U. students applaud 'Malcolm X,' call it educational and real

The publicity, the mystery, and the anticipation were finally over. Spike Lee's highly publicized "Malcolm X" opened yesterday in theaters across the nation, and University students and other West Philadelphians flocked to the AMC Walnut on campus to get a first-hand look at the long-awaited biography of the life of the black leader. "I already read the book and I felt that [the movie] left some things out that showed the maturity and attitude of Malcolm X," said College freshman Ethan Fox. Fox added that although the film is no substitute for the book, "it is the best way to reach the mass public . . . not everyone is going to read the book." As the mostly-black crowd filed out of the theater, many people talked among themselves about the movie. Most of the crowd was quiet and a few were teary-eyed. The early reviews seemed to indicate that the movie meant more than the hats worn around campus and the big signs plastered in SEPTA stations. Azam Ali, a Wharton and Engineering freshman, was concerned that despite Lee's accurate portrayal of Malcolm X's life, many people would get the wrong idea. "His message when he died was not Black Nationalism, it was Islam," Ali said. He said Malcolm X stressed that blacks could gain self respect through Islam and that it was the solution to American racial problems. "If people really want to know what Malcolm X did, they have to know Islam," Ali added. Until he saw the movie, Wharton freshman Jason Wood had heard that Malcolm X was "anti-Martin Luther King." Afterwards, Wood said the movie "portrayed the story differently from what I heard about him." Representatives of the International Muslim Brotherhood who attended the film passed out flyers outside reminding people, "If you are truly down with the legacy of Malcolm X then exhibit yourself as he did . . . This means accept Islam." The flyers then enumerated the ways to accept Islam, including abandoning alcohol and drugs, abstaining from premarital sex, and not cursing. It finished off with a call to "challenge a world that challenges you." George Abdul Malik, a Temple University student and a representative of the International Muslim Brotherhood, said that the movie "portrayed [Malcolm X's] life how it was, but there were some thing that weren't portrayed correctly." Malik, a Muslim, reflected on a scene in which Muslims were "smoking," an activity which he said was not in accordance with Islam. Fox, Malik, and Wood all agreed that the movie was an educational experience. Malik Gibson, a student at the Community College of Philadelphia, summed up the movie in three sentences: "Everybody needs to go see it. It's not a racist movie. It tells the truth."