Guardian Unlimited Film | News | Culture briefing: Spike Lee to blame US government in new Katrina film
No stranger to controversy, Lee has already stated his suspicion that the authorities were somehow involved in the flooding. Asked about conspiracy theories during an appearance on CNN, he said: "I don't put anything past 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."
There he goes again. Spike Lee is all about self promotion. This time he is using African American victims of Hurricane Katrina in a documentary for HBO that accuses the American government of a conspiracy to rid New Orleans of its African American citizenry. How ridiculous? No more or less than the one that came out of the African American community a few years back, alleging that Snapple had been laced with some sort of poisonous ingredient that would kill any African American who dared consume it. This 'n' That challenges Spike Lee to put his money where his mouth is. Why hasn't he offered to open his home on Martha's Vineyard, or other property he owns, to African American homeless victims of Hurricane Katrina, instead of making mindless accusations in a selfish attempt boost his fledgling career? Recently, a white couple in California donated five or six of their homes and a year's worth of rent to 40 members of an African American family from New Orleans.
Turn off the camera, shut your mouth and open your wallet, Spike.
Culture briefing
Spike Lee to blame US government in new Katrina film
Paul Arendt
Tuesday October 18, 2005
Guardian
Film-maker Spike Lee is planning to shoot a documentary about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Lee's film, tentatively titled When the Levee Broke, is expected to tackle the US administration's heavily criticised handling of the disaster. US cable channel HBO is producing the documentary, which Lee wants to complete in time for the first anniversary of the floods.
No stranger to controversy, Lee has already stated his suspicion that the authorities were somehow involved in the flooding. Asked about conspiracy theories during an appearance on CNN, he said: "I don't put anything past 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."
Lee first came to widespread public attention in 1988 with his film Do the Right Thing, which dissected the motives behind a race riot in New York to explosive effect. Since then, Lee's films, or "joints", have tended to place racial issues front and centre.
Bamboozled saw an African-American TV exec finding an unexpected hit with a minstrel show; Jungle Fever dealt with interracial dating; and the documentary 4 Little Girls recounted the events behind the racially motivated bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama. Lee's 1992 biopic of civil rights campaigner Malcolm X won several awards and garnered an Oscar nomination for its star, Denzel Washington.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
There he goes again. Spike Lee is all about self promotion. This time he is using African American victims of Hurricane Katrina in a documentary for HBO that accuses the American government of a conspiracy to rid New Orleans of its African American citizenry. How ridiculous? No more or less than the one that came out of the African American community a few years back, alleging that Snapple had been laced with some sort of poisonous ingredient that would kill any African American who dared consume it. This 'n' That challenges Spike Lee to put his money where his mouth is. Why hasn't he offered to open his home on Martha's Vineyard, or other property he owns, to African American homeless victims of Hurricane Katrina, instead of making mindless accusations in a selfish attempt boost his fledgling career? Recently, a white couple in California donated five or six of their homes and a year's worth of rent to 40 members of an African American family from New Orleans.
Turn off the camera, shut your mouth and open your wallet, Spike.
Culture briefing
Spike Lee to blame US government in new Katrina film
Paul Arendt
Tuesday October 18, 2005
Guardian
Film-maker Spike Lee is planning to shoot a documentary about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Lee's film, tentatively titled When the Levee Broke, is expected to tackle the US administration's heavily criticised handling of the disaster. US cable channel HBO is producing the documentary, which Lee wants to complete in time for the first anniversary of the floods.
No stranger to controversy, Lee has already stated his suspicion that the authorities were somehow involved in the flooding. Asked about conspiracy theories during an appearance on CNN, he said: "I don't put anything past 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."
Lee first came to widespread public attention in 1988 with his film Do the Right Thing, which dissected the motives behind a race riot in New York to explosive effect. Since then, Lee's films, or "joints", have tended to place racial issues front and centre.
Bamboozled saw an African-American TV exec finding an unexpected hit with a minstrel show; Jungle Fever dealt with interracial dating; and the documentary 4 Little Girls recounted the events behind the racially motivated bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama. Lee's 1992 biopic of civil rights campaigner Malcolm X won several awards and garnered an Oscar nomination for its star, Denzel Washington.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
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11:55 PM
