Film ReviewsBlacKkKlansman: Racism is a White Problem
Aug 17, 2018 Anchorage Press
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Spike Lee’s new film, BlacKkKlansman, is a brilliant reflection of the deeply embedded racism in America’s DNA. BlacKkKlansman shows Lee in top form, working from Ron Stallworth’s memoir and building a narrative around it that pulls from history, current conditions, and infuses with optimism. The reality that racism is alive and well even after strides made by the Civil Rights movement and the illusion of opportunity may be jarring for some, but not surprising for others who live with the consequences of institutionalized racism and those who perpetrated. As the saying goes, “Truth is stranger than fiction”, or – “You just can’t make this shit up”, is perhaps one of the first reactions to the story line—yes, it really did happen. Ron Stallworth, the first Black detective in the Colorado Springs Police Department in the late 1970s infiltrated the Colorado chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. Not only did Stallworth make contact, he received a certificate and membership card signed by none other than the Grand Wizard himself, David Duke, with whom he later had personal phone conversations because to Duke’s ears, Stallworth sounded like a true White American who shared his hatred of all races and ethnicity except his own.
The ensemble cast of BlacKkKlansman is tailored made and balanced, John David Washington’s performance as Stallworth is smooth and captivating, clearly, the apple doesn’t fall far from the Denzel Washington apple tree. Washington made his film debut when he was six years old alongside his father in Malcom X, however, this is Washington’s first leading role. His performance is part of the reason that BlacKkKlansman received a standing ovation at Cannes that reportedly went on and on and on. Adam Driver is a perfect complement to Washington, in the role of Flip Zimmerman, Stallworth’s Jewish undercover counterpart. Topher Grace gives a surprisingly good performance of David Duke that may have just opened new doors for him. While the three key characters above are based on actual people in the memoir, the character of Patrice Dumas, played by Laura Harrier, is not. Patrice is an amalgamation of female leaders such as Angela Davis and Kathleen Neal Cleaver, and her character serves to honor them and remind viewers that without their fortitude, the Black Panthers and change may not have been as effective.
BlacKkKlansman is a period piece, with the texture of the late 1970s but with a contemporary feel. The soundtrack is brilliant and serves to link past and present; reinforcing the inter-generational struggles against racism from its most overt manifestations, to its existence in the folds of society, and it’s also brilliant, from Prince to James Brown. Spike Lee’s camera delivers beautiful montages of faces and time periods that serves to break down colonial ideas of beauty and events. Viewers may just want to hit pause at times and just take in the beauty of the film.
As entertaining and relevant as BlacKkKlansman is, it is not without its share of criticism; fair enough, it’s depicts a segregated but sanitized dynamic and lacks the razor sharp edge of Spike Lee’s early works, and it’s even a bit heavy handed and obvious. Even Boots Riley blasted BlacKkKlansman on Twitter saying, ““After 40 years of cop shows and cop movies, did we really need one more movie where it’s supposed to be about racism but the cops are the actual heroes of the film and the most effective force against racism?”, a tweet that he later removed but that lives on as a screen capture. There is some truth to Riley’s criticism, it’s not just that BlacKkKlansman overshadowed his own film Sorry To Bother You, which is also worth seeing. One can see this criticism in a couple of ways, on the one hand, BlacKkKlansman lacks the frustration people feel at the endemic abuses by police every single day; on the other hand, Lee shows an optimism that most people have more things in common than they realize and that given the opportunity, they will do the right thing, as the character of Stallworth says, “With the right White man, we can do anything.” After all, racism in the United States is a White problem—it’s the misguided and erroneous idea that skin color determines human worth. BlacKkKlansman delivers a counter narrative to the Alt-right, KKK, and White Nationalists’ false belief that White is might, and it takes the narrative further, it brings it home to current event and holds the Trump administration accountable for its role in spreading hatred against all Americans.
Rated R
2h 15min
Check listings for show times
The ensemble cast of BlacKkKlansman is tailored made and balanced, John David Washington’s performance as Stallworth is smooth and captivating, clearly, the apple doesn’t fall far from the Denzel Washington apple tree. Washington made his film debut when he was six years old alongside his father in Malcom X, however, this is Washington’s first leading role. His performance is part of the reason that BlacKkKlansman received a standing ovation at Cannes that reportedly went on and on and on. Adam Driver is a perfect complement to Washington, in the role of Flip Zimmerman, Stallworth’s Jewish undercover counterpart. Topher Grace gives a surprisingly good performance of David Duke that may have just opened new doors for him. While the three key characters above are based on actual people in the memoir, the character of Patrice Dumas, played by Laura Harrier, is not. Patrice is an amalgamation of female leaders such as Angela Davis and Kathleen Neal Cleaver, and her character serves to honor them and remind viewers that without their fortitude, the Black Panthers and change may not have been as effective.
BlacKkKlansman is a period piece, with the texture of the late 1970s but with a contemporary feel. The soundtrack is brilliant and serves to link past and present; reinforcing the inter-generational struggles against racism from its most overt manifestations, to its existence in the folds of society, and it’s also brilliant, from Prince to James Brown. Spike Lee’s camera delivers beautiful montages of faces and time periods that serves to break down colonial ideas of beauty and events. Viewers may just want to hit pause at times and just take in the beauty of the film.
As entertaining and relevant as BlacKkKlansman is, it is not without its share of criticism; fair enough, it’s depicts a segregated but sanitized dynamic and lacks the razor sharp edge of Spike Lee’s early works, and it’s even a bit heavy handed and obvious. Even Boots Riley blasted BlacKkKlansman on Twitter saying, ““After 40 years of cop shows and cop movies, did we really need one more movie where it’s supposed to be about racism but the cops are the actual heroes of the film and the most effective force against racism?”, a tweet that he later removed but that lives on as a screen capture. There is some truth to Riley’s criticism, it’s not just that BlacKkKlansman overshadowed his own film Sorry To Bother You, which is also worth seeing. One can see this criticism in a couple of ways, on the one hand, BlacKkKlansman lacks the frustration people feel at the endemic abuses by police every single day; on the other hand, Lee shows an optimism that most people have more things in common than they realize and that given the opportunity, they will do the right thing, as the character of Stallworth says, “With the right White man, we can do anything.” After all, racism in the United States is a White problem—it’s the misguided and erroneous idea that skin color determines human worth. BlacKkKlansman delivers a counter narrative to the Alt-right, KKK, and White Nationalists’ false belief that White is might, and it takes the narrative further, it brings it home to current event and holds the Trump administration accountable for its role in spreading hatred against all Americans.
Rated R
2h 15min
Check listings for show times