Spike to Clint: "We're Not on a Plantation!"

16. I hate when people use the term "race card" or "anti semitic card" or whatever "card." I'm a white christian but i think people who keep complaining about other people's "cards" are total assholes. Slavery is nobody's CARD. If you were black you don't know what issues you'd have. you can only begin to imagine. so SHUT IT.

Posted at 2:22PM on Jun 7th 2008 by AK

17. I agree with the person who said that Spike Lee does this when he is trying to promote one of his new projects. As they say "bad publicitiy is still publicity" - it is apparent that Mr. Lee cannot rely upon his own film making to draw the crowds - he has to bring negative attention to himself by attacking an icon in the film industry such as Mr. Eastwood. Deep down he must feel inferior, inadequate and he should truely be ashamed of his bad behavior. Make your films and quite attacking others to try to pull yourself up. It ain't workin' little dude.

Posted at 2:26PM on Jun 7th 2008 by clint fan

18. Simmer down everyone its just two old farts arguing about nothing. Their both good directors, its just hype

Posted at 2:27PM on Jun 7th 2008 by Eric H

19. i doubt there were any black soldiers doing front line fighting on iwo jima.

i'm not sure, but i seriously doubt the marine corps was intergrated in ww2.

personally, i think spike is a racist, and i've thought that for quite some time.

Posted at 2:31PM on Jun 7th 2008 by bobbyozone

20. Spike Lee's comment me interested - so I googled the subject. Turns out that 900 of the 22000 soldiers were black (4 percent). Here's the best article I found, it even interviews surviving members:
Absent from history: the black soldiers at Iwo Jima http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/oct/20/usa.film
Note - this article was written in 2006! Spike Lee's comment is not just a low after-the-fact blow, Clint was lobbied hard during the filming, he just chose not to respond. Lastly - turns out that it was a black man who gave one of the white men who hoisted the flag a piece of the pipe to do so. Definitely not one of the "hoisters", but close enough to the action that he might have warranted a role as an extra in the film, no? It's not like Clint hasn't made films featuring black men and black history before, so I wonder why he was just such a stubborn old cuss this time?

Posted at 2:35PM on Jun 7th 2008 by Dani

21. Did Spike pay any attention in Geography or History class? One of Clint's last WWII movies was about soldiers in the Japanese Army on Iwo Jima before the battle--I don't think Hirohito had very many black subjects back then (and I don't think the current emperor has a lot, either.) And, the Marine Corps didn't accept blacks in WWII (sad but true,) so unless you want to re-write history, he shouldn't have expected to see any brothers in "Flags of our Fathers." Finally, as a good redskin, let me (and I think I speak for a lot of my red brothers,) say that I have an interest in "Flags" as a statement about OUR heroism in the Big One, so I don't take kindly to any belly-aching about it! (Buffalo Soldier, lackey of the white man/Buffalo Soldier, shooting Indians for America!)

Posted at 2:32PM on Jun 7th 2008 by Mikeboy

22. During World War Two America was racist,

so just about any accurate movie will use white actors, with a few notable exceptions. So Spike if you want to make a BLACK movie about body clean up, you can use black actor. However if you want to make a movie about combat and action of World War Two you use white actors.

The one movie, that i can think of, that has not made about black heroism (fighting the element instead of the japs) was the story of the Alaska Road.

Posted at 2:32PM on Jun 7th 2008 by kj

23. So why did Clint not show black soldiers in both movies? Why could'nt he just answer the accusation instead of berating the man?

I find Clint's words childish and shows that there was some truth to what Spike said or he woul dnot have reacted the way he did.

Spike is right, times have changed, Clint is not above reproach.....Dirty Harry, what do you have to hide?

Posted at 8:17PM on Jun 7th 2008 by mildbrew

24. I think you both are great direstors however, Clint stick to the issue. Is it true what Mr. Lee is saying?
Pman

Posted at 9:45AM on Jun 8th 2008 by jamespman

25. Mikeboy, did you really think SPIKE LEE had ever opened any kind of book, much less one relating to history or geography? People like him spout off at the mouth with absolutely no basis in reality or facts. They like to hear themselves talk. He thinks he's "speaking for the black man" every time he utters a sentence, and I'm guessing most blacks wish he would just "shut his face."

Clint Eastwood has more power and influence in Hollywood than Spike will ever even DREAM of having, so he better take Clint's advice while he still can - or he may just find himself back on a plantation. I'm pretty sure Clint can do it!

Posted at 2:48PM on Jun 7th 2008 by ManBearPig Hunter

26. Yeah, Spike shut the f*** up!
I'm tired of your bitching about racism and you are the biggest racist in films! Way to go Clint!
CLINT FOR PRESIDENT!

Posted at 2:38PM on Jun 7th 2008 by jena0830

27. "come on Clint, come on. He sounds like an angry old man right there."

Sounds like age discrimination right there to me. What do you have to say for yourself now Spike?

Posted at 2:39PM on Jun 7th 2008 by Bubblyfart

28. As illustrated by this article and the comments thus far advanced, racial bigotry is alive and well in America. This is not to say bigotry of whites toward blacks, but these days it's mostly blacks toward whites. My concern is that the white blacklash that may follow doesn't divide us further as a nation. It's time to leave the racial hatred and bigotry of the past behind us. The U.S. is the only nation on earth that has enacted legislation to end racial injustice and bigotry in business, housing and many other arenas, but bigotry in one's heart can't be driven away with legislation. True love of one's fellow man can only take place given time, understanding and communication. Let us all try harder to be human.

Posted at 10:45AM on Jun 9th 2008 by TEVO

29. Little spikey lee is a dyed in the wool racist. His major complaint with "Flags of our Fathers" is that there were no black people in the film (which is about the famous flag raising on Iwo Jima). Well little spikey, I hate to rain on your racist parade, but there wasn't a significant negro presence on Iwo; the armed forces at that time were severely segregated, and weren't allowed to fight; they were typically cooks or yeomen on naval ships. At Iwo, black men weren't allowed to land on the island and definitely were restricted from fighting; they were support for the invasion only.

When watching the film, what I got from it was that there weren't black men in the film, which seemed odd. When I asked why & decided to research it, this idea of a segregated army is what I found out. If anything, this film points out not only how dishonest the US was to the American people about the flag raising (and how it so negatively impacted the soldiers involved in the raising), but that the US Armed Forces stupidly had a segregationist policy regarding black men back then. An entire generation of black men were restricted from fighting (with the exception of the Tuskegee Airmen, and other rare instances; they have nothing to do with the Iwo invasion). However, little spikey wants to rewrite history & show black men where they weren't, and if they're not shown there, it's "racist".

He oughta know racism; it's his stock in trade. I guess racism knows no color boundaries; dumbasses like little spikey have been using it in their favor for years. What little spikey really ought to do is think before he opens his big mouth; it'll be much less embarrassing for him later on...

Posted at 2:42PM on Jun 7th 2008 by little spikey lee = RACIST

30. I take it that no one has seen Spike's film The Inside Man? Yes, Spike has done primarily black themed films, but he has also ventured outside that area. What about his documentary When The Levees failed?

This whole discussion is a non starter. Eastwood and Lee are both great directors who do very very very different things. They have different world views, priorities and unique voices. There is no comparison and no competition.

And the fact that someone would use Spike's comments to suggest that America would be better a place if its black citizens returned to Africa, says a whole lot about the arrogant ignorance, and prejudice of the writer. The level of their stupidity is stunning.

Posted at 2:43PM on Jun 7th 2008 by kaimac