91社区

There is no bigger blessing than pursuing what you love, filmmaker Spike Lee told 91社区 students during a talk Feb. 19 at the Events Center.

鈥淚 was lucky. I worked hard, but I was lucky,鈥� the writer/director/actor said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 say: 鈥業 found film.鈥� I say: 鈥楩ilm found me.鈥�

鈥淎 lot of (students) get tripped up thinking that the major they choose is the one that is going to make them the most money. Big mistake. Find out what it is that you love.鈥�

Lee noted that he doesn鈥檛 need an alarm clock for a 6 a.m. film shoot. 鈥淚 wake up because I know I am going to have fun. When you have a job you hate, you need a crane to get [yourself] out of bed!鈥�

Lee, who has made acclaimed movies such as Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X and Jungle Fever, spoke to 700 students and community members as part of Black History Month. The free talk was sponsored by Campus Activities; the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; the Multicultural Resource Center; and the Student Association Vice President for Multicultural Affairs.

Lee discovered his love of filmmaking because of a visit to a friend during the summer of 1977, when he was between semesters at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

鈥淩ight before it was time to go back to Brooklyn for the summer, I had a meeting with my advisor,鈥� said Lee, who admitted that he struggled during his first two years at Morehouse. 鈥淪he told me: 鈥楾hink long and hard in choosing your major when you come back.鈥� I asked why. She said: 鈥榊ou鈥檝e exhausted all of your electives.鈥欌��

Lee returned that summer to a city facing economic turmoil. Without a job, he decided to say hello to a friend named Vietta Johnson.

鈥淚t was one of the most important days of my life,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 had been home two weeks, not doing anything. The spirit told me: Go see Vietta.鈥�

While visiting Johnson, Lee noticed two boxes. A Super 8 camera was in one box; film was in the other. Johnson told Lee to take the boxes.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know it at the time, but it changed my life,鈥� he said.

Lee spent the summer filming in New York City. An electrical blackout in July led to looting throughout the city. Lee was there to document it.

鈥淲hat else was happening that summer?鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was the first summer of disco. So every weekend, every block had a block party with DJs hooking up their turntables. The dance was 鈥楾he Hustle.鈥�

鈥淭hen there was a psychopath named David Berkowitz 鈥� The Son of Sam 鈥� who, in reality, had all of the white New Yorkers scared. Black people weren鈥檛 scared!鈥�

Lee took his footage back to Morehouse, where a professor encouraged him to tell the story of that tumultuous summer. The result was Last Hustle in Brooklyn.

鈥淚 showed it to my class and they liked it,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when it hit me: I am going to tell hopefully truthful stories about the African -American existence in this country. I was very, very clear that some of these images might not all be positive. I got criticized a lot, but the truth was more important.鈥�

Lee also became an A+ student during his final two years at Morehouse, taking advantage of the benefits of a liberal-arts school. The liberal-arts experience made him a well-rounded person, he said.

鈥淲hen you鈥檙e a filmmaker, you need to know a lot of different subjects,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou need to be an expert.鈥�

At New York University鈥檚 Tisch School of the Arts, Lee continued to build his filmmaking skills and became a 鈥渟tudent of cinema.鈥� The graduate student began to notice how Hollywood鈥檚 history perpetuated 鈥渁n almighty white race鈥� and the damage that had been done to African-Americans, Native Americans, Latin Americans and women.

鈥淔ilm is a very powerful medium, able to build people up or destroy them,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen imagery is used to dehumanize people, it has a great effect.鈥�

Film, TV and pop culture display American power more than the existence of nuclear weapons do, Lee emphasized.

鈥淎 nuclear bomb never influenced someone how to dress, how to talk, how to dance,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can go all over the world and see the impact of American culture: dance, rock 鈥檔鈥� roll, hip-hop. The whole world wants it.鈥�

Lee would go on to make his first feature film, She鈥檚 Gotta Have It, in 1986. His career has included dozens of films, documentaries, music videos and television commercials. He also teaches film at NYU.

鈥淚t has been my charge to try to show alternative versions of the experiences of African-Americans in this country,鈥� he said.

While America has been torn in the past couple of years by the deaths of young black men such as Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Trayvon Martin, Lee said he is encouraged by the advocacy shown by today鈥檚 youths.

鈥淚 was out in the streets of New York City when they had the marches,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 felt great to be in New York because it was everybody [marching]. There were young white kids holding up signs saying 鈥楤lack Lives Matter.鈥� It was very diverse. I鈥檓 enthusiastic about the young minds in this country.鈥�