Spike Lee, who directed the short film They Don’t Care About Us” for Michael Jackson, has a few words for people hating on Antoine Fuqua’s new biopic Michael. I’ll get to what they are in a minute, but I’m getting ‘Why don’t you take a long moonwalk off a short pier’ vibes from his energy. Lee recently sat down with CNN to discuss Michael, with the Malcolm X, Jungle Fever, and Do the Right Thing filmmaker saying, “I loved it.”
Spike Lee on people complaining about Michael
When asked why critics are hanging the movie out to dry, Lee said, “First of all. If you’re a movie critic, and you’re complaining about the stuff that, you know, all that other stuff [Jackson’s dealings with sexual abuse claims], you’re talking about accusations that happened… The movie ends in ’88! Critiquing the film on something that you wanted, but doesn’t work with the timeline of the film? But people showed up. Worldwide! People showed their love. I miss Mike. I miss Prince. These are my brothers. I’ve worked with both of them. They’re beautiful, beautiful people.”
When pressed about the allegations not being in the film, Lee reiterates that the film ends in ’88. “People that went to see the film said.” Lee then makes a “stick it up your ass” or “f**k you” gesture with his hands.
Watch the interview
It’s not the most cogent argument for such a weighty question, yet Lee makes his position quite clear. Lee does dance around the topic a bit, but if you watch the video (click here to see CNN‘s brief interview spot), you’ll see that Lee leads the conversation with passion and an intolerance for judgment toward a film that fails to venture into grim territory.
Look, I get it. Looking at the math, I work with celebrities weekly, be it through interviews, set visits, whatever. It’s challenging not to feel some connection with them, even if it’s fleeting. When you meet someone, talk about their passions, the product changes ever so slightly. It doesn’t happen with everyone, of course, but in Lee’s case, he’s worked alongside Michael on one of his most unifying projects. It’s easy to understand why he’d feel offended on Jackson’s behalf by people being upset that they can’t see the worst aspects of his legacy on the silver screen. It’s a grey area for sure.
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