SPIKE LEE BOYCOTTS "DJANGO UNCHAINED"; SAYS MOVIE IS AN 'INSULT TO BLACKS'
Vibe.com--Spike Lee said the film Django Unchained is an insult to blacks who suffered as slaves in the US and therefore he has no plans to see it, the African American director said on Twitter.
The Quentin Tarantino movie starring Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio is about a slave played by Foxx who becomes a bounty hunter. With the help of a mentor played by Christoph Waltz he sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner played by DiCaprio.
Lee, whose films include Do the Right Thing, He Got Game and Malcom X, said in a tweet on Monday he would boycott the film because it insults his ancestors.
"American Slavery Was Not A Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western. It Was A Holocaust. My Ancestors Are Slaves. Stolen From Africa. I Will Honor Them," he wrote in the tweet shortly after he told Vibe Magazine he couldn't comment on the movie because he decided not to see it.
"All I'm going to say is that it's disrespectful to my ancestors to see that film. That's the only thing I'm gonna say," he said in an interview published at vibe.com. "I can't disrespect my ancestors. I can't do it. Now, that's me. I'm not speaking on behalf of anybody but myself. I can't do it."
The gun-slinging movie shows Django - the slave played by Foxx - shooting and killing slave owners in the southern US.
The Quentin Tarantino movie starring Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio is about a slave played by Foxx who becomes a bounty hunter. With the help of a mentor played by Christoph Waltz he sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner played by DiCaprio.
Lee, whose films include Do the Right Thing, He Got Game and Malcom X, said in a tweet on Monday he would boycott the film because it insults his ancestors.
"American Slavery Was Not A Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western. It Was A Holocaust. My Ancestors Are Slaves. Stolen From Africa. I Will Honor Them," he wrote in the tweet shortly after he told Vibe Magazine he couldn't comment on the movie because he decided not to see it.
"All I'm going to say is that it's disrespectful to my ancestors to see that film. That's the only thing I'm gonna say," he said in an interview published at vibe.com. "I can't disrespect my ancestors. I can't do it. Now, that's me. I'm not speaking on behalf of anybody but myself. I can't do it."
The gun-slinging movie shows Django - the slave played by Foxx - shooting and killing slave owners in the southern US.
If Spike has that much of a problem with the movie, why won't Spike meet with the director privately about his concerns? Why would Spike use media (which is vast...and spreads like wild fire) to comment his dislikes for someone's work?