More on Spike Lee's personality
Carolyn Ford
Subject: Spike Lee personality insight
Summary:
Followup-To:
Reply-To: fo...@titan.tsd.arlut.utexas.edu
Distribution: world
Organization: Applied Research Laboratories, University of Texas at Austin
Keywords:
I've been reading the recent thread on Spike Lee with much interest, as
I am in awe of his movie-making, but turned off by his personality.
As an example of this, Harper's has the following article in this month's
issue (May 92) (oh, the following is written here with no permission from
anyone):
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The message below was left by Spike Lee, the film director, on March 2,
on the answering machine of an editor of the Campus Life section of the
New York Times. Lee was responding to an article about a course that he
is teaching this semester at Harvard, which had appeared in the Campus
Life section the previous day; the article incorrectly stated that Lee
"does not have a college degree."
"This is Spike Lee. How you doing? Look, how in the hell are you going
to write some bullshit that I don't have a fucking college degree? I
got a fucking master's from NYU and an undergraduate degree from
Morehouse College. How's the fucking New York Times gonna write some
bullshit that I don't have a fucking college degree? You know you
motherfuckers ought to do some fucking research or whatever you call that
shit before you write some fucking bullshit, all right? I got a
fucking master of fine arts from fucking NYU. I want a motherfucking
retraction. All right, motherfucker?"
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Just thought someone might find it interesting...
--
Carolyn Ford | fo...@titan.tsd.arlut.utexas.edu
Applied Research Labs | ^^^^^
University of Texas | when replying, note our newsposter forgets this
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Rolando Vinluan
I agree that it seems Mr. Lee is racist in his own way,
for example that "moagly" (sp?) comment about white women who like black men.
BUT the above quote, I can understand. Why did such a respected paper like the
NYT let such an easily-researched mistake fly by like that? I can understand
how he, who I'm sure in his own way likes to be respected, is very proud of
his degree. Heck, if I were him, famous and all, and somebody says crap like this,
maybe I'd just be as mad, too (and I don't get angry very easily). In a way,
the NYT writer was probably letting his unconscious racism show. (He's black,
so he probably doesn't have a college degree...) I hope he got his retraction.
gilbert.m.stewart
> Subject: Spike Lee personality insight
> Summary:
> Followup-To:
> Reply-To: fo...@titan.tsd.arlut.utexas.edu
> Distribution: world
> Organization: Applied Research Laboratories, University of Texas at Austin
> Keywords:
>
>
> I've been reading the recent thread on Spike Lee with much interest, as
> I am in awe of his movie-making, but turned off by his personality.
I've heard from people who have talked to Spike, some of whom think
he's racist. My own take on it seems that Spike, while to many seems
to overreact, he does have his gripes. I'd bet that he does take race
into account in some decisions. But I'd also say that from his point of
view, these decisions are proper. And if he feels strongly enough about
something, he probably feels that his amount of vocal displeasure is
appropriate, and further, that anyone that has a problem with it can
stuff it. And anyone who has taken a strong position knows that making
some enemies is part of the deal. You just have to weigh how much you're
willing to sacrifice in terms of being everyone's darling.
As for his reaction to the piece that said he didn't have a college degree,
I have to wonder why an unresearched statement like that was put into
an article about the guy in the first place. And I'd probably be pretty
steamed as well. I wouldn't have given a magazine or newpaper an
answering machine message like that to use against me in the future, but
I'd still be a bit cranked off.
If there were any position that didn't have its price, it would not be
a discernible position.
GMS
Barbara Hlavin
>
>I'd bet that he does take race
>into account in some decisions. But I'd also say that from his point of
>view, these decisions are proper.
The same could be said of George Wallace.
gilbert.m.stewart
I'd have to agree. But then, as I've said before, there are no
"good" people and "bad" people, but the big bunch of us in
between. And we are ALL capable of "dysfunctional thinking"
to some degree. Those that claim otherwise it are the most dangerous.
And most endangered.
GMS
Mark Slagle
> Article-I.D.: cbnewse.1992Apr30.215623.17738
> I've heard from people who have talked to Spike, some of whom think
> he's racist. My own take on it seems that Spike, while to many seems
> to overreact, he does have his gripes. I'd bet that he does take race
> into account in some decisions. But I'd also say that from his point of
> view, these decisions are proper.
----
It's always proper when I do it, rarely when you do it.
--
----
Mark E. Slagle PO Box 61059
sla...@lmsc.lockheed.com Sunnyvale, CA 94088
408-756-0895 USA
gilbert.m.stewart
> >In article <1992Apr30.2...@cbnewse.cb.att.com>, gm...@cbnewse.cb.att.com (gilbert.m.stewart) writes:
> > Article-I.D.: cbnewse.1992Apr30.215623.17738
>
> > I've heard from people who have talked to Spike, some of whom think
> > he's racist. My own take on it seems that Spike, while to many seems
> > to overreact, he does have his gripes. I'd bet that he does take race
> > into account in some decisions. But I'd also say that from his point of
> > view, these decisions are proper.
>
> ----
> It's always proper when I do it, rarely when you do it.
Since the prior post is referring to a third person, I'm wondering
whether "I" and "you" are being used in the general or specific
context.
If general, and you're being sarcastic, then, though I can still see
Lee's possible motivation, I agree with your sentiment wholeheartedly.
GMS