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                                                                                CINEMA, Page 66

Words With Spike


Making Malcolm X, says director SPIKE LEE, was a way to bring
the slain leader's message to a new generation

By JANICE C. SIMPSON and Spike Lee


    Q. Why was making this movie so important to you?

    A. Well, Malcolm is very important to me, and the reality
is that young people -- not just black but white kids also --
don't read anymore. They get their information from movies,
television, radio. So this is going to be a history lesson. This
is going to open up the history book.


    Q. Malcolm is revered by many young African Americans. Why
is that?

    A. I think that Ossie Davis put it best when he said,
"Malcolm is our shining black prince, our black manhood."
There's a void in that right now among young black males. And,
you know, Malcolm's a great model. Public Enemy and KRS-One and
Boogie Down Productions were not sampling "I Have a Dream" in
their songs, you know. It was Malcolm X.


    Q. Does it bother you that many of these young people
revere Malcolm's militancy but know so little about his own
reverence for education?

    A. Yes. I think that it really just comes down to people
having a very limited view of Malcolm, and not understanding
that the man evolved, was constantly evolving, even at the time
of the assassination. You know that line, "by any means
necessary"? That way of thinking was not the complete Malcolm
X. If young black men really want to pay a tribute to Malcolm
X, they should look at themselves in the mirror and talk about
their education and put more emphasis on it.


    Q. If you agree that education is important, then why did
you say kids should skip school to see your movie?

    A. I don't think that it's such a radical idea. In fourth
grade I had to go see Gone With the Wind for a class trip and
then write a report on the history of the Civil War according
to that film. Many people have come up to me and said, "Spike, I
was taking the day off anyway, even before you said that." And
they're going to go. I think there'll be black families in
droves. That was our intent. That's why the film is rated PG-13.
I've never made a PG-13 film before, ever. We did not want to
give parents nor schoolteachers nor educational systems an
excuse why this film cannot be used as a class trip, or why it
could not be a part of their curriculum.


    Q. What do you think is Malcolm's primary legacy?

    A. The main reason Malcolm X told his story to Alex Haley
was to put his life up there as an example for African
Americans -- or anybody, really -- that you could change your
life around if you really apply yourself. He says, "Look,
people, I was a criminal. I peddled grass, I was a steerer, I
was a criminal, I snorted cocaine. I got so depraved that even
in prison I was called Satan." But he turned it around.


    Q. Why did you feel so strongly about having a black
director do the picture?

    A. White directors wouldn't have thought of putting the
Rodney King footage in the movie, or of the American flag
burning to the X, or even of using Nelson Mandela. Richard
Attenborough did a movie called Cry Freedom that was supposed
to be about Stephen Biko. But that movie is more about Donald
Woods and his family trying to get out of South Africa. So if
Attenborough had done this film, the main character would have
been a sympathetic white reporter and nothing about Malcolm X.


    Q. But didn't Attenborough do a sympathetic portrayal of
Gandhi?


    A. How does a white director have a copyright on epics?
What, a black director is only supposed to do small little films
that take place in ghettos or in the projects? I can't shoot a
film like a white director? That's bull.


    Q. Why did you include Rodney King and Nelson Mandela in
the film?

    A. Because the stuff Malcolm X talked about is still with
us today. I still feel African Americans are second citizens in
this country, just like Malcolm said.


    Q. Why is the film so long?

    A. Because there was so much to tell, and this was not
going to be an abbreviated, abridged version of Malcolm X.


    Q. Were you too respectful of Malcolm?

    A. No. If we were too respectful, we would never have had
Malcolm snorting cocaine, or had a white woman kiss his foot.
There's a difference between respect and love. I think that if
you see this film, our love for Malcolm is up there on the
screen.


    Q. No matter what you did, there is going to be criticism.
Where do you think it will come from?

    A. Criticism is going to come all over. It's going to come
from people like [writer Amiri] Baraka who felt I was too
bourgeois to do this film. And it's going to come from the other
side: people who believe that I'm a racist and antiwhite and
anti-Semitic and preach hatred.


    Q. What will this movie's success or failure mean for you
and other black filmmakers?

    A. First of all, this film is not going to be a failure.
This film is going to be a big hit, and it's really going to
crumble that old, tired Hollywood axiom that the white
moviegoing masses are not going to see a black film that's a
drama, or a film that's not a comedy and musical, or that
doesn't have Eddie Murphy in it. Because no matter what lip
service those executives say, that is still their belief. Just
look at TV. Every single show that is about black folks, they're
all situation comedies. I mean, you can't get drama out of our
lives? But that's because they feel that white people won't be
interested. I really think they're underestimating the
intelligence of the white movie going masses, who will see
anything if it's done good.