Film Review: BLACKKKLANSMAN

THE STORY

Based on "true events," back in 1979, a Black police officer, Ron Stallworth, uses a White surrogate police officer to infiltrate the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This is a slowly paced, poorly constructed film that fails to deliver anything but extremely predictable characters, predictable pseudo-action, and a predictable and fake "Hollywood" ending.

At this point in U.S. and world history, it should be blatantly clear to "everyone" that a helluva lot of Black men, women, and children were beaten, maimed, raped, brainwashed and killed, and many Black men and women continue to be beaten, oppressed, brainwashed, and killed in the on-going struggle for civil rights here in the pseudo-democratic republic of the United States of America. As with the genocide of Native Americans, and the Holocaust of more than six-(6) million Jews under Hitler's German Nazi regime, this is a serious topic, and frankly, it should not be played with.

Unfortunately, Spike Lee had a major memory loss and left the "Blackness" he championed in "Do the Right Thing (1989)" and "Malcolm X (1992)" on the cutting room floor.

Instead of providing serious treatment of the subject matter, at best, the "Blackkklansman" functions as a parody of "true events," or even worse, a lousy derivative of "Undercover Brother (2002)." That's right, "Undercover Brother," starring Eddie Griffin, Jr. and directed by Spike Lee's cousin Malcolm D. Lee is superior to "Blackkklansman" with a better script, direction, editing, and acting, plus it's also "Blacker."

Written by John Ridley
(Black man) and
Michael McCullers
(White man)

Film is slowly paced (and boring) as we wait for something, anything to happen. Stallworth, as a rookie at the Colorado Spring Police Department, is the intentional butt of various jokes including racial innuendoes, but film does not establish if the intent of the "treatment" was positive and meant to test and season Stallworth to the realities of police work, or if the "treatment" was intentionally racist. Plus, if the "treatment" was intentionally racist, and Stallworth was aware of such, why didn't Stallworth: (1) file internal complaints against his harassers and the Colorado Springs Police Department; (2) file discrimination charges at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commision; and (3) obtain the right to sue from the EEOC and file a civil law suit? So, we're to believe Stallworth had no backbone, he was intimidated by the "Great White Father," and as with any compliant Uncle Tom (i.e., go along to get along), he allowed the insults and oppression to continue? Really? Stallworth explained how he interacted with his co-workers in a May 2014 interview with Matt Taylor at vice.com:

I was specifically told that I would not be welcomed by the rank and file within the department because it had been white for so long. I was told on more than one occasion by my interview panel, "Essentially, you're going to be in the same position as Jackie Robinson. You will be the only Black face in that department. You will be challenged at every opportunity, and you will be in a hostile environment. The challenge for you is to exist in that hostile environment without fighting back." They mentioned Jackie Robinson two or three times. They gave me some scenarios: "How would you feel if an officer came up to you and referred you to as a nigger? How about a citizen?" They threw out two or three "nigger" scenarios, using the word nigger. This was 1972. This was the environment I existed in to pave a path for future generations. Did it change anything, by the way? I can tell you right now that the manager in that department is Black, and a friend of mine. There's also a female lieutenant among 43 total officers who are Black.

Using a sports analogy, we're supposed to believe Stallworth took it (the harassment and oppression) for the team. Bullshit.

The script failed to detail fact-based images of Stallworth conducting surveillance to document actual criminal activity being performed by the KKK, and instead the film took "artistic license" to present: (1) chronologically incorrect social and political rhetoric; and (2) stereotypcial degrading images of Black and White people. Remember, this film is based on a "true story," but instead of dealing with the truth, Spike Lee ignored the veracity of historical facts and intentionally made-up a bunch of crap. As reported by History vs. Hollywood.com:

BLACKKKLANSMAN FACT / REALITY BLACKKKLANSMAN FACT / REALITY BLACKKKLANSMAN
FACT / REALITY

The White police officer (Adam Driver) who pretended to be Ron Stallworth was Jewish

The White police officer who pretended to be Ron Stallworth was NOT Jewish

Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) came to Colorado Springs as the keynote speaker for the Black student union at a local college

Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael), spoke in Colorado Springs at a local nightclub.

Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) developed a relationship with a Black activist college student named Patrice Dumas (Laura Harrier).

Directer Spike Lee created this fictional couple as a result of being inspired by the women of the Black Power Movement; but "real" women (like Angela Davis, Kathleen Cleaver, Assata Shakur) of the Black civil rights movement did not function as a template, and they did not resemble Lee's cinematic caricature.

As the first Black police officer for Colorado Springs, Stallworth (John David Washington) was directed to go "undercover" to inflitate an upcoming speaking engagement by former leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and "Honorary Prime Minister" of the Black Panther Party (BPP), Kwame Ture, who was formerly known as Stokely Carmichael. The film completely ignored the fact that Kwame Ture was NOT a threat to "White rule," and in particular, that every so-called major "Black militant" from the 1960s had already been assassinated, or incarcerated, or in college completing a Ph.D, or in Russia receiving an honorary Ph.D., or an escaped felon living in Cuba, or as with Kwame Ture, on a book tour. By 1979 the threat of "Black militancy" had already been eliminated. Here, look at the laundry list of facts:

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Malcolm X May 19, 1925 to February 21, 1965
(Assassinated)

WHAT DID HE DO THAT THREATENED THE STATUS OF WHITE RULE AND PROMPTED HIS ASSASSINATION OR INCARCERATION?

Advocate for the rights
of Black people; he
indicted White America
in the harshest terms for its crimes against Black Americans; detractors accused him of preaching racism and violence.

WHAT WAS MALCOLM X DOING IN 1979?

Malcolm X had already been assassinated.

CLICK PHOTO FOR BIO
Martin Luther King, Jr. January 15, 1929 to
April 4, 1968
(Assassinated)

WHAT DID HE DO THAT THREATENED THE STATUS OF WHITE RULE AND PROMPTED HIS ASSASSINATION OR INCARCERATION?

Advocate for civil rights through non-violence and civil disobedience activism.

WHAT WAS MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DOING IN 1979?

Martin Luther King, Jr. had already been assassinated.

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Fred Hampton August 30, 1948 to December 4, 1969
(Assassinated)

WHAT DID HE DO THAT THREATENED THE STATUS OF WHITE RULE AND PROMPTED HIS ASSASSINATION OR INCARCERATION?

Hampton was a Black activist and revolutionary, chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP), and deputy chairman of the national BPP. Hampton and fellow Black Panther Mark Clark were killed during a raid by a tactical unit of the Cook County, Illinois State's Attorney's Office, in conjunction with the Chicago Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In January 1970, a coroner's jury inquest ruled the deaths of Hampton and Clark to be justifiable homicide. However, a civil lawsuit filed on behalf of the survivors resulted in 1982 for a settlement of $1.85 million with the City of Chicago, Cook County, and the federal government each paying a third to a group of nine plaintiffs.

WHAT WAS FRED HAMPTON DOING IN 1979?

Fred Hampton had already been assassinated.

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Huey P. Newton February 17, 1942 to August 22, 1989

WHAT DID HE DO THAT THREATENED THE STATUS OF WHITE RULE AND PROMPTED HIS ASSASSINATION OR INCARCERATION?

October 1966, co-founded the Black Panther Party for Self Defense with Bobby Seale. Huey Newton worked with Bobby Seale to create the 10-point platform:

Number 1: WE WANT FREEDOM

Number 2: WE WANT FULL EMPLOYMENT FOR OUR PEOPLE

Number 3: WE WANT AN END TO THE ROBBERY BY THE WHITE MAN OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY

Number 4: WE WANT HOUSING; WE WANT SHELTER, WHICH IS FIT FOR HUMAN BEINGS

Number 5: WE WANT AN EDUCATION WHICH TEACHES US OUR TRUE HISTORY AND OUR ROLE IN THE PRESENT DAY AMERICAN SOCIETY

Number 6: WE WANT ALL BLACK MEN TO BE EXEMPT FROM MILITARY SERVICE

Number 7: STOP THE MURDER OF BLACK PEOPLE

Number 8: WE WANT ALL BLACK MEN IMMEDIATELY RELEASED FROM FEDERAL, STATE, COUNTY, CITY JAILS AND PENITENTIARIES

Number 9: AND JUST SAY THAT WHEN BLACK PEOPLE ARE BROUGHT TO TRIAL IN THIS COUNTRY WE WANT THEM TRIED IN A COURT OF LAW NOT OUT ON THE STREET BY SOME PIG BUT IN A COURT OF LAW BY A JURY OF THEIR PEERS AS SPECIFIED BY THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Number 10: WE WANT LAND, BREAD, HOUSING, EDUCATION, CLOTHING

WHAT WAS HUEY P. NEWTON DOING IN 1979?

In 1978 Newton was in prision when he met evolutionary biologist Robert Trivers; shortly thereafter Newton applied to do a reading course with Trivers as part of a graduate degree in History of Consciousness at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Newton worked on his degree throughout 1979 and then earned a Ph.D. in the Social philosophy program of History of Consciousness at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1980.

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Angela Y. Davis
January 26, 1944

WHAT DID SHE DO THAT THREATENED THE STATUS OF WHITE RULE AND PROMPTED HIS ASSASSINATION OR INCARCERATION?

On August 14, 1970 a warrant was issued for Angela Davis for allegedly "aggravated kidnapping and first degree murder in the death of Judge Harold Haley."

Davis was arrested on October 13, 1970

Davis was found "Not Guilty" on June 2, 1972

WHAT WAS ANGELA Y. DAVIS DOING IN 1979?

Angela Davis spoke at Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University's Black History Month Convocation in February 1979.

In May 1979, Davis went to Russia and was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize from the Soviet Union. Angela Davis had already spent time in Russia in August 1972 and received an honorary doctorate from Moscow State University.

Here's a C-SPAN television interview with Angela Davis and Toni Morrison from October 27, 2010.

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Mumia Abu-Jama
(Wesley Cook)
April 24, 1954

WHAT DID HE DO THAT THREATENED THE STATUS OF WHITE RULE AND PROMPTED HIS ASSASSINATION OR INCARCERATION?

At 3:55 am on December 9, 1981, in Philadelphia, close to the intersection at 13th and Locust streets, Philadelphia Police Department officer Daniel Faulkner conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle belonging to and driven by William Cook, Abu-Jamal's younger brother. Faulkner and Cook became engaged in a physical confrontation. Driving his cab in the vicinity, Abu-Jamal observed the altercation, parked, and ran across the street toward Cook's car. Faulkner was shot from behind and in the face. He shot Abu-Jamal in the stomach. Faulkner died at the scene from the gunshot to his head.

WHAT WAS MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DOING IN 1979?

Mumia Abu-Jamal has been incarcerated since 1982.

Mumia Abu-Jamal worked at National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate WHYY in Philadelphia, PA from 1979 to 1981. The management asked him to resign, saying that he did not maintain a sufficiently objective approach in his presentation of news. As a radio journalist, Abu-Jamal was renowned for identifying with and covering the MOVE anarcho-primitivist commune in West Philadelphia's Powelton Village neighborhood. He reported on the 1979–80 trial of certain members (the "MOVE Nine"), who were convicted of the murder of police officer James Ramp. Abu-Jamal had several high-profile interviews, including with Julius Erving, Bob Marley and Alex Haley. He was elected president of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists.

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Kwame Ture

(Stokely Carmichael)

June 29, 1941 to November 15, 1998

WHAT DID HE DO THAT THREATENED THE STATUS OF WHITE RULE AND PROMPTED HIS ASSASSINATION OR INCARCERATION?

Developed the Black Power movement, first while leading the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), later serving as the "Honorary Prime Minister" of the Black Panther Party (BPP), and lastly as a leader of the All-African People's Revolutionary Party (A-APRP).

The FBI targeted him for personal destruction through its

COINTELPRO program, and Carmichael fled to Africa in 1968. He re-established himself in Ghana, and then Guinea by 1969, where he adopted the new name of Kwame Ture.

WHAT WAS KWAME TURE DOING IN 1979?

For the final 30 years of his life, from 1968 to 1998, Kwame Ture traveled frequently between the United States and Africa (primarily to the Republic of Guinea).

Ture was devoted to the All-African People's Revolutionary Party (A-APRP). His mentor Kwame Nkrumah had many ideas for unifying the African continent, and Ture used those ideas in a broader scope involving the entire African diaspora.

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Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin
(H. Rap Brown a.k.a. Hubert Gerold Brown)
October 4, 1943

WHAT DID HE DO THAT THREATENED THE STATUS OF WHITE RULE AND PROMPTED HIS ASSASSINATION OR INCARCERATION?

Fifth chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the 1960s, and during a short-lived (six months) alliance between SNCC and the Black Panther Party, he served as their minister of justice.

Known for saying, "violence is as American as cherry pie" and that "If America don't come around, we're gonna burn it down." He is also known for his autobiography, Die Nigger Die!

WHAT WAS JAMIL ABDULLAH AL-AMIN DOING IN 1979?

After Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin was released from prison in 1976 he opened a grocery store in Atlanta, Georgia, and he became a Muslim spiritual leader and community activist preaching against drugs and gambling in Atlanta's West End neighborhood.

Since March 9, 2002, he has been serving a life sentence for murder following the 2000 shooting of two Fulton County Sheriff's deputies.

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Bobby Seale

(Robert George Seale)

October 22, 1936

WHAT DID HE DO THAT THREATENED THE STATUS OF WHITE RULE AND PROMPTED HIS ASSASSINATION OR INCARCERATION?

October 1966, co-founded the Black Panther Party for Self Defense with Huey P. Newton.

Number 1: WE WANT FREEDOM

Number 2: WE WANT FULL EMPLOYMENT FOR OUR PEOPLE

Number 3: WE WANT AN END TO THE ROBBERY BY THE WHITE MAN OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY

Number 4: WE WANT HOUSING; WE WANT SHELTER, WHICH IS FIT FOR HUMAN BEINGS

Number 5: WE WANT AN EDUCATION WHICH TEACHES US OUR TRUE HISTORY AND OUR ROLE IN THE PRESENT DAY AMERICAN SOCIETY

Number 6: WE WANT ALL BLACK MEN TO BE EXEMPT FROM MILITARY SERVICE

Number 7: STOP THE MURDER OF BLACK PEOPLE

Number 8: WE WANT ALL BLACK MEN IMMEDIATELY RELEASED FROM FEDERAL, STATE, COUNTY, CITY JAILS AND PENITENTIARIES

Number 9: AND JUST SAY THAT WHEN BLACK PEOPLE ARE BROUGHT TO TRIAL IN THIS COUNTRY WE WANT THEM TRIED IN A COURT OF LAW NOT OUT ON THE STREET BY SOME PIG BUT IN A COURT OF LAW BY A JURY OF THEIR PEERS AS SPECIFIED BY THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Number 10: WE WANT LAND, BREAD, HOUSING, EDUCATION, CLOTHING

WHAT WAS BOBBY SEALE DOING IN 1979?

In 1978, Bobby Seale wrote an autobiography titled "A Lonely Rage."

With personal appearances at television stations in Detroit and throughout the United States, Seale spent 1979 promoting his book and conveying his new sense of direction for the 1980s.

For a C-SPAN television interview with Seale on October 27, 20116, click here.

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Eldridge Cleaver

(Leroy Eldridge Cleaver)

August 31, 1935 to May 1, 1998

WHAT DID HE DO THAT THREATENED THE STATUS OF WHITE RULE AND PROMPTED HIS ASSASSINATION OR INCARCERATION?

Cleaver was a prominent member of the Black Panthers, having the titles Minister of Information and Head of the International Section of the Panthers, while a fugitive from the United States criminal justice system in Cuba and Algeria. He became a fugitive after leading an ambush of Oakland police officers, during which two officers were wounded. Cleaver was also wounded during the ambush and Black Panther member Bobby Hutton was killed.

WHAT WAS ELDRIDGE CLEAVER DOING IN 1979?

Cleaver returned to the United States in 1977 to face the unresolved attempted murder charge. By September 1978, on bail as those proceedings dragged on, he had incorporated Eldridge Cleaver Ltd, running a factory and West Hollywood shop exploiting his "Cleavers", which he claimed liberated men from "penis binding". He saw no conflict with his newfound Christianity, drawing support for his overtly sexual design from 22 Deuteronomy. The long-outstanding charge was subsequently resolved on a plea bargain reducing it to assault. A sentence of 1,200 hours' community service was imposed.

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Assata Shakur
Born July 16, 1947

WHAT DID SHE DO THAT THREATENED THE STATUS OF WHITE RULE AND PROMPTED HIS ASSASSINATION OR INCARCERATION?

Between 1971 and 1973, Assata Shakur was charged with several crimes and was the subject of a multi-state manhunt. In May 1973, Shakur was arrested after being wounded in a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike. Also involved in the shootout were New Jersey State Troopers Werner Foerster and James Harper and BLA members Sundiata Acoli and Zayd Malik Shakur. Harper was wounded; Zayd was killed; Foerster was killed by Acoli. Between 1973 and 1977, she was charged with murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, bank robbery, and kidnapping in relation to the shootout and six other incidents. She was acquitted on three of the charges and three were dismissed. In 1977, she was convicted of the murder of Foerster (under New Jersey law the prosecution did not need to prove that Shakur fired the shots that killed either Foerster or Zayd Shakur) and of seven other felonies related to the shootout, in a trial her supporters argue was unfair. While serving a life sentence for murder she escaped from prison in 1979.

Convictions: 1977: First degree murder, second-degree murder (later dismissed), atrocious assault and battery, assault and battery against a police officer, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with intent to kill, illegal possession of a weapon, armed robbery (bank)

WHAT WAS ASSATA SHAKUR DOING IN 1979?

While serving a life sentence for murder she escaped from prison in 1979.

Shakur has lived in Cuba since 1984, despite US government efforts to have her returned. In 2013 the FBI has added her to its list of most-wanted terrorists as Joanne Deborah Chesimard and posted a $2,000,000 reward for her capture.

THE LOOK AND FEEL OF "BLACKKKLANSMAN" (IT'S ENTIRELY WRONG)

Art direction by Marci Mudd, set decoration by Cathy T. Marshall, and costume design by Marci Rodgers were all poorly executed. As documented above, the early 1960s to the early 1970s were volatile times for Black people, but 1979 was no where nearly as volatile, because White people and disingenuous Black people had already successfully killed the threat of "Black militancy." So, why did Spike Lee have his cast of characters wearing large militant-looking afro-wigs, leather jackets et al especially when in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s chemically processed "jheri curls" had largely replaced the afro? Spike Lee could have easily "fact checked" the aforementioned by watching that classic scene in Eddie Murphy's 1988 film, "Coming to America," where oily glyserol from three jheri curled Black people dripped and stained the couch. Here, take a look:

How could anyone forget the jheri curl
commercial (at right) from the same film?

The "real" Ron Stallworth clearly looked more like former boxing heavyweight champion Larry Holmes than the "supersized and militarized" version Spike Lee trust upon an unsuspecting film audience.


Without regard to race, a typical police officer is clean-shaven; and even if "undercover" in 1979 he would likely wear his hair naturally as did Larry Holmes (at right) or wear a "jheri curl," because an extremely large afro would make him stand out, and therefore, he would not be "undercover."	Heavy-weight boxing champion, Larry Holmes, after he received an award from the United States Jaycees as Oustanding Young Men of the Year.	A perfect example of how a disingenuous filmmaker, Spike Lee, will intentionally skew facts to manipulate an audience to a false reality.

Given the historical setting of "Blackkklansman," why did the film ignore the trendiness of “Blackness”? - In 1979 the overwhelming majority of Black women straightened their hair by hot comb or chemical processing. For example, look at the “visual images” presented below of two legendary Black recording artists: one male and one female, both about the same age. Nancy Wilson was born on February 20, 1937. Smokey Robinson was born on February 19, 1940. To demonstrate the extent of how "Blackkklansman" failed to accurately capture the look and feel of being Black in 1979, with photos taken directly from their publicly released record albums, presented below is a chronological presentation of how Wilson and Robinson evolved their hair and their overall “image.” Look closely!

"Hair" will always be an issue for Black people because White people intentionally brainwashed Black people to believe that "the only good hair is straight hair," or "White folks hair," which is consistent with "If you're White you're right, if you're Black, get back." So, in an effort to be accepted into White society, the need to look and be White is ingrained into the Black psyche.

The need to be White is ingrained into the Black psyche!

• So ingrained that in 1905 Sarah Breedlove, better known as Madam C. J. Walker, became the first female Black millionaire with her famous metal heating combs and hair straightening products [http://madamcjwalker.com].

• So ingrained that in 1954, under the pretense of a $250.00 "vacation" loan from a finance company, George E. Johnson established Johnson Products with Ultra Wave, a hair straightener for men.

• So ingrained that in 1964 Edward and Bettiann Gardner founded Soft Sheen Products which became the #1 maker of ethnic hair care products in US and, rather ironically, in 1999 SOLD their company to Cosmair, a division of the White owned French cosmetics icon, L’Oreal. Obviously, the French believe they can do a much better job of selling the virtues of “how to look White by straightening the hair of Black women” than the previously Black owned company. Here’s a particularly ironic advertisement from L’Oreal that promotes both White and Black men to “reach for the bleach” and go blonde! Yeah, Blonde!

Spike Lee "supersized and militarized" Ron Stallworth's appearance contrary to historical facts. Again, Smokey Robinson clearly changed with the times, but Ron Stallworth did not. Prior to 1968 Robinson's hair was chemically processed and straightened - just like Sammy Davis, Jr., Nat King Cole, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, The Temptations, etc., Robinson shortened his natural hair in the late 1970s. Then, perhaps in an effort to appear “youthful and contemporary,” Robinson started to chemically process his hair again (jheri curl, etc.) throughout the 1980s to the mid-1990s.

As with the overwhelming majority of Black women (Jody Watley, Bonnie Pointer, Aretha Franklin, all female band members of Chic, Sister Sledge, and the wife of Black civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King), Nancy Wilson consistently chemically straightened her hair for over seventy years. Again, both she and Smokey were born prior to the 1960s civil right movement, and perhaps, should not be held to the same standard of “Black is beautiful” as Blacks born of the Baby Boomer generation. It’s likely that, in some cases, the album photos were taken before the actual year of release. Nevertheless, comparing Wilson and Robinson provides an excellent visual history of two legendary performers and how their visual images might have been influenced by or reconciled with the times. With the exception of ninety-one-(91) year old Harry Belafonte "Blackkklansman" categorized all Black people into a similar "look," and sadly, someone should have reminded Spike Lee, and costume designer Marci Rodgers, and the entire makeup department that not all Black people look alike; and likewise, we don't share the same political beliefs.

Plus, given that music gives character, atmosphere, or a certain "feel" to a film, the selection of R&B songs and the jazz music accompliment by Spike Lee's "in house" jazz musician, Terence Blanchard, were also out of step; there are continuity problems. Specifically, "Blackkklansman" featured Black folks in a Soul Train-esque line dancing to "Too Late To Turn Back Now" by Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose, but this was ridiculous because the song was NOT on anyone's current playlist in 1979, because the song was released seven years earlier in 1972. If the intent was to filter the "Blackkklansman" soundtrack with music particular to Black people back in 1979 then a wiser and simpler decision would have been to review all of the songs performed during the thirty-two-(32) episodes of the 1979-80 season of Soul Train (click here), or reviewing Billboard's R&B Charts Archive for 1979 (click here). Likewise, watching the 1979-80 episodes of Soul Train is a valuable resource to ascertain the appropriate hairstyles, clothing, and the overall look of Black people in 1979.

ENTERTAINMENT OR EDUCATION?

Ultimately, the purpose of seeing a movie is to be "entertained" or "educated." For the sake of clarity, films are typically categorized by genré such as a murder mystery, comedy, romantic comedy, action or adventure film, docu-drama, or musical, etc. It's always been the practice for White owned and controlled "Hollywood" to constantly produce and release films that showcase the diversity of White lives, but its never been the practice of White owned and controlled "Hollywood" to produce and release a slate of films that showcase the diversity of Black lives. Then, concurrent with the civil rights movement in the late 1960s Black people started to write, produce, direct, and star in films that showcased a more robust perspective of the Black experience in the United States. Back in the 1970s, films that were produced, directed, written, and starred Black people were negatively labled by White people into a new genré called "Blaxploitation." Black people were not being "exploited," but Black people were finally making full use of and deriving benefit from a resource (theatrically released motion pictures) previously denied to them. For example:

1971 1971 1972 1973 1975

Written and directed by
Melvin Van Peebles
(a Black man)
Starring Melvin Van Peebles

Written by Ernest Tidyman
(a White man)
Directed by Gordon Parks
(a Black man)
Starring Richard Roundtree

Written by Phillip Fenty
(a Black man)
Directed by Gordon Parks, Jr.
(a Black man)
Starring Ron O'Neal
Written by Max Julien
(a Black man)
Directed by Jack Starrett
(a White man)
Starring Tamara Dobson Written by Fred Williamson
(a Black man)
Directed by Jack Arnold
(a White man)
Starring Fred Williamson

Is "Blackkklansman" a "Blaxploitation" film simply because it's directed by and features a predominately Black cast? If so, what about "Black Panther (2018)?" Sadly, it's typical for the White controlled media to completely ignore the fact that until the early 1960s and throughout the United States, in both Southern and Northern states, many if not most Black people were prohibited from entering White owned and controlled theatres, or required to sit only in the balcony or at the very back (of the bus - get it). So, to provide films for Black people, in 1916 Noble and George Johnson of Omaha, Nebraska formed the first all-black movie production unit in the country, the Lincoln Motion Picture Company, which included a network of places (local social halls, churches, schools, Black-owned theatres, etc.) located in Black communities to showcase their product. As with the Negro Baseball League, the Black film production industry was very successful throughout the 1930s and 1940s as hundreds of movies including musicals, westerns, crime dramas, romantic comedies, etc., with all-Black casts were produced and released. As with the Negro Baseball League, integration eventually killed the Black film industry.

The purpose of seeing a movie is to be "entertained" or "educated," right? Perhaps, in an attempt to "entertain" and "educate" (Black people?) Spike Lee sought to give "Blackkklansman" a 1970s "look and feel," but if true, that was a mistake because by 1979 the production of films targeted to Black audiences was nearly over, but the need for truthful, fact-based films about the Black experience in America never disappeared. "Blackkklansman" only used the "truth" for source material, but not as a linear, fact-based docu-drama. "Blackkklansman" was not a comedy unless you like watching the stupidity of a pseudo-Solomon Northup-like stereotypical coon versus stereotypical obese White rednecks. Can you really be "entertained" or "educated" when you're immediately aware the film you're watching is intentionally biased to manipulate you to a political paradigm not based on the truth? Think about it.

Again, the purpose of seeing a movie is to be "entertained" or "educated," right? Then, is it "entertaining" or "educational" to repeatedly see films on how White people successfully engineered the slavery and oppression of Black people (yada, yada, yada), and label all White people as evil (which is ridiculous); or shouldn't a racially and socially aware Hollywood wisely spend its money showing how Black and White people can triumph in their mutual appreciation of humanity and learn how to live together? How much longer must we continue to see the same damn movie about oppressed or stupid niggers versus controlling dim-witted racist White peckerwoods? Let's move on. But if filmmakers like Spike Lee must persist in producing this kind of crap, then in a word, "Netflix" it, or wait and grab a copy from the $5.00 bin at Walmart. Meanwhile, in reviewing this film, one would not be guilty of being an intellectual or overthinking this film by asking some common sense questions that "Blackkklansman" failed to address:CLICK P

QUESTION 1: Since the threat of "Black militancy" had already been eliminated, why didn't Spike Lee (via Ron Stallworth) address this fact in the film? Was the real Stallworth too dumb or too scared to raise this issue back in 1979?

QUESTION 2: As reported by the U.S. Census, in 2017 Black people only accounted for 6.4% of the population in Colorado Springs. As reported by CensusScope, in 1980 Black people only accounted for 6.03% of the population in Colorado Springs, Colorado. So, given the perpetual paucity of the Black population in Colorado Springs and the minuscule number of Black men and Black women permitted to attend college there, what really prompted police in Colorado Springs to conduct surveillance on Kwame Ture?

QUESTION 3: Since the threat of "Black militancy" had already been eliminated, why wasn't the primary focus of the film on Ron Stallworth's possible role as an "Uncle Tom" or traitor to his own race; or his negligence or failure finding hard evidence if the KKK was involved in criminal activity? As reported by History vs. Hollywood.com:

No actual terrorist attacks were ever attempted by the KKK, and the KKK goon squad represented in the film was fictitious.

Unlike the film, the investigation wasn't stopped because an ex-con discovered Flip's identity, or a bombing made things too risky for the department. It was stopped because Ron Stallworth's chief was worried the police department's image would be tainted from having any involvement with the KKK.

QUESTION 4: Since the threat of "Black militancy" had already been eliminated, why wasn't the primary focus of the film on the specific reason(s) why the Colorado Springs Police Department felt the need to target or supress the First Amendment right of Black people to assemble and exchange ideas? Plus, did the Colorado Springs Police Department act under the direction of or as a surrogate for the FBI's COINTELPRO program?

QUESTION 5: Since the threat of "Black militancy" had already been eliminated, why did the film blatantly manufacture false events, contrary to historical facts, to intentionally present Black people as stupid, and falsely present White people as racists?

QUESTION 6: Since the threat of "Black militancy" had already been eliminated, why did the film blatantly ignore the perpetual failure of so-called Black militancy to address the perpetual wage and income gap inequity between Black people versus KKK-membership-card-toting-White-people that existed in 1979 and continued to grow to catastrophic levels with every subsequent U.S. president and especially during President Obama's term?

QUESTION 7: Since the threat of "Black militancy" had already been eliminated, why did the film blatantly ignore "how and why" the surveillance of Kwame Ture and other Black men was consistent with the launch of the so-called "war on drugs," which specifically targeted, arrested, convicted, and incarcerated more Black men than another other ethnic or racial group? Equally important, concurrent with the launch of the so-called "war on drugs," why did the film blatantly ignore the corresponding negative impact of targeted incarceration and unemployment of Black men on the destruction of the traditional Black family?

"Marriage rates have fallen for all groups since the 1960s, but more sharply for Blacks than for Whites. In 1960, 74% of white adults were married, as were 61% of black adults. By 2011, the black marriage rate had fallen to 56% that of the white rate: 55% of whites were married, compared with 31% of blacks." Source: Pew Research at http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/08/22/race-demographics/

THE NOVELTY OF "BLACKKKLANSMAN"

At best "Blackkklansman" is an inconsequential story about a Black man who "almost" pretended to be a White man, and as such, the film exist as a "novelty" and nothing more. Spike Lee should have done his homework to craft a better film. For example, much better films have addressed the issue of pretending to be White or pretending to be Black and without distorting the truth via an "artistic license of deception" as offered by Spike Lee. Note the following films:

"Black Like Me," based on the book "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin, and directed by Carl Lerner, tells the true story of a White journalist John Finley Horton (James Whitmore) who disguised himself to pass as a Black man for six weeks in 1959 to report on life as a Black man in the segregated Deep South.

"Watermelon Man (1970)," directed by legendary Melvin Van Peebles, and written by Herman Raucher, tells the story of an extremely bigoted 1960s era White insurance salesman named Jeff Gerber (Godfrey Cambridge), who wakes up one morning to find he has become Black.

"Imitation of Life (1959)," directed by Douglas Sirk, is the Technicolor, lavishly produced second film adaptation of Fannie Hurst's novel of the same name; with the original 1934 black-and-white film directed by John M. Stahl. Both versions deal with issues of race, class and gender, but the 1959 film was much more candid with its portrayal of an attractive, very light-skinned Black daughter of a dark-skinned Black housekeeper who openly passed for White and dated a White boy (Troy Donahue).

Whitewashing in film was, is, and will remain the practice of White owned and White controlled print, broadcast, and film to cast White actors as minorities. For example, the real "Lone Ranger," was a Black man named Bass Reeves. White people wore Black face makeup to present themselves as Black people, White people used buck teeth and yellow makeup to present themselves as Asians, White people used red makeup to present themselves as Native Americans, and White people continue to make these kinds of films to routinely showcase their successful enslavement, genocide, oppression, and acts of discrimination against people of color. Guy Aoki said African Americans "have long felt the full brunt of the 'whitewashing' of roles" and that Asians have experienced it as well. Native Americans have also been subjected to this, seeing their historic leaders and warriors portrayed by whites. Source: Wikipedia

Spike Lee's "Blackwashing" of the truth is just as racist as Whitewashing of the truth, which only feeds claims of reverse discrimination.

TRUTH IS BETTER THAN FICTION

There's a scene in the "Blackkklansman" where Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) manipulates a photo op by standing between supreme KKK leader David Duke and another Klansman, the Grand Dragon of Colorado. Stallworth described this event in his own words in an interview with Matt Taylor published by vice.com. Duke agreed to the photo op, but he did not want Stallworth to touch him or place his arms around him. Unbeknownst to Duke, Stallworth tells his partner to take the photo at his command, which occurred just as his Stallworth placed his arms around David Duke and his KKK buddy. In both the film and in reality David Duke was upset by Stallworth's deception. According to Stallworth:

"Duke reached over to grab the camera from my hand, I looked at him and said, "If you touch me, I'll arrest you for assault on a police officer. Don't do it." Duke stopped dead in his tracks and we had a staredown."

Clint Eastwood did an excellent job telling the World War II battle of Iwo Jima from boths sides, the Japanese side with the film, "Letters from Iwo Jima" and the American side with the film, "Flags of Our Fathers." Instead of giving us a crappy fantasy film that did not entertain or educate, Spike Lee should have began "Blackkklansman" with the staredown of Stallworth and David Duke and then immediately begin a fact-based flashback telling us how both sides got to that point. Why? Because the hideous truth of the KKK against the reality of the Black experience is far more captivating than Spike Lee's "re-imagining" of American history.

Typical of a "Spike Lee Joint" (film production) "Blackkklansman" ends with yet another make-believe sequence of Stallworth and his fake girlfriend Patrice Dumas (Laura Harrier) alone in their residence and suddenly startled by gunfire. They grab their guns (yes, she's now armed and dangerous too), and search for the source of the distrubance which immediately turns into news footage of the August 2017 Neo-Nazi rioting in Charlottesville, Virgina and President Trump's news conference and related racially-based innuendoes . . yada, yada, yada . . fade to black, credit crawl.

By the way, at President Trump's news conference he was correct when he said "there are good and bad people on both sides," because most of the people on both sides of the rioting in Charlottesville pray, go to church or temple or synagogue, and were Christian, Jewish, or Muslim, believe in God, and support various charities and funding activities. Unfortunately, the hypocrisy of all organized religions is the on-going failure to get followers to actually practice the egalitarian principles that exist as a cornerstone of their religious dogma, which is not reported by the media, and it was also ignored in "Blackkklansman." In this regard, there's a wealth of religious hypocrisy available to Spike Lee and others who condemn President Trump in, "The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews: Volume 1 and 2," published by the Nation of Islam.

FAKE. FAKE. FAKE.

Acting by all performers was perfunctory, there are no Academy Award® performances here. Frankly, film is not worthy of theatrical U.S. domestic or international release, but suitable for cable television and OTT (over the top) streaming media services like Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Amazon, etc., which when combined have enough outlets to broadcast any damn thing. Film is only marginally suitable for commercial televsion. Again, film pacing was laborious, and should have been trimmed from 135 minutes to 88 minutes, which would enable network commercials, network promos, local commercials, news bumps and up nexts, and plenty of bathroom breaks to ease or erase the mediocrity.

RECOMMENDATION: Do not see, rent, download, or buy "Blackkklansman." Instead, rent or buy "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967)," directed by Stanley Kramer, written by William Rose, starring Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier, and Katharine Hepburn; or "To Sir, with Love (1967)," directed by James Clavell, written by James Clavell based on the 1959 novel by E.R. Braithwaite, starring Sidney Poitier; or "In the Heat of the Night (1967)," directed by Norman Jewison, written by Stirling Silliphant based on a novel by John Ball, starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger. Why? Again, isn't it about time a racially and socially aware Hollywood wisely spend its money showing how Black and White people triumphed in their mutual appreciation of humanity and learn how to live together? Sadly, sometimes we must go back (yes, to 1967) in order to move forward, and these three legendary films provide . . . enlightenment!