Spike Lee and Clint Eastwood

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A feud has recently erupted between Clint Eastwood and Spike Lee over Eastwood not featuring any black soldiers in his World War II epic films, Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of our Fathers.

Two great directors, many great films, so few brain cells.

First blood was drawn by Lee, director of several ground-breaking films, including one of my favorite movies of all time, Mo' Better Blues, when Lee said during an interview at Cannes, "He did two films about Iwo Jima back to back and there was not one black soldier in both of those films."

Clint, retorted poetically, "A guy like him should shut his face."

I am not sure what he meant by, "A guy like him," but geez, down Clint, down.

In his defense, Clint went on to add that while there was a small detachment of black troops on Iwo Jima as a part of a munitions company, "they didn't raise the flag. The story is 'Flags of Our Fathers,' the famous flag-raising picture, and they didn't do that. If I go ahead and put an African-American actor in there, people'd go, 'This guy's lost his mind.' I mean, it's not accurate."

Unmentioned by Clint is the fact that Letters from Iwo Jima was from the Japanese perspective of the battle. I could be mistaken about blacks fighting for the Japanese but, oh... never mind.

Spike, not to be outdone, or let truth get in the way, responded, "I know the history of Hollywood and its omission of the one million African-American men and women who contributed to World War II. Not everything was John Wayne, baby."

Stay on topic now, Spike.

While the both of them are acting (of the other kind) like children, I have to side with Clint on this one. By Spike's logic, movies such as Titanic, which surely was a ship with black people on it, should have had a scene showing the guys working on the boat. Why isn't spike criticizing that cinematic error? And why criticize the Iwo Jima films several years after the fact?

When it comes to controversy, Spike's gotta have it. Especially since he is promoting his new film, Miracle at St. Anna.

Clint could have reacted a bit less harsh for a sagely man of his years. But, perhaps reminiscing on the old Dirty Harry days, he felt he had strike to back with sudden impact.

Two grown men with a fist full of dollars should do the right thing, any which way they can instead of throwing the gauntlet down.


This weeks "Rude or Stupid" winners will receive pirated downloads of the audio-book The Greatest Generation, byTom Brokaw's as well as Dale Carnegie's classic, How to Win Friends and Influence People.


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