[May 19th marks the
100th birthday of Malcolm Little, better known as Malcolm X. So this
week I’ll AmericanStudy a handful of cultural representations of Malcolm,
leading up to a special weekend post on what we can learn from Malcolm here in
2025!]
Three
interesting contexts for Spike Lee’s epic 1992 biopic.
1)
A Long-Gestating Script: One of my favorite
things about writing this blog is how much I learn from researching just about
every post, even on subjects about which I have some starting point knowledge
(which isn’t always the case, to be clear). Case in point: I had no idea that
the original screenplay on which Lee based his film had been written, or at
least started, in the late 1960s, by none other than James Baldwin (collaborating
with the formerly blacklisted screenwriter Arnold
Perl). Baldwin was never quite able to crack the code of adapting Malcolm’s
autobiography into a screenplay, and the project subsequently passed through a
number of other talented hands, from David
Mamet to David
Bradley among others. But when Lee took over as the film’s director (more
on that in a moment), it was Baldwin and Perl’s
screenplay to which he returned, and so this 1990s film truly had 1960s
roots.
2)
An Alternative Director: If that long-gestating
script was one reason why it look a good while to make Malcolm X,
another was that a different Hollywood director was initially attached: Norman
Jewison, who had made In
the Heat of the Night (1967) among many other acclaimed films over his
long career. A number of African American artists and critics, including Spike
Lee himself, protested
that move, however, arguing that a Black filmmaker should be the one to
direct this marquee project. Producer Marvin
Worth (who had been attached to the project since the days of Baldwin and
Perl’s initial screenplay) ultimately agreed and asked Jewison to step down in
favor of Lee, but it’s interesting to think about what version of the film
Jewison might have made—and we have some indications of an answer when we look
at the civil rights film Jewison made with star Denzel Washington later in the
decade, The
Hurricane (1999). At the very least, the two films make for an
interesting pairing!
3)
An Interesting Request: In any case, Lee did
direct the film, and the result (while to my mind a bit long and meandering at
times) is an impressive and important biopic, featuring a career highlight performance
from Denzel (which is a competitive category to be sure). Shortly before the
film was due to be released in late 1992, Lee put out a controversial
request that students skip school to attend screenings (and that adults
take the day off from work, but the school idea received more pushback). As an
educator and a parent, I understand why people might have resisted the idea;
but as an educator and a parent, I also agree with Lee that education and development
take multiple forms, and that cultural works have an important role to play in
those processes. Hell, my entire elementary school missed class for an assembly
where we watched the “Thriller” music video/short film (true story); and while
I enjoyed those dancing zombies like everyone one, I’d say the best cinematic
representation to date of Malcolm X is a slightly more worthy reason to miss school!
Next
MalcolmStudying tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What
do you think? Representations or other sides of Malcolm X you’d highlight?
