I know a lot of white people who don’t think Spike Lee movies are for them. And some of them are just not films the many white people can relate to. BlacKkKlansman is not one of those. It is a film that all people should see, particularly in light of the disturbing resurgence of white supremacy.
BlacKkKlansman (John David Washington, Adam Driver) – Spike Lee is an outspoken social advocate as well as an exceptional and complicated filmmaker. Almost all of his films focus on life in the “hood” and paint a less-than-hopeful picture of race relations while shining a light on the African-American experience in the America.
For white audiences, Lee can be a polarizing figure as detailed well in a recent cover story in Time magazine. Mainstreamed in the recent Capital One commercials with Samuel L. Jackson and Charles Barkley, Lee is also known for his fierce support of the New York Knicks and Yankees. Lee is an ever-present celebrity presence while using that fame to criticize Donald Trump and the racism so rampant in the President’s rhetoric.
BlacKkKlansman is one of Lee’s best films in part because it combines his exceptional directorial skills with the true story of a Colorado Springs detective who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s. Ron Stallworth (played nonchalantly by John David Washington, the son of Denzel Washington) joined the Colorado town’s police department as the first black cop in this lily-white town. Stallworth, well educated, well-spoken, and ambitious, just wants to be a good cop but faces obstacles within the Department and outside. His 70’s Afro target him as a child of the era but he belies black stereotypes.
Amazingly, he picks up the phone in response to an ad for new recruits to the resurging KKK in Colorado in the ‘70s. Having convinced the white supremacist on the other end of the phone that he is a white bigot and anti-Semite, he “infiltrates” the local chapter. A black guy in the KKK? Not exactly. His fellow detective, “Flip” Zimmerman, assumes Stallworth’s identity and becomes a Klansman. Ironically, Flip (Adam Driver) is white and Jewish and, frankly, takes all the risks while Stallworth calls the shots. When Stallworth decides to call national KKK Grand Wizard David Duke (Topher Grace), the movie gets implausible … except that it really happened!! Then, ironically, Stallworth gets assigned to protect Duke when he comes to town for a visit.
This is the point when most directors would play it like a merry mix-up, but Lee doesn’t. He makes it uncomfortable for everyone and starts to draw the inevitable parallels between the Klan in the ‘70s and today’s scary resurgence of white “nationalism.”
As the plot gets more risky, Lee dials up the toxicity of the Klan. Using his distinctive cinematic style (that is similar to Quentin Tarantino), Lee tells this serious story with some humor and irony. By the time the movie ends, we feel the appropriate disdain for the Klansmen and the satisfaction of exposing these wretched human beings.
But then Lee tacks on a coda, which is no surprise if you have read much about the movie, but I will leave it unsaid. I’m not sure I would call BlacKkKlansman an “important film.” I would call it a really good movie that will shock you and entertain you.