The narrator, the kids declaring themselves as Malcolm X and the cameo by Nelson Mandela all felt like Spike Lee was laying it on a little thick at the ending. The events in the movie speak for themselves. If his intentions were to show how important a figure Malcolm X still is, I'm sure there were better and more subtle ways to do it. At least, more subtle than what we got. Otherwise, it's a good movie.
shareI agree with you OneBadGuy for the most part. I did however enjoy hearing Ossie Davis's eulogy of Malcolm X at the end of the film along with real pictures of Malcolm X. I did not like the inclusion of Rodney King's beating by the Police at the beginning of the film only because it dates this otherwise wonderful film. I think if Spike Lee showed historical pictures of blacks being lynched it would of sent a more powerful message than King's beating in my humble opinion.
shareOssie Davis was pretty good but the epilogue in general was surely the weakest part of the movie.
At the end of the day, Spike Lee is a black film maker (at least back then). That's how he saw himself. He could not make a movie like this without pandering to black people.
He had the choice of feeling like a sell-out film maker or a sell-out black person and he chose to be black, first and foremost over being a great film maker. If you were a young black male from the 80's you'd probably do the same. Like Malcolm X, Spike Lee seems to have mellowed a bit with age. A good choice, I think.
Agreed Paris. You're absolutely right that the Rodney King film clip just dates the movie. I read somewhere that the point of this was to show that the struggle for racial justice still continues, even during modern times. But yes, I think too that photos of the lynchings that occurred in the South from the old days would have been more powerful.
In regard to the ending, I thought the Ossie Dsvis eulogy and the Mandela cameo were ok. But I thought the school children yelling, "I am Malcolm X!" was a bit inane.
I think that the consensus is that subtlety is lost on Spike Jones.
A little narration at the end fit. Nelson Mandela had been released and X had made the connection between segregation and racism abroad. The kids... Preachy much?
How could it not end without a shot of Harlem?
Preachy? Well of course and I too felt the epilogue was overdone.
If Malcolm gave Black people a voice then Spike may have given that voice a microphone and a camera. The other side of the coin is that the only other major (i.e. big $money$) African American behind the camera voicing, "the Black man's perspective" is...uhhhh...Steven Spielberg (lol)? Yeah I know...John Singleton, Oprah Winfrey (a short list).
Hey, Oprah worked with Spielberg in "The Color Purple"! My point exactly - lol.
Spike Jones?
share> I think that the consensus is that subtlety is lost on Spike [Lee].
Most definitely. The prologue and epilogue detract from the film but Spike had to editorialize beyond merely curating the events the audience is shown about his subject.
Looking back it is a bit much but back in 1992 it felt necessary. Remember this was right after the L.A. Riots and there had been race riots in NY as well similar to Do the Right Thing. Mandela had just been freed two years prior, probably a year before it was filmed.
George Carlin: It's all bullsh-t and it's bad for ya.
That makes sense, but those kids? Damn, even '92 that must have been annoying.
shareYeah, he could have just had them all say simultaneously.
George Carlin: It's all bullsh-t and it's bad for ya.
"That makes sense, but those kids? Damn, even '92 that must have been annoying."
Agreed. They were all screaming, "I am Malcolm X!!"
Ah...no..you're not. Inane.
[deleted]
The epilogue was the most important scene.
This is not Sparta. This is much worse.
Yeah. I thought that the ending was a bit cheesy, especially with all those kids vociferously proclaiming that they were Malcolm X. Ossie's eulogy, along with the montage photos of the real-life Malcolm, was fine, as well Mandela's quote of Malcolm's speech. However, the kids in the classrooms should have been edited out of the movie.
shareIt was a little unnecessary, although I did like Nelson Mandela speaking to the classroom and then it cuts to "by any means necessary"
shareI like the Ossie's eulogy, well done. The kids saying I'm Malcolm X reminded me of the Hitler youth indoctrination. Kids saying what their told to say without understanding or questioning anything. What's the point. I will cut some slack on Nelson Mandela though, it was 1992 and he was quoting Malcolm. Seems subtlety was lost on Spike, too preachy. Liked the shot of the real Malcolm in B&W. Nice ending to the movie.
shareI could have done without the kids but the eulogy was really good.
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."
- Goethe
The narrator was Ossie Davis, who delivered that eulogy (although some of it was cut). The idea was to show that even after Malcolm was killed, there was still racism (see the shots of Martin Luther King's assassination, for example) and it goes to the present day where a street in Harlem is named after Malcolm and then we have the teacher explaining to the kids who Malcolm X was and why we celebrate him. Mandella giving the Malcolm X speech at the very end was to show the link between Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, and the teachings of today being passed down from generation to generation. I sort of think the kids saying, "I am Malcolm X!" was a little nutty, but it was to show the worshipping of a great man.
shareI've been sitting in this seat for over three hours. After Malcolm dies, just end the *beep* movie! That added epilogue was stupid, and unnecessary.
share