Boots Riley, the director of the acclaimed satire Sorry to Bother You, has taken aim at Spike Lee’s new film, BlacKkKlansman, in which a black police officer infiltrates a white supremacist organisation.
In an essay posted on Twitter, Riley calls the film “a made-up story in which the false parts of it try to make a cop the protagonist in the fight against racist oppression”, adding: “It’s being put while Black Lives Matter is a discussion, and this is not coincidental. There is a viewpoint behind it.”
Based on Ron Stallworth’s 2014 memoir, BlacKkKlansman tells of how the author (played by John David Washington) infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan with the help of his partner, Flip Zimmerman.
Riley contends that, in fact, the majority of Stallworth’s undercover operations focused on black liberation groups. “Without the made-up stuff, and with what we know of the actual history of police infiltration into radical groups, and how they infiltrated and directed white supremacist organisations to attack those groups, Ron Stallworth is the villain,” he says.
“For Spike to come out with a movie where story points are fabricated in order to make a black cop and his counterparts look like allies in the fight against racism is really disappointing, to put it very mildly.”
He concludes by pointing to a New York Post report that claims Lee and his production company were employed by the New York police department in 2016 to improve relationships between minorities and police.
“By now, many folks know that Spike Lee was paid over $200,000 (Dh734,493) to help in an ad campaign that was ‘aimed at improving relations with minority communities,’” Riley says. “Whether it actually is or not, BlacKkKlansman feels like an extension of that ad campaign.”
Lee has yet to respond to Riley’s remarks. Last week, the Sorry to Bother You director responded to criticism about the female lead in his film, who some felt lacked depth and agency.
Sorry to Bother You, which has been lauded for its inventive take on capitalism, the gig economy and race relations, has earned $15.5 million at the US box office since its release in July. BlacKkKlansman has earned $11.2 million after 10 days.
