Director of the Month: Spike Lee
With this blisteringly funny, unapologetically confrontational satire, writer-director Spike Lee examined the past, present, and future of racism in American popular culture, issuing a daring provocation to creators and consumers alike—so on-point that it’s sometimes hard to watch.
Bamboozled might be a bit hit-and-miss, but the hits are devastating. Using its Producers-ish premise to horrifying effect, Bamboozled tells the story of academic television writer Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans), who’s been assigned with rescuing his network’s flagging ratings. His explosively offensive solution? Bring back blackface. To his horror, the white network executives love it, and so do audiences: The New Millennium Minstrel Show is a hit, forcing Pierre and his collaborators to confront their public’s insatiable appetite for dehumanizing stereotypes. Featuring Savion Glover, Jada Pinkett Smith, Tommy Davidson, Mos Def, and Paul Mooney, Bamboozled is a stinging indictment of mass entertainment at the turn of the 21st century that looks more damning with each passing year.