What can we learn from Spike Lee’s Bamboozled… | Little White Lies

What can we learn from Spike Lee’s Bamboozled today?

07 Dec 2015

Words by Little White Lies

A man in a blue shirt is holding a large black puppet that resembles an African-American boy. The puppet has exaggerated features such as large eyes and a broad smile. They are sitting in front of a bookshelf.
A man in a blue shirt is holding a large black puppet that resembles an African-American boy. The puppet has exaggerated features such as large eyes and a broad smile. They are sitting in front of a bookshelf.
Find out by joining the author of ​‘Facing Blackness’ for a special screening of the director’s 2000 film.

On Sunday 13 December regular LWLies contributor Ashley Clark will introduce a 35mm screening of Bamboozled Spike Lee’s scathing entertainment industry satire from 2000. Clark is the author of ​‘Facing Blackness: Media and Minstrelsy in Spike Lee’s Bamboozled’, a new book exploring the film’s impact and legacy, which is available to buy from ama​zon​.co​.uk

We asked Clark why he feels the film is still relevant 15 years on: ​“I think it’s a great and important film, certainly one of Lee’s best. How many other major American films have questioned Hollywood’s racist past, present, and (whisper it) future as fearlessly and aggressively? Very few, if any. When I first saw it aged 15, I didn’t know what to make of it, and defaulted to the prevailing critical view that it was an unfocused failure. And it sure it is messy. But, after having spent time unravelling its mysteries, I’m convinced that its so-called flaws – the raggedness of its form and content, Lee’s daring aesthetic choices, like filming on digital video – are what make it so brilliant.”

Get more Little White Lies

Bamboozled screens at the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton at 4pm and tickets are available from pic​ture​hous​es​.com

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