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We’ve gone through the names—Negro, African American, African, Black. For me that’s an indication of a people still trying to find their identity. Who determines what is black?
Spike Lee
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Spike Lee
Age: 67
Born: 1957
Born: March 20
Actor
Film Actor
Film Director
Film Editor
Film Producer
Mascot
Screenwriter
Television Actor
Television Producer
Atlanta
Georgia
Sheldon Lee
Shelton J. Lee
Shelton Jackson Lee
Mars Blackmon
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Still
African
Find
Determine
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Identity
People
Names
Gone
American
Indication
Black
Negro
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I consider Madonna a friend, and she sure knows how to work the publicity machine. Of course, I don't have breasts. If I did have, I'd be in the number one spot over Madonna.
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My people, my people, what can I say say what I can. I saw it but didn't believe it I didn't believe what I saw. Are we gonna live together? Together are we gonna live?
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I don't think my films are going to get rid of racism or prejudice. I think the best thing my films can do is provoke discussion.
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America doesn't have the moral right to tell other people what to do. To say the whole world has to fall into line is you-know-what. I hope more people will rise up.
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I used the principles of Kickstarter to make 'She's Gotta Have It.' We filmed that in 1985 to 1986. The final cost was $175,000. I didn't have that money. It was friends, grants, donations. We saved our bottles for the nickel deposit.
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I think it would be very boring dramatically to have a film where everybody was a lawyer or doctor and had no faults. To me, the most important thing is to be truthful.
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Racism in America absolutely exists - it is an issue. We need to fix it. We're a great country - probably the greatest country but we could be a hell of a lot greater.
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We've got to turn this backward thinking around where ignorance is championed over intelligence. Young black kids being ridiculed by their peers for getting A's and speaking proper English: that's criminal.
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Sex and racism have always been tied together. Look at the thousands of black men who got lynched and castrated. The reason the Klan came into being was to protect white southern women.
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I don't like acting not in front of the camera.
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I don't like to use the word 'remake', I think reinterpretation is a better word. It's just a matter of respecting the source, and then trying to make your own film, and trying not to be inhibited by being so beholden to every single thing... We respect the source, but we make changes to it.
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I'm very careful about how I portray violence in my films. I do believe that violence, especially violent video games, are not a good thing for young kids.
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Power is knowing your past.
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I never understood the concept of showing everything in the trailer. Why go to a movie if there's no surprise? I can't do it like that.
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I collect names for characters. Names are valuable they can be your first source of insight into a character.
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You gotta make your own way. You gotta find a way. You gotta get it done. It's hard. It's tough. That's what I tell my students every day in class. I've been very fortunate. Some people might call me a hardhead, but I'm not going to let other people dictate to me who I should be or the stories I should tell. That doesn't register with me.
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Everything I do is always scrutinised. But that's all I'll say about that.
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For me, I believe in God, God is real.
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