Spike Lee
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Leeis an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth20 March 1957
CityAtlanta, GA
CountryUnited States of America
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I wouldn't put anything past the U.S. government when it comes to people of color. There is too much history ... going back to when the U.S. army gave smallpox-infested blankets to Native Americans.
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I think that every minority in the United States of America knows everything about the dominant culture. From the time you can think, you are bombarded with images from TV, film, magazines, newspapers.
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'Red Hook Summer' is another chapter in my chronicles of Brooklyn.
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'She's Gotta Have It' and 'School Daze,' I really didn't know what I was doing. And the biggest indicator of that was the acting. 'Do the Right Thing' was like the first film where I really felt comfortable working with actors.
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I think that anyone who lives in New York, who's lived here, who's spent any time here, knows that it's basically a love-hate relationship, you might say. Even though I still think it's the greatest city in the world and I wouldn't live anywhere else, there're still things about it one doesn't like. The love far outweighs the negative.
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I'm riding my man Obama. I think he's a visionary. Actually, Barack told me the first date he took Michelle to was 'Do the Right Thing.' I said, Thank God I made it. Otherwise you would have taken her to 'Soul Man.' Michelle would have been like 'What's wrong with this brother?'
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Where are the slaves? Who's picking the cotton?
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'Do the Right Thing' was my first union film. I looked at the rosters, and for the most part, it was white males. Especially the Teamsters. So we had some conversations.
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Too many people are being bowled over by Bush and Tony Blair in Britain. It's ludicrous to expect the whole world to follow what they want.
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When I saw the devastation on TV and in the news...it (didn't) prepare me for what I saw there. You hear these people's stories, and its heartbreaking.
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We have a sort of understanding that works on the set. When you're shooting, the cash register is ringing . Denzel and I know where we're going before shooting starts. Then, it's a matter of doing it.
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We wanted to truthfully reflect the rage and the tone of what people felt.
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Any film I do is not going to change the way black women have been portrayed, or black people have been portrayed, in cinema since the days of D.W. Griffith.
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A lot of times you get credit for stuff in your movies you didn't intend to be there.