Spike Lee has yet another ax to grind with Quentin Tarantino as the latter prepares to release Django Unchained in theaters on Christmas Day.
The controversial and outspoken director of Do the Right Thing and the 25th Hour told Vibe (via Shadow and Act) that he absolutely will not be seeing Django because he views it as being “disrespectful” to his ancestors, who were slaves. “I can’t speak on it ‘cause I’m not going to see it,” Lee said. “That’s just me. I’m not speaking on behalf of anybody else.”
Give him a listen...
Except Lee didn’t stop speaking there. He later took to his Twitter feed to say:
American Slavery Was Not A Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western. It Was A Holocaust. My Ancestors Are Slaves. Stolen From Africa. I Will Honor Them.
As mentioned, Lee took issue with Tarantino after the release of Jackie Brown for the incessant use of the N-word by characters in QT’s screenplay. (Then trust me, Lee’s going to want to avoid Django Unchained like the plague.) This is a lose-lose scenario for Lee, if you ask me. He was asked about Django by a journalist fishing for a juicy quote. And Lee gave him something without actually commenting … having not seen the movie, he said what he could. But Lee did keep the issue going with the Tweet. I don’t believe he should comment about a movie he hasn’t seen (and doesn’t plan to see). But Lee’s a smart enough marketer to know that he’s only helping Tarantino’s film by talking about it – in any context – to the media.
Basically, I’m just not a fan of any artist dismissing the work another artist. Do you think Lee was out of line commenting on a movie he hasn’t yet seen? Do you feel his comments about his ancestors were fair? Will it affect your opinion on Django Unchained, or is this a non-issue?
