee's film BlacKkKlansman went on to receive 6 Academy Award nominations. Lee himself

3542-580: The best films of its decade. Film critic Roger Ebert added the film to his "Great Movies" list on December 16, 2009. A. O. Scott , Richard Roeper and Roger Ebert all put it on their "best films of the decade" lists. It was later named the 26th greatest film since 2000 in a BBC poll of 177 critics. The film was also a financial success earning almost $ 24 million against a $ 5 million budget. In 2006, Lee directed Inside Man starring Denzel Washington , Jodie Foster , and Clive Owen , Chiwetel Ejiofor , Willem Dafoe and Christopher Plummer . The film

3619-445: The black community, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime and poverty, and other political issues. His films are also noted for their unique stylistic elements, including the use of dolly shots to portray the characters "floating" through their surroundings, which he has had his cinematographers repeatedly use in his work. In 2018, during an interview with GQ , Lee cited some of his favorite films as Elia Kazan 's On

3696-439: The black community, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime and poverty, and other political issues. Lee has won numerous accolades for his work, including an Academy Award , two Primetime Emmy Awards , a BAFTA Award , and two Peabody Awards . He has also been honored with an Honorary BAFTA Award in 2002, an Honorary César in 2003, and the Academy Honorary Award in 2015. His production company, 40 Acres and

3773-482: The decade (No. 6 for Siskel and No. 4 for Ebert). Ebert later added the film to his list of The Great Movies . To many people's surprise, the film was not nominated for Best Picture or Best Director at the Academy Awards . The film only earned two Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay , Spike Lee's first Oscar nomination, and for Best Supporting Actor for Danny Aiello. At

3850-484: The film No. 1 on his Top 10 list for 1992 and described the film as "one of the great screen biographies, celebrating the sweep of an American life that bottomed out in prison before its hero reinvented himself." Ebert and Martin Scorsese , who was sitting in for late At the Movies co-host Gene Siskel , both ranked Malcolm X among the ten best films of the 1990s. Denzel Washington's portrayal of Malcolm X in particular

3927-492: The film as assistant director and cinematographer , respectively. The film was the first student film to be showcased in Lincoln Center 's New Directors New Films Festival. Lee's father, Bill Lee , composed the score. The film won a Student Academy Award . In 1985, Lee began work on his first feature film, She's Gotta Have It . The black-and-white film concerns a young woman (played by Tracy Camilla Johns ) who

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4004-501: The industry noted how the 2019 Oscars with BlacKkKlansman competing against eventual winner Green Book mirrored the 1989 Oscars with Lee's film Do the Right Thing missing out on a Best Picture nomination over the eventual winner Driving Miss Daisy . Lee's Vietnam war film Da 5 Bloods was released on Netflix . The film starred Delroy Lindo , Jonathan Majors , Clarke Peters , Isiah Whitlock Jr. , Mélanie Thierry , Paul Walter Hauser and Chadwick Boseman . The film

4081-617: The magic negro" to the tune of song " Puff, the Magic Dragon ". Shortly after that Paul Shanklin recorded a song about Barack the Magic Negro set to that same tune, which Limbaugh played numerous times throughout the 2008 presidential election season. In Christmas 2008, Chip Saltsman , a Republican politician and chair of the Tennessee Republican Party , sent a 41-track CD containing the song to members of

4158-423: The magical Negro as "Magical African American Friends" (MAAFs), says they are rooted in screenwriters’ ignorance of African Americans: MAAFs exist because most Hollywood screenwriters don't know much about black people other than what they hear on records by white hip-hop star Eminem . So instead of getting life histories or love interests, black characters get magical powers. The Magical Negro stereotype serves as

4235-564: The magical negro trope by portraying a secret society of African-Americans who make it their job to keep White people comfortable. The film was not well-received, with critiques of it being too safe to make any commentary. In March 2007, American critic David Ehrenstein used the title "Obama the 'Magic Negro'" for an editorial he wrote for the Los Angeles Times , in which he described Barack Obama 's image in white American culture: He's there to assuage white 'guilt' (i.e.,

4312-501: The same objectifying way that white male filmmakers write the characters of white women. Rosie Perez , who was in an acting role for the first time as Tina in Do the Right Thing , said later that she was very uncomfortable with doing the nude scene in the film, saying, "I had a big problem with it, mainly because I was afraid of what my family would think...It wasn't really about taking off my clothes. But I also didn't feel good about it because

4389-559: The same origin as that of "trope" in the sense of literature , and derived from this. In turn, this came from the Greek τρόπος ( tropos ), "turn, direction, way", derived from the verb τρέπειν ( trepein ), "to turn, to direct, to alter, to change". Tropes and their classification were an important field in classical rhetoric . The study of tropes has been taken up again in modern criticism, especially in deconstruction . Tropological criticism (not to be confused with tropological reading ,

4466-458: The shooter George Zimmerman . The address turned out to be incorrect, causing the real occupants, Elaine and David McClain, to leave home and stay at a hotel due to numerous death threats. Lee issued an apology and reached an agreement with the McClains, which reportedly included "compensation", with their attorney stating "The McClains' claim is fully resolved". Nevertheless, in November 2013,

4543-475: The sort of thing one typically encounters." The character is patient and wise, often dispensing various words of wisdom, and is "closer to the earth". The character will also do almost anything, including sacrificing themselves to save the white protagonist, as exemplified in The Defiant Ones , in which Sidney Poitier plays the prototypical Magical Negro. Film critic Matt Zoller Seitz stated that

4620-536: The time and place in which Bagger Vance is set, he said: In a book published in 2004, writer Krin Gabbard claimed that the Oda Mae Brown character in the 1990 movie Ghost , played by Whoopi Goldberg , was an example of a Magical Negress. In 2012, writer Kia Miakka Natisse discussed actor Morgan Freeman playing parts conforming to the Magical Negro form, such as "a doctor who creates a prosthetic tail for

4697-496: The trope "takes a subject that some white folks find unpleasant or even troubling to ponder (imagining that resentful black people's status in a country that, 50 years after the start of the modern civil rights struggle, is still run by, and mostly for, whites) and turns it into a source of gentle reassurance". Film reviewer Audrey Colombe argues that the trope has been perpetuated by the overwhelmingly White blockbuster film industry. Film director and writer Spike Lee said in 2001 that

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4774-402: The way." In 2019, during the awards season leading up to the Academy Awards , Lee was invited to join a Directors Roundtable conversation run by The Hollywood Reporter . The roundtable included Ryan Coogler ( Black Panther ), Yorgos Lanthimos ( The Favourite ), Alfonso Cuarón ( Roma ), Marielle Heller ( Can You Ever Forgive Me? ), and Bradley Cooper ( A Star is Born ). It

4851-415: The website Rotten Tomatoes gave it an approval rating of 92% based on 252 reviews, with the critical consensus reading: "Fierce energy and ambition course through Da 5 Bloods , coming together to fuel one of Spike Lee's most urgent and impactful films." On Metacritic , the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 49 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Lee's next project will be

4928-420: Was Driving Miss Daisy , a film that focused on race relations between an elderly Jewish woman ( Jessica Tandy ) and her driver ( Morgan Freeman ). Lee said in an April 7, 2006, interview with New York magazine that the other film's success, which he thought was based on safe stereotypes, hurt him more than if his film had not been nominated for an award. After the 1990 release of Mo' Better Blues , Lee

5005-610: Was accused of antisemitism by the Anti-Defamation League and several film critics. They criticized the characters of the club owners Josh and Moe Flatbush, described as " Shylocks ". Lee denied the charge, explaining that he wrote those characters in order to depict how black artists struggled against exploitation. Lee said that Lew Wasserman , Sidney Sheinberg , or Tom Pollock, the Jewish heads of MCA and Universal Studios , were unlikely to allow antisemitic content in

5082-409: Was an unusual film for Lee considering it was a studio heist thriller. The film was a critical and financial success earning $ 186 million off a $ 45 million budget. Empire gave the film four stars out of five, concluding, "It's certainly a Spike Lee film, but no Spike Lee Joint. Still, he's delivered a pacy, vigorous and frequently masterful take on a well-worn genre. Thanks to some slick lens work and

5159-484: Was associated with the channel. In March 2020, Lee and the security team at Madison Square Garden had a disagreement over which entrance to use to see the New York Knicks; Lee stated he would not attend the rest of the games for the season. Spike Lee has also frequented New York Liberty games at Barclays Center , sitting courtside during the 2024 WNBA playoffs in a Sabrina Ionescu Jersey In May 1999,

5236-534: Was born in Atlanta, Georgia , the son of Jacqueline Carroll ( née Shelton), a teacher of arts and black literature, and William James Edward Lee III , a jazz musician and composer . Lee has five younger siblings, three of whom ( Joie , David , and Cinqué ) have worked in many different positions in Lee's films; a fourth, Christopher, died in 2014. His youngest sibling is half-brother Arnold. Director Malcolm D. Lee

5313-650: Was nominated for 3 Oscars for Lee for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. He went on to win the Best Adapted Screenplay , his first Academy Award. Two of his films have competed for the Palme d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival , and of the two, BlacKkKlansman won the Grand Prix in 2018. Lee's films Do the Right Thing , Malcolm X , 4 Little Girls , She's Gotta Have It , and Bamboozled were each selected by

5390-464: Was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director (Lee's first ever nomination in this category). Lee won his first competitive Academy Award in the category Best Adapted Screenplay . When asked by journalists from the BBC if the Best Picture winner Green Book offended him, Lee replied, "Let me give you a British answer, it's not my cup of tea". Many journalists in

5467-446: Was not one black soldier in both of those films". He added that he and Eastwood were "not on a plantation". Lee later claimed that the event was exaggerated by the media and that he and Eastwood had reconciled through mutual friend Steven Spielberg , culminating in his sending Eastwood a print of Miracle at St. Anna . Lee has been criticized for his representation of women. For example, bell hooks said that he wrote black women in

5544-443: Was released by Amazon Studios in select cities in November. Chi-Raq received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes , the film has rating of 82% with the site's critical consensus stating, " Chi-Raq is as urgently topical and satisfyingly ambitious as it is wildly uneven – and it contains some of Spike Lee's smartest, sharpest, and all-around entertaining late-period work." Lee's 2018 film BlacKkKlansman ,

5621-584: Was released worldwide on June 12, 2020. The film's plot follows a group of aging Vietnam War veterans who return to the country in search of the remains of their fallen squad leader, as well as the treasure they buried while serving there. Before the COVID-19 pandemic , the film was scheduled to premiere out-of-competition at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival , then play in theaters in May or June before streaming on Netflix. The film received widespread critical acclaim;

5698-487: Was responsible for school shootings. "The problem is guns", he said. Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey condemned Lee as having "nothing to offer the debate on school violence except more violence and more hate". In October 2005, Lee responded to a CNN anchor's question as to whether the government intentionally ignored the plight of black Americans during the 2005 Hurricane Katrina catastrophe by saying, "It's not too far-fetched. I don't put anything past

5775-561: Was specifically about the Marines who raised the flag on Mount Suribachi at Iwo Jima , pointing out that while black Marines did fight at Iwo Jima, the U.S. military was racially segregated during World War II, and none of the men who raised the flag were black. He angrily said that Lee should "shut his face". Lee responded that Eastwood was acting like an "angry old man", and argued that despite making two Iwo Jima films back to back, Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers , "there

5852-439: Was the presence in the ballroom of our first African-American president, the Magic Negro who was somehow expected to relieve a nation founded and built on slavery from the toxic burdens of centuries of history." Trope (cinema) A common thematic trope is the rise and fall of a mobster in a classic gangster film . The film genre also often features the sartorial trope of a rising gangster buying new clothes. The term has

5929-461: Was widely praised and he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor . Washington lost to Al Pacino ( Scent of a Woman ), a decision which Lee criticized, saying "I'm not the only one who thinks Denzel was robbed on that one." His 1997 documentary 4 Little Girls , about the girls killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama , in 1963, was nominated for

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