The Big Picture
- Spike Lee's film Blackkklansman examines the futility of giving a story revolving around racism a happy ending when prejudice still exists today.
- Lee highlights how depictions in films can shape real-world biases and prejudices, demonstrating the impact of racist caricatures in The Birth of a Nation.
- The film's conclusion challenges the notion that defeating a few Klansmen or arresting a single racist cop can eradicate racism, emphasizing the lasting impact of hate in shaping contemporary America.
Cinema has long been used as a provocative force to spark conversations about race, politics, and culture, and Spike Lee has never shied away from using his voice as a director. Be it discussions about cross-cultural prejudices in Do the Right Thing,or the fight for reparations in Da 5 Bloods; Lee has long been at the forefront of cinema's political dialogue. However, what makes Lee’s 2018 film Blackkklansman noteworthy is how it actively comments on the nature of ideals presented in on-screen fiction versus the reality that informs them. This is seen in how the film examines the supposed 'truth' of biopics, looking into the futility of giving a story revolving around racism a happy ending when such prejudices still exist today. Furthermore, Lee turns this examination onto the history of cinematic depictions of Black people as a whole by examining how stereotype informs perception.
What Is 'Blackkklansman' About?
Blackkklansman serves as a biopic following the life of Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), the first Black detective in the Colorado Springs Police Department who went on to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan. With a film built around such a contradictory set of circumstances, it's no wonder that Blackkklansman is built on the idea of perceived reality in relation to the truth beneath the surface. Lee consistently comments on inherent systemic issues that plague the characters but can't be fought in any tangible way. Ron is a cop but is constantly told that he is part of a flawed system. Ron tries to argue with Patrice (Laura Harrier) over the value of blaxploitation films. Patrice argues that these films promote harmful stereotypes. Ron states; “it’s just a movie.” It's an argument often made. It is as though depictions, though fictional, can't inform real-world biases. Contrast this with a scene earlier in the film, when Civil Rights figure Kwame Ture (Corey Hawkins) talks about how he remembers watching Tarzan as a child and cheering as Tarzan killed the African natives. Much of Blackkklansman revolves around this idea, that depictions determine prejudices just as much as actions do.
The scene that most solidifies this notion is when Flip (Adam Driver), masquerading as Ron Stallworth, attends a Ku Klux Klan induction and watches The Birth of a Nation. The audience members cheer and holler at the spectacle on-screen, shot after shot of racist caricature populating the frame and terrorizing the 'innocent white people'. During these scenes, the film cuts to an extended monologue by Jerome Turner (Harry Belafonte), a civil rights activist as he recounts the story of a young black man who was viciously murdered by a mob after being accused of sexually assaulting a white woman. It's a wholly necessary scene. To watch Ku Klux Klan members watch The Birth of a Nation has enough of an impact already. What makes the scene all the more potent is drawing a direct line between that film and the rebirth of the Klan and racially charged violence. "Everybody saw it," Jerome states. It's a horrifying notion, imagining a modern-day 'blockbuster' made with such vitriol and hate. Suddenly, the simple hand-wave of "it's just a movie" hangs in the back of our minds like a hammer over one's head.
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Towards the film's finale, it feels like change is finally coming. Several Ku Klux Klan members have been incapacitated, a racist cop who had been intimidating Stallworth throughout the film has been arrested, and even Grand Wizard David Duke has been left speechless. Justice has been served. All feels well and good until Ron and Patrice hear a knock at their door. They ready their weapons, ready for whatever is out there. When they look outside, they don't see a threat as tangible as a man with a gun. What they see is our reality. Broken from the constraints of the film's narrative, they see real-life footage of rampant racism in modern America. They see Donald Trump speaking of "very fine people on both sides". They see David Duke giving a speech in 2017. They see the Charlottesville car attack. Lee realizes that the story he is telling simply doesn't have an ending. Defeating four members of the Ku Klux Klan does not end racism. Arresting a single officer doesn't end abuses of power within the police. A film about real-world history is not a depiction of real-world history. Spike Lee recognizes all of these elements by not tying every plot point up in a neat bow but instead closing on a terrifying reflection of how the hate depicted in Blackkklansman shaped the America of 2018.
