Respond to the question in the comments box below:
Of his use of the Mars Blackmon persona for his collaboration with the Nike Company to promote the Air Jordan line, Spike Lee comments:
"That's when it really blew up, that's what really got my face known -- not She's Gotta Have It." (Aftab: 52)
View the two clips:
1) Mars Blackmon/Michael Jordan (dir. S. Lee, 1986-88)
2) "Timmi Hiln*****" commercial from Bamboozled (dir. S. Lee, 2000)
From our class discussion of the "New Hollywood", the influence of European art cinema, the Black Arts movement, as well as your reading of the Biskind, Baraka, Diawara and Guerrero essays/chapters, discuss how these two clips speak to Lee's position within the multimedia landscape of the post-New Hollywood era.
The second clip from Bamboozled shows Lee using his work to comment on a current issue that was/is affecting American society. In the clip Lee uses a Satire to comment on commercialism. His comments represent what is actually happening to the African American community when they buy products that are owned by wealthy white business men. But through advertisements campaigns and media representation you would never realize the affect the products actually have on a community.
The ad from the movie on the other hand seems to be a spoof on many things. The way they have the white man acting all "ghetto" to sell his shirts to the "ghetto" peeps of his represents how people lie about their origins to sell a product. Another thing it makes fun of is how commercials all target a single small minority. For example this ad targeted the "ghetto" population of the African-American culture not the other sectors of the culture. I found that commercial to speak more towards how ads use lies to target small groups of people.
In Lee’s Bamboozled “commercial,” the use of on site filming rather than in the studio also shows his New Hollywood style. Lee shows crowds of people dancing on location rather than in the studio. This is similar to the style he uses in She’s Gotta Have It, where Jamie follows Nola through a crowd of real people who seemingly have no idea why they’re being filmed. This is in contrast to present day films, where extras are used who act like real people (and thus, don’t look at the camera).
The two clips posted on the website show that Spike Lee has definetly "arrived" on the post new-Hollywood scene. His movies and his work are no longer themselves any more--they are part of the commercialism that has gone
rampant throughout Hollywood. The "Air Jordan" promo is simply another form of blaxploitation --Jordan, the black basketball superstar, and Spike Lee, in an ad
shot to promote sneakers, for Pete's sake! The second is worse. Coming from Lee's film, "Bamboozled" in 2000, the director himself seems to be playing
around with the darn thing, but in a much more subtle way. The ad for the shoes is offensive on two levels, both degrading. One, the black woman, is presented
in the style of a wild, African animal, while behind her, the words "Tommy Hilln--gger." Lee is hearkening back to Pam Grier and such flicks as "Cleopatra
Jones" (1973) and "Foxy Brown" (1974), using exploitation of his own people as part of his films. He would most likely say he was pointing out how his people
are used, but that sounds a bit hollow, does it not?
Amiri Baraka states: "Spike came on the scene as the bearer...as a self-produced independent who reignited that ideal of a truly independent Black
film presence" (Baraka, p. 145) If these two commercials highlight that Lee has moved on to bigger and better things--the commercialization of his work--then
his status as a bearer has vanished--blown out by the dream of easy riches, just like his character Zach in "Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop..."
The Landscape in these two clips are very commercial-like, not something a creative filmmaker will come up with. They matches with the purpose of the commercial. A quote from Diawara's article, "The new realism films imitate the existent reality of urban life in America. Just as in real life the youth are pulled between hip hop life style, gang life, and education, we see in the films neighborhoods that are pulled between gang members, rappers, and education-prone kids" (p. 24-25). It clearly explained about these two clips that are related to black people's struggle with their identity in their community. The landscapes gives the viewers some ideas of what they want to be; rapper, gangster, education-prone kids.
In the second clip from "Bamboozled" Lee depicted a white man advertising "Timi Hil****" to the what seemed to be black community. In his own way, Lee used what was a very controversial subject at the time in his movie and he pretty much called "Tommy Hillfiger" clothing line out. He just didn't go about it in a very subtle way. The man in the clip is making a mockery out of the black community but this is Lee's way of maybe making a point to viewers. I think Lee was using this clip to target a certain clothing line and show people not to buy into all the media and hype, because in the end they might be bamboozled.
As other students have referred to, the film style of these two clips shows Lee’s use of New Hollywood techniques such as the jump-cuts, on the scene filming, and addressing the audience directly. His use of these techniques in commercials, “music videos”, and movies may be a testament to his intent to be a versatile, commercial director/artist in the post-New Hollywood era.