Haven't seen the movie yet....But I feel like I can totally understand what he's saying here. "I"M AN ARTIST"
I guess I wanna say that Spike doesn't get artistic license because of race.
Take for example....the Kurt Cobain documentary. White guy films white guy shooting smack....nodding off with his baby on his lap....etc. Did it ever cross that filmmaker's mind that this movie is a poor representation of white people? Why do his movies necessarily HAVE to promote positive representations of his race? Bill Cosby did that very consciously and that certainly is a legitimate artistic statement and approach. Self-affirmation...positive role models...these things are important. But that can't be ALL ART. How limiting would that be if ALL art had to be like that?
Alot of the different criticisms I'm hearing about this film are just different versions of that same thing. 'He shouldn't use the word Chirac.' He's an artist. He's not making a promotional video for the city trying to drum up industry and commerce. It's not a heritage video to be shown in some Chicago landmark.
'The premise of the movie is sexist and unrealistic' It's not SUPPOSED to be a literal suggestion. Nor is it supposed to be realistic. He's making a FILM. It's a device...things artists use as a platform to explore issues and themes. I've thought Spike's movies were sexist from time to time. It's possible that this one is...still haven't seen it. But it's not the device or premise that would make it sexist....it would be his treatment of that device.
'The premise of the movie trivializes Chicago violence because it's a comedy'. Again. It's a film. I wanna mention Roberto Benigni's "Life Is Beautiful". Slap-stick comedy over the backdrop of the holocaust and it won the Oscar. I mean, it's obviously a risky endeavor for Lee.....but whether he succeeds or not....it's ART. We can't constrain people to make art for the sole purpose of positive self-affirmation.
I haven't really enjoyed much of Spike's recent work but I'm looking forward to this one. Without even seeing it...I can see that much of the criticism is based on an incredibly overbearing constraint on what a black writer/director can do. That interview is hilarious. Spike's basically looking around with his shoulders up saying 'Really? I STILL don't get some artistic license here?' And he's right.