Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies
Subject: Re: spike lee &  boston celtics
From: gutierrez@mdcbbs.com
Date: 19 Nov 92 09:30:48 GMT
 <1992Nov18.212243.27945@u.washington.edu> <98314@netnews.upenn.edu>
Organization: EDS Unigraphics, Cypress CA
Nntp-Posting-User: gutierrez

In article <98314@netnews.upenn.edu>, myra@saul.cis.upenn.edu (Myra VanInwegen) writes:
> In article <1992Nov18.212243.27945@u.washington.edu>
> iho@cac.washington.edu writes:
>>reiher@ficus.cs.ucla.edu (Peter Reiher) writes:
>>> By the way, if people are skipping his films because they don't like
>>> Lee personally, you are missing some very good films.  
>>> whether you agree with him, Lee is a talented filmmaker whose films 
>>> don't resemble anyone else's.  There is strong artistic merit in Lee's
>>> films, and those serious about film are making a mistake if they skip
>>> his films.
> 
>>I've seen a few of his films (_Do_The_Right_Thing_, _Mo'_Better_Blues_,
>>and _Jungle_Fever_) and have to disagree with you.  While they were
>>interesting to watch, I wouldn't have minded missing them.  
> 
>>  His movies incorporate a lot of very
>>stylistic elements and uniquely innovative techniques.  
> 
> You wouldn't have missed them despite their use of these uniquely
> innovative techniques? Maybe your disagrement with the content is
> blinding you to their artistic merit, which even you admit.
> 
> I would certainly have missed seeing DO THE RIGHT THING. Even if you
> ignore the plot and characters completely (I think it would be a shame
> to do this, BTW) there's still plenty there to make it worth watching.
> It is quite obvious that this man takes great pains to use the screen
> for more than just a place for him to tell a story. He fills the
> screen with vibrant colors, different camera angles, and effective
> uses of different types of lenses (thinking of one great use of a
> wide-angle lens) ... I'd say more but I haven't seen the film in a few
> years and don't remember all the great trick he made to make this
> movie a real treat for the eye.
> 
>>It's also blatantly obvious that
>>the movies were written and directed by a black person,
> 
> Am I supposed to think that there's something wrong with this?
> 
>>and I think there's a lot more to life than that.
> 
> WHAT? Let's not just think of this movie, but consider American movies
> as a whole. The vast majority of them are written and directed by
> whites (specifically white males). And here's one, just one, that was
> written and directed by a black guy, and you are faulting it for
> showing this. I think there's alot more to life than just white folks
> and white folks' concerns. Or are you suggesting that movies made by
> white males are universal and cover all possible points of view, so we
> don't need movies made by any other types of people?
> 
>> His movies reflect (and encourage) thinking in very limited terms.
> 
> I think just the opposite. These movies serve a very useful function
> of exposing middle class whites (like myself) to points of view other
> than the ones we meet in our day to day lives. And, in fact, these are
> points of view that we as a nation will have to understand and do
> something about. What were the LA riots other than the result of the
> people in power in this nation ignoring exactly the problems presented
> in this movie?
> 
> -Myra
> myra@saul.cis.upenn.edu


	Here's a fervent hope that there are more "Myra's" and less of
	"Jay's" and "Il Hwang's" in this world we live in!

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