Filmic Context: Print-- Video
Clayborne, Carson. "Malcolm X." Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies. Ed. Mark C. Carnes. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1995.Clayborne discusses Malcolm X as it pertains to history and its source, The Autobiography of Malcolm X. The main point of Clayborne's argument, as well as others critical of the film, is that Spike Lee's Malcolm doesn't reflect the mature, self-criticism found in the autobiography. Written from the perspective of Malcolm's final years, the autobiography presents Malcolm's evolving political thought as he moved towards working with other leaders of the civil rights movement. Clayborne feels that a more comprehensive view of Malcolm in his later years is warranted, instead of the care and depth that went into showing Malcolm's transformation from hustler to minister. He is also critical of the film's omission of key events in Malcolm's life that include some of his more famous speeches abroad.
hooks, bell. "Spike Lee Doing Malcolm X." Outlaw Culture. New York: Routledge, 1994. 155-64.
Hooks is extremely critical of Lee's portrayal of Malcolm X. She feels that the film and its marketing reduce Malcolm to imagistic representation. The danger in this lies in the dillution of Malcolm's message and meaning as he is re-issued for a mass-consumer culture. Hooks believes that all of the black political rage and militance are lost in Lee's Malcolm, as all Hollywood films tend to do. She criticizes Lee for focusing on the aspects of Malcolm he himself identifies with. In the end, Hooks feels that this is simply another product with little social relevance spit out by the Hollywood machine.
Jones, Kent. "The Invisible Man: Spike Lee." Film Comment 33 (Jan/Feb 1997): 42-47.
There have always been different and strong opinions surrounding Lee's films. Some people claim that he is basically updating old-fashioned social consciousness. Others liken him to an overgrown film student, while his admirers push him as an innovator. The writer examines these views in relation to Lee's films, including Malcolm X.
Kellner, Douglas. "Spike Lee's Morality Tales." Philosophy and Film. Ed. Cynthia A. Freeland and Thomas E. Wartenberg. New York: Routledge, 1995. 201-17.
Kellner discusses Lee's Malcolm X and Do The Right Thing in the context of confronting his audiences with issues of morality -- "doing the right thing." Kellner argues that while Lee is often criticized for not taking a more firm stance on certain political issues, his films don't necessarily seek to do that. Instead, his films focus more on how by making the correct moral decisions, a person, specifically a black person, can achieve a stronger platform to take a politcal stand. Kellner does find that Lee's films are limited in their identity politics, where those of black men are put ahead of other oppressed people.
Lee, Spike, with Ralph Wiley. By Any Means Necessary. New York: Hyperion, 1992.
Lee tells the story of the making of Malcolm X. He explains his reasons for wanting to make the film and how he felt that it should be made by a black filmmaker (it was originally going to be directed by white filmmaker, Norman Jewison.) Lee goes on to explain the many difficulties he faced bringing the film to audiences. He had issues with Warner Bros. over creative control of the film, its length, as well as financing for the film and its marketing. Lee tells the story of how he hit up just about every black celebrity for money -- from Michael Jordan to Janet Jackson. The book contains some good photos and a complete version of the script.
See also:
Baraka, Amiri. "Spike Lee at the Movies." Black American Cinema. Ed. Manthia Diawara. New York: Routledge, 1993. 146.
Bogle, Donald. Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films. New York: Continuum, 1994.
Cripps, Thomas. Slow Fade to Black: The Negro in American Film, 1900-1942. New York: Oxford UP, 1993.
Crowdus, Gary, ed. By Any Reviews Necessary: A Symposium on Malcolm X. Cineaste 19. 4 (1993).
Doherty, Thomas Patrick. "Lee, Shelton Jackson 'Spike.'" A Political Companion to American Film. Ed. Gary Crowdus. Lakeview Press, 1994.
---. "Malcolm X: In Print, On Screen." Biography 23.1 (2000): 29-48.
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. "Generation X." Back Film Review 7.3 (1992): 14-17, 33.
---. "Malcolm, the Aardvark, and Me." New York Times 2 Feb.1993: 7.11
hooks, bell. "Malcolm X: Consumed by Images." Z Magazine March (1993): 36-39.
Horton, Andrew. "Political Assassination Thrillers." A Political Companion to American Film.
Ed. Gary Crowdus. Lakeview Press, 1994.Kennedy, Lisa. "Is Malcolm X The Right Thing?" Sight and Sound 3.2 (1993): 6.
Lee, Spike. Five for Five: The Films of Spike Lee. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1991.
Reed, Adolph. "The Trouble with X." Progressive February (1993): 18-19.
Reid, Mark A. "The Brand X of Postnegritude Frontier: Cultural Analysis of Black Identity Seen in Spike Lee's Film Malcolm X." Film Criticism 20 (Fall/Winter 1995/96): 17-25.
Steele, Shelby. "Malcolm Little." New Republic 21 Dec. 1992: 27-31.
Turvey, Malcolm. "Black Film Making in the USA: The Case of Malcolm X." Wasafiri: Journal of Caribbean, African, Asian and Associated Literatures and Film 18 (Autumn 1993): 53-56.
Winn, J.E. "Challenges and Compromises in Spike Lee's Malcolm X." Communication Abstracts 25.3 (2002): 287-426.
Malcolm X: Man, Myth and Movie. ABC News. Hosted by Ted Koppel. Videocassette. Oak Forest: MPI Home Video, 1992.
Excerpts from footage of Malcolm X are shown and people that knew him interviewed. A panel of high school students react to the film, and Spike Lee is interviewed. (Unseen: Information from WorldCat.)
Malcolm X, the Movie: Cinema as History. Hosted by Sanford Ungar. Videocassette. West Lafayette: Purdue University Public Affairs Archives, 1993.
A panel discussion at the American University's School of Communications, hosted by Sanford Ungar. Panelists Pat Dowell, Juan Williams, Peter Bailey, Jacquie Jones, Al Freeman, Jr., and Christopher Hitchens discuss how the historical character of Malcolm X is portrayed in Lee's film. (Unseen: Information from WorldCat.)
See also:
Malcolm X: The Man, the Myth, the Movie Explored. Videocassette. Richmond: Evans Videography, 1992.
Copyright (c) 2003 John "Jaycee" Culhane, UndergraduateStudent at Lehigh University.
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