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elyusionTitle: Malcolm X (1992)
Type: 🎥
Genre: Biopic, History, Drama
Poor Summary: You know who Malcolm X is. If you don't, then basicallyyy he's a USian Civil Rights leader who preached black pride, self-defense, economic independence, conversion to Islam, etc. (along with other more insane things due to the nature of The Nation of Islam.) He used to be against segregation because he didn't think black people could ever get along with their enemies, but after performing the Hajj and feeling the unity of Muslims of all colors he changed his mind on calling all white people devils and his anti-integration stance. Unfortunately, he was assassinated not even a full year later in front of an audience which included his wife and daughters.
Why Did I Watch This??: I need to watch more Black movies, and this one had high ratings + I like history and was interested in the subject matter. I probably should've watched it last month though ^_^; I probably should've tried to watch like 5 Black movies last month, but the idea never came to mind. But hey! I can do that any month I like. Black history is always relevant.
Strongest Aspect: I'm not a movie guy, so don't expect big words from me. #1 is the colors. #2 is Malcolm's own words.
Favorite Part: Nelson Mandela at the end delivering part of a speech by Mr. X, and the cut to footage of Malcolm X finishing it. Did you know the cut was because Mandela just got out of jail and he didn't want to get in trouble with South Africa's government by saying anything that could be seen as encouraging violence? He didn't want that soundbite to be out there. So Spike Lee "got" Malcolm to say "... by any means necessary" himself.
Least Favorite Part: I don't have one. Whole movie was good, and that shit was 3.5 hours long LMAO. If I'm being held at gunpoint to give an answer, I guess the pilgrimage part didn't particularly excite me, but I think that's a skill issue on my part and not reflective of that... "arc" ? ???
Blahblah: In the 3rd grade, our history textbook only dedicated one paragraph made up of 2-3 sentences to Malcolm X. It said that he was a Civil Rights Leader like Dr. King, but he disagreed with King and preached violence. Had me thinking for years that man wanted anarchy and mass white murder or something. "Years" being "until I was 10 or so" because I loved to read and I loved black history, so I eventually did learn a little more about him, but I'm still mad at that textbook for what it said about him. Not everyone looks into things like me. A textbook from the mid-to-late 00s was still peddling 60s fearmongering and acting like his calls for self-defense were calls for black anarchy.
This is neither here nor there, but I remember that history class taught about Thurgood Marshall and Brown v. Board LAST in the Civil Rights unit, so I thought the movement ended with integration and everyone holding hands and realizing the other race isn't so bad, so I was really shocked in eigth grade when I learned/realized it was actually the other way around and the Civil Rights movement kind of started because of Brown v. Board implying segregation is unconstitutional and the south being like uhhhh fuckk no 🤣 Not entirely because of that, but it was a big thing. (What actually more-or-less ended it, or at least calmed down most people was the Civil Rights Act. If that didn't cool your head, CIA infiltrations of black radical groups and imprisoning and killing most of the important figures sure did.)
Anyways, as someone who tried to read his autobiography but got distracted by all the song title drops (I ended up liking a bunch of the songs on Spotify, getting real into them, and then forgetting to continue the book), I'm glad I watched this movie. It creates such a sympathetic view of a guy still viewed as insanely dangerous by many rule-abiding complacent white people today. Apparently bell hooks didn't like the movie and thought it moved people to tears instead of action, but I didn't get that vibe? I feel like it would lead to tears AND action. One can do both. I suppose the movie portrays him as a martyr but doesn't really tell the viewer what to do with this feeling of injustice... But I don't see why it should; black people pretty much already know. Should know. These days the CRA placated us so hard many think there's not much to worry about anymore, but that's----- outside the scope of this blog post, and I will not be speaking about it. I need to read much much more before speaking definitively on what needs to be done anyways.
TLDR; I really liked the movie!! I actually went into it nervous I'd be bored for 3 hours but it wasn't a drag to me. I should watch more Spike Lee 🤔 But also iirc he makes a lot of movies that take place in cities up north and I'm actually sick of movies about city mice the way other people are sick of movies about slavery.
Type: 🎥
Genre: Biopic, History, Drama
Poor Summary: You know who Malcolm X is. If you don't, then basicallyyy he's a USian Civil Rights leader who preached black pride, self-defense, economic independence, conversion to Islam, etc. (along with other more insane things due to the nature of The Nation of Islam.) He used to be against segregation because he didn't think black people could ever get along with their enemies, but after performing the Hajj and feeling the unity of Muslims of all colors he changed his mind on calling all white people devils and his anti-integration stance. Unfortunately, he was assassinated not even a full year later in front of an audience which included his wife and daughters.
Why Did I Watch This??: I need to watch more Black movies, and this one had high ratings + I like history and was interested in the subject matter. I probably should've watched it last month though ^_^; I probably should've tried to watch like 5 Black movies last month, but the idea never came to mind. But hey! I can do that any month I like. Black history is always relevant.
Strongest Aspect: I'm not a movie guy, so don't expect big words from me. #1 is the colors. #2 is Malcolm's own words.
Favorite Part: Nelson Mandela at the end delivering part of a speech by Mr. X, and the cut to footage of Malcolm X finishing it. Did you know the cut was because Mandela just got out of jail and he didn't want to get in trouble with South Africa's government by saying anything that could be seen as encouraging violence? He didn't want that soundbite to be out there. So Spike Lee "got" Malcolm to say "... by any means necessary" himself.
Least Favorite Part: I don't have one. Whole movie was good, and that shit was 3.5 hours long LMAO. If I'm being held at gunpoint to give an answer, I guess the pilgrimage part didn't particularly excite me, but I think that's a skill issue on my part and not reflective of that... "arc" ? ???
Blahblah: In the 3rd grade, our history textbook only dedicated one paragraph made up of 2-3 sentences to Malcolm X. It said that he was a Civil Rights Leader like Dr. King, but he disagreed with King and preached violence. Had me thinking for years that man wanted anarchy and mass white murder or something. "Years" being "until I was 10 or so" because I loved to read and I loved black history, so I eventually did learn a little more about him, but I'm still mad at that textbook for what it said about him. Not everyone looks into things like me. A textbook from the mid-to-late 00s was still peddling 60s fearmongering and acting like his calls for self-defense were calls for black anarchy.
This is neither here nor there, but I remember that history class taught about Thurgood Marshall and Brown v. Board LAST in the Civil Rights unit, so I thought the movement ended with integration and everyone holding hands and realizing the other race isn't so bad, so I was really shocked in eigth grade when I learned/realized it was actually the other way around and the Civil Rights movement kind of started because of Brown v. Board implying segregation is unconstitutional and the south being like uhhhh fuckk no 🤣 Not entirely because of that, but it was a big thing. (What actually more-or-less ended it, or at least calmed down most people was the Civil Rights Act. If that didn't cool your head, CIA infiltrations of black radical groups and imprisoning and killing most of the important figures sure did.)
Anyways, as someone who tried to read his autobiography but got distracted by all the song title drops (I ended up liking a bunch of the songs on Spotify, getting real into them, and then forgetting to continue the book), I'm glad I watched this movie. It creates such a sympathetic view of a guy still viewed as insanely dangerous by many rule-abiding complacent white people today. Apparently bell hooks didn't like the movie and thought it moved people to tears instead of action, but I didn't get that vibe? I feel like it would lead to tears AND action. One can do both. I suppose the movie portrays him as a martyr but doesn't really tell the viewer what to do with this feeling of injustice... But I don't see why it should; black people pretty much already know. Should know. These days the CRA placated us so hard many think there's not much to worry about anymore, but that's----- outside the scope of this blog post, and I will not be speaking about it. I need to read much much more before speaking definitively on what needs to be done anyways.
TLDR; I really liked the movie!! I actually went into it nervous I'd be bored for 3 hours but it wasn't a drag to me. I should watch more Spike Lee 🤔 But also iirc he makes a lot of movies that take place in cities up north and I'm actually sick of movies about city mice the way other people are sick of movies about slavery.
