Amazing. I’ve already made my comment on this issue, where I’ve agreed with Lee and am upset with Eastwood. And yes I do realize that the number of Black troops were less than 1000. Still nearly 6 hours of is more than enough to have one Black face in a background shot at least. Acknowledging the existence of the African Americans that fought and died in WWII is not a lot to ask for. Not that Hollywood has ever cared, as evidenced by the flood of films featuring or including Blacks in WWII films.
But I am now hearing how Spike Lee is being called out for his portrayals of Italian Americans.
“Spike Lee is very talented, but I sometimes wish he'd practice what he preaches," Dal Cerro said. "His points about African-Americans are well taken, but, ironically, he does the same thing to Italians in his films.” - Bill Dal Cerro, president of the Italic Institute of America
Oh really?
This annoys me. Unlike the overwhelming number of movies made by virtually every director since movies have been made, the movies by Spike Lee have diversity in them. People of all colors appear in most of his films. They may not be leading characters but they are there. The same cannot be said of Hollywood in general.
But Spike makes Italians look bad? As far as I recall the Godfather was out long before any film by Spike. As far as I can recall Italians have been portrayed as loud, rude, violent, under-educated, mafia members in dozens of movies and television programs for decades. Spike Lee had nothing to do with the Sopranos. He did not direct Andy Garcia or Robert De Niro in the Untouchables. I really don’t need to go on do I.
There is no absence of Italians in hundreds of films a decade. There is no absence of Italian actors in films, television and the theatre of every style and genre an any year. So this claim against Spike Lee is just a grab at attention, and a means to damage his image. It supports Clint Eastwood and the perception that African Americans were anywhere but fighting for America in WWII.
When the critics of the many films of Spike Lee want to take him on, I suggest they first take a look at our media. When they can prove that Black actors and films are not the trend of the year or the forgotten red-headed stepchild of Hollywood I’ll accept the claim that there are not enough Whites in his films. I’ll accept at that time that historical and current portrayals of Italians, Britians, Germans, French and every other nationality of Whites may be insensitive or detrimental. But when we stop listening to the rhetoric and pay attention to the facts before our eyes we realize that such a dramatic change is still a long ways away.
1 comment:
I agree. This whole thing is very interesting and I knew that a white backlash was going to be coming from somewhere. It happens all of the time.
Nonetheless, they have no case here. I agree with you 100% about the other movies and media that have portrayed Italians in a stereotypical light.
I also want to add in that for a young black female who grew up in the Bronx, Spike Lee's depictions of Italians are nothing short of accurate. In the 70s and 80s, there was a lot of overt tension between blacks and Italians. My aunt was murdered by a group of Italian men in Morris Park for opening up a florist, my uncle was beaten into a coma for being in the wrong part of town, when my grnadparents first migrated to this country, they moved to a street (Fenton Avenue) in the Northeast section of the Bronx. The entire block went up for sale the day after they officially moved in and they were harassed for years. I was raised Catholic and attended a Catholic school and church where most of the parishoners were Italian American. It was rough. I remember many hurtful incidences. The first one was when I was called a "dirty darkie" at the age of 7 by a pizza shop owner. I was born in the 80s. I remember the murders of two young black men. One in Howard Beach, Queens and one in Bensonhurst. It set off protests. My cousins were once talking about the tension in Broklyn during the protests and all the angry Italians who were holding up watermelons and screaming slur Birmingham-style. Forget the NYPD! There is a lot more but I think that I said enough in this regard.
I once had a film course where people went crazy over how Lee made italians look bigoted. These people must understand that Lee's movies were depicting the often violent and confrontational racial tensions of NYC. From Do The Right Thing to Jungle Fever. I will say that after what I informed you of, Lee was nice in his depictions.
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