Spike Lee participated in a video panel for American Cinematheque moderated by “Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins. The wide-ranging conversation was as political and informative as you’d expect, but when the topic about viewing old films deemed “racist” today, such as “Birth Of A Nation” and “Gone With The Wind,” Lee didn’t hesitate in signifying their importance and the value of context when watching them.
“We’re cinephiles, we love movies, but we also understand how there has been a lot of false narratives in films – and, given the opportunity, we try to shine some light on that darkness that’s been out there for many many years. If you remember the opening of ‘BlacKKKlansman’, it’s from one of the greatest shots ever in cinema: Scarlett O’Hara. I think that film [Gone With The Wind] should be seen. I show ‘Birth of a Nation’ in my class – I also give it historical and social context, while talking about the things that D.W. Griffith innovated.”
“When they showed that film when I was at NYU, they left out the fact that at the time the Klan was dormant, and this film brought life back to the Klan which directly ended up killing Black folks – but that was not taught […] when you put stuff in historical perspective… in fourth grade we had a class trip, they had just reissued ‘Gone With The Wind’, seeing Hattie McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen…myself, my other classmates, we were cringing,” Lee continues. “But no one told us, you’ve gotta talk about this stuff. I don’t think it should be banned. That’s just my opinion”.
In an earlier interview with The View, Lee shared similar thoughts about both movies.
The disavowing of “Gone With the Wind” and “Birth of A Nation” similarly falls in line with the debate of tearing down statues. Should we erase a shameful part of history for the sake of being progressive? Should we disassociate ourselves with the past and pretend it never existed? The answers to both of those questions should be on the negative. We should learn from history to not make the same mistakes twice, we should always strive to broaden our horizons and never subject ourselves to censorship because that is when society can go from a democracy to a banana republic. It’s no coincidence that some of the evilest dictators in history tried to erase history as well with their power grab, including Hitler.
We need more famous filmmakers like Spike to speak this truth, if not then we will see more classic films get their reputations sent to the gutter just for not having their settings or characters align with the times. It will never end. Regardless, it’s inevitable that the “cancellation” of more classic movies is coming up on the horizon, art has always mirrored society, just be ready to fight it and stand for what you believe in. Don’t cower down to the mob.
The full discussion can be watched below/ The “Birth of a Nation” exchange begins at 11:55.
This is a significant update for a project that has been stuck in development for years, and comes roughly a year after Brolin said “Sicario 3” was a maybe.