An Afternoon with Spike Lee

Written ages ago, but thought I should post this here anyway...

One of the biggest names ever to set foot at Concordia spoke to students on Feb. 18 as part of Black History Month. Spike Lee, arguably one the most influential directors of our time, talked for an hour and shared his experiences as a Hollywood director while also giving advice to everyone present. Students and others stood in line for up to four hours to see the director of Malcolm X speak. There was a great deal of anticipation, but not everyone was allowed inside room H-110. Many were forced to wait in the cold for hours and non-Concordia students were told to go home since there were already around 1,000 people in a room with the capacity for 700. It became fairly hectic when people who were turned away refused to accept they would miss the chance to see Spike Lee. After everything was resolved and the audience was seated, the room was filled with anxiety since those lucky enough to get in were chanting Lee's name while staring directly at the door in which he was supposed to come out from.

As soon as Lee walked out wearing a very bright orange winter jacket, he was greeted with cheers and much applause. Although he is known for being somewhat eccentric, he was very open with his personal life, as well as anything the audience was curious to know. He started his lecture by telling students that we are very lucky to be living in a time where "a man with the middle name Hussein is President." Lee added, "I still smile everyday because I never thought I'd see a black President in my lifetime."

Since it is Black History Month, Lee's main focus was to address issues involving racism and what today's youth, mainly young African-Americans, should do in order to be happy with their lives. As excited as he seemed about having Barack Obama as President, he warned students not to "drink the Kool-aid of this post-racial bullshit," since there are still many things that need to be addressed when it comes to racism as it's far from being over. He mentioned that in the United States there are still more black men locked up in prisons than enrolled in universities. Spike Lee has fully embraced being a role model by using his personal experiences in order to motivate youth to follow their dreams and chose a profession they love, not one that their parents want them to do. According to him, "parents kill more dreams than anybody," because although they want what's best for their children, it doesn't necessarily mean they know exactly what kids should do with their lives. Lee said that studying what you love is essential, citing that some of his classmates are miserable today because they did not chose the profession they wanted. He put it best when he said, "that's existing, not living." He focused a great amount of time on the message he wants to send to black teenagers in America: to follow his example and "get their act together."

One of his most insightful and controversial moments was when he spoke of how they wrongfully associate "intelligence with acting white, and ignorance with acting black," many times failing a class on purpose in order to have "street cred," as Lee put it. "To me, that was the best part of his lecture," said Christopher Sandiford, a fourth year film student. "I consider myself nerdy and to hear someone as successful as he is reinforcing that I don't have to act a certain way just because I'm black and it's okay to be myself was pretty satisfying." While the lecture had a serious tone to it, it's relevant to mention that he always tried to lighten the mood with humor, warning students," don't ask me if Lebron is going to the Knicks . . . he is," referring to his well documented obsession with the New York Knicks. Also, he was very willing to answer any questions the audience had, whether related to his movies or not. He also told students, "I'll answer intelligent questions, not something like 'when will the world come to an end?'" Lee was late for another appointment but made himself available to sign autographs for students for at least 10 minutes, much to the delight of everyone present. In the end, Spike Lee was the perfect mix of entertainment and education. His overall message can be summed up by the title of perhaps his most influential movie, Do the Right Thing. In this case, that means doing the right thing for yourself, and doing what you can to be happy.

http://www.theconcordian.com/2.4734/an-afternoon-with-spike-lee-1.634330