So my boyfriend and I watched the Spike Lee movie Bamboozled. Wow. It was a really interesting movie. I don't agree with everything Spike says but I like hearing what he has to say. I thought it was a thought provoking movie with great dialogue.

Anyone eles see this? What did you think of it?

i directed a guy in a play who had a bit part in 'bamboozled'!

ok, pathetic claim to fame aside, i liked it. i thought it was pretty deep stuff, but i'm a fan of social satire, and it was certainly that.

I have it in my cupboard

i first saw the movie around when it came out and thought it was funny as hell, saw it again sometime last year and was just like WHOA! great movie

It's an interesting statement, if a bit convoluted. I own it, like all of Spike's stuff.

Spike apparently was poking fun at, among other things, a segment of African American society that endorses buffoonery and selling it's soul as good, harmless fun and/or a way to gain a piece of the American pie. That was clear, and the danger of their doing this doesmerit ridicule, IMO.

What's a bit more strange from a literary standpoint, though, is that De Le Croix's character, though he was criminally bourgeous, created Mantan himself as a similar satirical jab to wake people up and, in effect, escape the plantation of CNS. He was an activist and, in effect, on Spike's "side." What beef could Spike have with this? Was he telling us that at some point, De Le Croix abandoned his intent at social commentary and started seeing Mantan as a cash cow, thus selling his own soul?

Is Spike's new film, Inside Job, any good?

It sounds like it should b good.

bkw said:

Yeah... I'm wanting to see this one. I pray it's better than "She Hate Me!" He lost some MAJOR cool points on that one.

Lammastide said:

It's been getting very good reviews down here.

It went completely over the top. There is no way in the this day and age that blackface like that would be allowed on television. Spike should have been more subtle with his message. Only Farrakhan could believe such tripe.

Lammastide said:

mantan wasnt created to wake people up. mantan was created to get out of his job. he NEVER thought his boss would like the idea and that america would like it too. he thought either it wouldnt get picked up or it'd get canceled. de la wasnt no activist. de la (imo) was a sell out. cuz as soon as he saw folks going with it he went wit it to the umph degree and reaped all the monetary benefits

Moonwalkbjrain said:

Yeah, but didn't he assume he would lose his job and that people wouldn't like it because it was so offensive a political statement? Remember that CNS was basically pimping black folk already, and he got sick of it and wanted to teach them a lesson. Only later, after Mantan's success, did he start selling out it seems.

2freaky4church1 said:

Well, you're probably correct. But "over the top" is what satire is all about. It was mocking subtle shows that already did/do exist as an embarrassment to blacks in Spikes opinion -- shows like the Wayans Bros., In Living Color, etc.

Anx said:

Cool. I met Tommy Davidson once who played Sleep and eat in the movie.

Oh and thanks for the responses guys. Very interesting so far!

Krystal666 said:

I thought Tommy Davidson's performance in this movie was AMAZING. That argument scene between him and Savion Glover's character blew me away. I gained so much respect for him after that.

Lammastide said:

Yeah. It's a far cry from Booty Call!

I also thought de la's voice was pretty hard to take. What was Damon Waynes trying to do? Was he trying to sound like an exagerrated black guy who "acts" white? I wonder how that intruprtation of the charecter was concived.

Lammastide said:

That's exactly the point, Lamma

It took me 3 times to fall in love w/ the film. The first time I was just too hurt over the use of blackface & how it made me feel seeing it - having a "funny" moment washed in something painful like that, it was just too trippy to take...

The second time I wasn't so uncomfortable, the third let me see some beauty in it all (which is odd & fascinating, the emotions the film sends you through & makes you confront). I really like the film a lot but there are definitely some pitfalls - Damon's accent was intolerable, the ending was nuts, sometimes things didn't flow well/hold together, I HATED the fact that Jada's character fucked to get where she was in her career Stuff like that... But I think he said some very powerful things w/ the film & created some striking images. Being over the top IS the point of the movie & honestly someone in blackface is no more over the top than young Black rapper after young Black rapper holding a gun in one hand, their dick in the other & hollering about bitches/hoes/rims/jewels/money - it's all the same shit, only one we don't even recognize anymore

See Krystal, I'm capable of answering a decent question

fantastic film. Spike always showin us what we are scared to talk about. i heard this movie was only played in select theaters when it came out.

Krystal666 said:

I do think De La Croix's voice was another point of poking fun at some black folk -- this time at Ivy League intellectual types.

Do you know who Cornell West is? I would bet money Spike was making light-hearted fun at him. He doesn't necessarily talk like De Le Croix, but sometimes his mannerisms and air of self-apointed authority could give you that overall feel. (I actually really like Cornell, though.)

Lammastide said:

Hmmm interesting....

CalhounSq said:

I loved it from the first viewing, but the end was a bit too relentless to me. And particularly the final scene with its voice-over was painful and macabre.

Also, I was left wondering "what's gonna happen to Sloan?" for days.

I saw this in theaters in 2000 and here's the interesting part...

I was one of 10 people in the theaters and there was not a single black person in sight...and I was living in a suburb of Detroit.

The point: Black folk usually don't go see Spike Lee films, which I find interesting. The same thing happened with "Inside Man" and "She Hate Me."

Getting back to the topic, "Bamboozled" was fantastic...but I think too hard of a message for America to really take. Think about it...if MTV and BET suddenly stopped promoting the gangsta/pimp/sports hero stereotype of black men...there goes their profits right out the door.

America loves stereotypes and "Bamboozled" was one of the few times this has been actively explored, particularly in film.

So nice work, Spike. Too bad most people won't listen to you.

Case said:

I think there is some truth to this. And part of it, I suspect, is that many black people don't like having their "dirty laundry" aired out in public. I've actually heard this said with regard to Spike's movies.

Having seen only the trailers, for example, my in-laws, who are otherwise very politically minded, refused to see the film, because they thought Spike was going to embarrass black folk in front of the world. They accused him of the same thing with School Daze.

Lammastide said:

Right. And "Bamboozled" DOES air their dirty laundry to the world...because most blacks have ended up believing in the prejudice that has been spewed at them for generations: That all they can do is become rappers/sports stars/gangsters/comedians.

"Bamboozled" was Spike's bravest film. It was a call to arms to America to drop the bullshit and wake the fuck up.

And I just have to take a moment to acknowledge Bruce Hornsby's "Shadowlands," on the soundtrack. That song is so convicting -- almost cathartic -- that it's made me tear up on occasion. It was perfect for the message of the movie, I think.

Lammastide said:

And Prince's "Radical Man" song was great too, unlike most of his other output during that era.

I LOVE this movie. I work in television and the obsurdity of the concept was hysterical because it would probably work (a sad commentary indeed). Myself and my business partner saw it in the theatre and we were the only 2 white people in sight. We got a lot of filthy looks 4 laughing at certain scenes, but it was funny because it was offensive, obsurd and completely over the top. Spike was making a point in it and IMO he did so beautifully.

Lammastide said:

Well let's face it - Black people have heavy participation in some major bullshit, take "Soul Plane" or "The Wash" for example. I've seen neither but you just know they're sheer bullshit And we participate... and we go see it... and we hold it up as decent entertainment

I routinely get shit from a certain friend who feels like I'm trying to be some kind of elitist when it comes to this - the kind of media I'll willingly participate in & what I shun. Basically if it's Black I'm supposed to support it no matter how fucking dumb it is according to her. Yet she hasn't seen a Spike film in the theater since Do the Right Thing It's crazy, the level of excellence (or NOT) we're willing to accept, what we give a pass to, why we participate in certain shit. I'd much rather have my brain & my heart stimulated than to simply be entertained by something half assed, but that's me

Krystal666 said:

Great flick that went over the average persons head by 10 feet. I LOVED it.

Lammastide said:

I remember when I 1st met Cornell and his "white" wife. I was floored.....

Case said:[quote]
The point: Black folk usually don't go see Spike Lee films, which I find interesting. The same thing happened with "Inside Man" and "She Hate Me."

quote]

She hate me was a waste of 2 hours of my life except for 2 scenes.