'Be true to yourself,' Spike Lee says

Anyone who's seen a Spike Lee film will tell you that the Emmy award-winning director is not afraid to express his opinions.

Lee's appearance as the Social Planning and Events Film Committee's first keynote speaker last night at Irvine Auditorium further demonstrated his outspoken demeanor. During both a moderated discussion with English professor Salamishah Tillet and a question-and-answer session that followed, Lee fired opinionated quips on a wide variety of issues.

For instance, his response when asked a question about recent Arab films: "You could make a comparison between blacks in this country and Palestinians. I definitely see the correlation."

Lee's remarks on the film industry were similarly charged. "If you want to be a progressive filmmaker . why do you fucking care about the Academy Awards?" he asked. "Nobody who really cares about cinema thinks about the Academy Awards."

Most of the conversation was spent illuminating the issues of race that run through many of Lee's films. Early in the evening, Lee expressed his desire to provide accurate depictions of blacks in his most recent film, Miracle at St. Anna.

Lee grew up hearing his father talk about two uncles who were part of the "Red Bull Express" supply team that drove across enemy lines to supply the American army, which fueled Lee's fascination with World War II. After noting the absence of blacks from contemporary World War II films, Lee realized the need to portray the contributions of blacks to the war effort.

Lee called attention to the need to change the depiction of blacks in the media. When asked about the state of black cinema today, he mentioned the difficulty of making films that "don't fall into the ghettos that the studios make."

Despite this obstacle, Lee remains hopeful about the future of black portrayals in film. New films, Lee said, "continue to expand what African American cinema can do."

He added that current young filmmakers have the advantage of easy access to equipment to express their views.

"Try to be true to yourself," he encouraged. "There is no one way to tell a story. It could be experimental, a documentary or a narrative. I'm never going to run out of stories."

This insight impressed College freshman Marisa Brau, who was glad Lee brought up the idea of films telling stories. "That's what movies should be about ... information," she said.

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