At the Cannes Film Festival, director Spike Lee wondered aloud why Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-nominated film Flags of Our Fathers had no black actors in it.
Lee said: “There were many African-Americans who survived that war and who were upset at Clint for not having one [in the films]. That was his version: the negro soldier did not exist. I have a different version… It’s not like he could say he didn’t know. It was a conscious decision not to have any black people.”
He made the remarks during a press conference to promote Miracle at St. Anna, his upcoming film about black troops in Italy during WWII.
Clint Eastwood hit back this week with some choice words for Lee:
“The story is Flags of Our Fathers, the famous flag-raising picture, and they didn’t do that. If I go ahead and put an African-American actor in there, people’d go: ‘This guy’s lost his mind.’ I mean, it’s not accurate.” Referring to Lee, he added: “A guy like him should shut his face.”
I have to agree with Clint here — the movie wasn’t fictional. As someone also making a historically faithful film, Lee should understand this.
Lee can make his movie which focuses on black soldiers and let Eastwood stand behind his, which has been praised as having “a deep concern for historical accuracy.”
Should Lee have inserted white or Hispanic characters into his movie just for the sake of diversity?
I wonder what Spike would have said if Clint showed what 95% of blacks actually did in the very segregated military during WWII. Laundry, cooking, unloading, loading ships, driving around delivery trucks, you know stuff like that.
When Philo Beddoe tells you to shut your face you do it. Shoot. That’s the name I should have picked instead of Pastafarian.
I try to understand why we are all so amazed by the comments of Mr. Lee regarding Clint Eastwood’s masterpiece. Everybody’s favorite Hollywood “Brother” love to bark about everything he deems insensible to the black cause.
Talk about a wuss.
The racism doesn’t stop with black men. Clint also made all of the Japanese actors the bad guys.
Spike makes black people look bad because he himself is a racist. He would be happy to change history and add black people to Clint’s movie, though it would not be accurate if it were HIS. However, had Clint done that, he would have criticized him too. He’s the master of playing the race card which completely robs him of any credibility.
Spike’s just trying to keep himself in the spotlight, so every now and then he inserts comments where they really don’t belong.
I don’t think Spike’s comments are meant to be taken as why aren’t there more black people in the movie for the sake of diversity. I think he means it more in the sense that black soldiers were present during that war and they should be acknowledged on screen. But as Clint clearly pointed out they weren’t there during that specific moment of the war. I think both are valid in their arguments and it is ridiculous to assume that Spike is just using the race card.
Spike Lee using the race card? NEVER! Midget card maybe. Whoa did I just say midget? Is that racist?
I wouldn’t think these two guys would have anything in common. Somebody needs to just take the high-road.
typical. spike knows more about casting a film than any of you do, so he very well may have a point about clints casting choices. it doesnt take much to at least cast a few black extras. you people pipe up and defend Clint whom none of you have met. i wonder why….
By that logic, Clint Eastwood was casting movies back when Spike Lee was in high school, so Eastwood is within his rights to tell him to shut his face.
Aw, don’t be coy. Either make the accusation or don’t.
Nunya, how long have you been friends with Spike?
clint has every right to be pissed. my point is that its curious how people here pipe up and defend someone they dont know against another person they dont know in an industry they arent employed in. what are your motivations with these responses? “spike makes black people look bad” Spike lee is the mouthpiece for every black person? how do you get that duty? whos the asian represenitive? Indian? ridiculous. “spikes playing the race card”. classic knee-jerk response to use that buzz word. for your education if youre going to use that BS term use it appropriately. “hollywoods favorite ‘brother’” now thats good! another honorable destinction for Lee. who is Hollywoods favorite “white dude”? my money is on David Hasselhoff. dont hassle the hoff! Quite frankly i wouldnt care if Spike Lee hung himself with a knicks jersey, its just sad to see these same types of responses on EVERY movie blog i read (i only wish i was exaggerating) concerning race. of course since it dosent affect YOU, you dont notice it. O and for “hollywoods favorite tits” lindsay lohan right? no contest…
I didnt see any wetbacks or kikes in this movie either….
damn.
Spike Lee lives in a world of Hollywood fiction–where outlaw street gangs are the “good guys.”
Clint Eastwood made a movie about an historical event–the Battle of Iwo Jima.
My father fought on Iwo Jima and it was discussed many times.
One of the questions discussed was whether any blacks were in the battle.
I learned that they were on the island, but only drove delivery trucks, that they were not trained to fight.
How could that be? Because Truman was not yet President and had not yet integrated the armed forces–perhaps, Spike would like to re-write that bit of history too, to make it politically correct. Of course, then, it would be fiction and not history