free counter with statistics Spike Lee: Douche | Pajiba - Scathing Reviews for Bitchy People

Spike Lee Opens Mouth, Inserts Foot. Bites off Stupid Little Toe.
Say the Wrong Thing / Dustin Rowles

Trade News | September 16, 2008 | Comments (47)

leespikelee.jpgLet’s get this straight: I like Spike Lee, the director. I love The 25th Hour; I totally dug He Got Game; really liked Malcolm X; and thought Inside Man was passably entertaining. He’s a good director, and deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as, say, Ron Howard and Ridley Scott: Solid, but never mind-blowing. But talent aside, the dude is a dick. An asshole. An arrogant prick. An egotistical douche pickle. And if his past witticisms idon’t offer enough evidence, then check out this quote from Lee in the latest edition of The New Yorker (H/T Slashfilm), after he was given a poster to sign for a wall at the Sony Music studio:

“Don’t put us next to Judd Apapoe, whatever that guy is,” Lee says, referring to Judd Apatow. “We gotta be next to Spielberg and Williams!”

Apapoe? Whatever that guy is? How about a guy who has made more money on the last two films he directed (Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin) than Spike Lee probably has with his entire directorial output. I know that box-office power is absolutely no indicator of talent (see, Bay, Michael; Ratner, Brett), but to profess an ignorance/disdain of Judd Apatow is pretty goddamn rich. And then to brazenly put yourself on the same level as Spielberg? Because you directed She Hate Me? Brother, please. Use the mediocre box-office proceeds from Inside Man and go buy yourself some humility, dude.


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Comments

Damn. I'm all sick and I can't detect if there's sarcasm here. We don't like Spike Lee? And when did Ron Howard become Mind Blowing?

Posted by: Optimus Rhyme at September 16, 2008 10:12 AM

Hmm Dustin. I don't know if I agree. I mean, I think Spike Lee's egotistical, but he also directed Do The Right Thing, which basically blew my fucking mind when I was a navel-gazing suburban 17-year-old. Judd Apatow's movies are fun and make me feel good, but they don't strike me as profoundly as some of Lee's best films have. I think he's allowed to have one foot on a pedestal.

Posted by: ali at September 16, 2008 10:13 AM

Brilliant artists are often egomaniacal idiots. Film at eleven.

Posted by: DGM at September 16, 2008 10:16 AM

I'd place Spike precisely between Spielberg and Apatow in a "contribution to the history of cinema" spectrum.

I do NOT want to meet him in person, however.

Posted by: firedmyass at September 16, 2008 10:19 AM

um ... I would rather be in Spielberg's company as well. I wouldn't say in 10, 20, 50 years people are going to be talking about the impact Apatow had in cinema. It's more likely people will talk about him (if they remember him at all) as the benchmark of how lowbrow one can go and still make money.

Posted by: d at September 16, 2008 10:22 AM

The most amazing thing about the quote is that Spike actually referred to a white director (Spielberg) in a positive way.

Posted by: Frank N Stein at September 16, 2008 10:26 AM

I can understand where he's coming from in terms of cultural relevance. Spike Lee movies seem to have a message of some kind (even if it's tangential) or offer cultural criticism while Judd Apatow movies are about men who make a lot of dick jokes and refuse to grow up. I'm not saying one is inherently better than the other, I'm saying I can understand why he might be offended to be lumped in with Apatow.

Still kinda makes him sound like an asshole though.

Posted by: Genny (also Rusty) at September 16, 2008 10:40 AM

Say whaaaaat?

Posted by: Lucas at September 16, 2008 10:45 AM

CRRRIIIIPPPLLE FIIIGH... (oops, wrong thread)

RAAAAACE WAAAAAR!

Posted by: Skittimus Maximus at September 16, 2008 10:45 AM

Normally I don't double post, but Skittimus, good job. That's a double reference right there.

Posted by: Lucas at September 16, 2008 10:48 AM

Give it a rest Rowles, we get it, you don't like Spike. But to suggest that somehow all because Apatow made more money than Spike, Spike shouldn't be able to speak his mind. I'll tell you why Spike should be able to speak his mind, the powers that be will green light any old shitty movie by a white director so fast it will make your head spin, but when a black director wants to make a movie ( read all the shit Lee had to go through to make Malcolm X) he has to jump through hoops. Rowles why do you have so much hatred and venom when it comes to Perry and Lee? The next time you're trying to make a point Rowles, come with something better than Knocked up, K.

Posted by: Pookie at September 16, 2008 10:56 AM

I assume he means Billy Dee Wiliams...

Posted by: Kevin Longrie at September 16, 2008 11:03 AM

Faaan the flames you feel buuurning in you, young master Poookie. Feeel the pooower. Giiive in to the Daark Siiide. RAAAAACE WAAAAR! What say you, Rowles? Bwahahahahaa!

Posted by: Skittimus Maximus at September 16, 2008 11:12 AM

....while I'm at it like me give you all a preview of the review of Spike's new movie "Miracle at St. Anna." First the reviewer will do a recap of Spike's career, then the reviewer will throw in a reference to Tyler Perry. Then the reviewer will go off on a tangent about Spike being a angry black man, and that he shouldn't be so angry because America has blessed him with the opportunity to make a fine living. Then the reviewer will discuss in great detail about Spike's movies as they relate to the African American experience in America. Then the reviewer will finish with a long paragraph explaining why he or she didn't quite like it.

Posted by: Pookie at September 16, 2008 11:12 AM

"the powers that be will green light any old shitty movie by a white director so fast it will make your head spin, but when a black director wants to make a movie ( read all the shit Lee had to go through to make Malcolm X) he has to jump through hoops."


have you seen "Little Man?"

Posted by: Craig at September 16, 2008 11:13 AM

Giiive in to the Daark Siiide. RAAAAACE WAAAAR! What say you, Rowles? Bwahahahahaa!

Posted by: Skittimus Maximus at September 16, 2008 11:12 AM

Why is BarbadoSlim posting as Skittimus Maximus?

Posted by: Che Grovera at September 16, 2008 11:20 AM

I've met Mr. Lee and he's exactly as one would expect a creative brooding type to be - quiet, kind of sullen, and in his own thoughts. Period. I don't blame him for not wanting to be classed with the likes of Apatow. Moreover, Apatow has had enormous commercial success, but, unlike Lee, has contributed very little to cinematic history. "Do the Right Thing", "Jungle Fever", etc. have a style specific to Lee and address class and race in, for the most part, nuanced ways. No, they weren't that commercially successfully, but what "black" films (you know, any film involving black people) are?

Posted by: samantha t at September 16, 2008 11:32 AM

Hey, Pookie, they were talking about you and the morgage crisis on NPR's News and Notes last night. Sorry about the balloon payments on your house.

Posted by: phquaryn at September 16, 2008 11:33 AM

phquaryn, when has losing one's home become funny?

Posted by: Pookie at September 16, 2008 11:43 AM

All I'm saying is, Farai Chideya mentioned a "Pookie" on NPR and I thought of you.

Posted by: phquaryn at September 16, 2008 11:58 AM

NPR? Oh I get it you're one of those tree huggers, a card caring member of greenpeace. You probably spent your entire life bunny hoping and fox trotting, while I was on the front lines fighting for mankind. And now come home here where men are discussing serious issues and infect us with your diseased bile looking for a funny. Please spare us your thoughts.

Posted by: Pookie at September 16, 2008 12:29 PM

Wow..... ummmmmm angry much in the morning?

p.s. I love me some musical comments, keep it up skitt.

Posted by: Worme at September 16, 2008 12:42 PM

This incident proves my theory that Spike Lee is the black Barbra Streisand.

Posted by: Sofía at September 16, 2008 12:50 PM

Ladies and gentlemen (and readers of Pajiba), I give you...the Pookenator!! More thoughtful than a liquored-up socalled! More sober than Vermillion! Now 98% more coherent than Skittimus! Angrier than meaux! More righteously indignant than Nosek, and less patient than TMax! Funnier than TK, and twice as stabby!

All!
Hail!
Pookie!!

Seriously, pooks, great series of posts!

Posted by: lordhelmet at September 16, 2008 1:39 PM

Not to start a whole other tangent of fights but although I enjoy his films, as a white woman engaged to a black man I became personally turned off by Spike Lee when he went on record as saying he was against interracial marriages. Yeah, yeah it shouldn't matter what a total stranger thinks but of someone with his talent and intelligence I expected more.

Posted by: Leanne at September 16, 2008 1:49 PM

Meh, he got me all pissed off when he got into that stupid little "I know YOU are but what am I?" tirade with Clint Eastwood. He needs to put up or shut up--make good movies and just shut the hell up.

Posted by: figgylicious at September 16, 2008 2:20 PM

Leanne, honey, I'm sure there are people on your side of the family that aren't exactly thrilled with your Jungle Fever.

Posted by: Pookie at September 16, 2008 2:20 PM

While in this case Spike probably has a point, it's getting old constantly hearing about him starting bitchy little fights with everyone.

Dude. Come on. Just keep your mouth shut sometimes.

Posted by: Mimi at September 16, 2008 2:30 PM

Samantha T, I agree with you so often I usually don't bother posting myself, but in this case I have to respectfully disagree. I find "Do The Right Thing" and "Jungle Fever" to be almost the polar opposite of nuanced. "Do the Right Thing" was interesting because all the characters are flawed, but some of the conversations are so stilted they make me wince. "Jungle Fever," on the other hand, with its all-white-people-bad-swearing-batterers-except-this-one-dark-italian-girl and all-black-people-sweet-and-good, felt to me like a teenager wrote it.

Posted by: Lilly at September 16, 2008 3:42 PM

Apapoe of nothing but I think Spike is getting a little big for his big boy (Wrangler!) britches.

I think he's got a case of the crankies!

Posted by: Amanda47 at September 16, 2008 5:28 PM

i can't agree with this one. have you seen bamboozled? have you studied do the right thing? when it comes to black american film, spike lee is an innovator. i think i smell some racism here...

Posted by: emily at September 16, 2008 5:56 PM

What the hell was so great about "Do the Right Thing". As far as I saw it was a mediocre movie with nothing unique about it at all. Bunch of hot air.

Posted by: MadMonk at September 16, 2008 8:06 PM

@ MadMonk
What. The. Fuck? Nothing unique? What movie before it was anything like it?
@ Pookie
Like my man Chuck D said "Fight the Power"

Posted by: Dexter Morgan at September 16, 2008 11:19 PM

I was on the fence over what to say about this, but probably I'd put him closer to El Spielbergo than to Apatow.

However that in no way diminishes his HUUUUUGE asshole status. I'm willing to bet, from what I've seen of Apatow and his crew, that they probably admire him and shit.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at September 17, 2008 7:58 AM

Dude, calm down. Yeah he's being egotistical, but he's also being sarcastic about it. Secondly, it's god damn reasonable he wouldn't know who Judd Apatow is. Judd Apatow makes corny movies for corny white people. Lee does deserve to be among the ranks of Spielberg, but higher. Spike Lee actually makes good movies.

And that whole comment about how his movies make less money is quite disgusting. This site is really proving itself to equate box office with good.

Posted by: mark at September 17, 2008 10:45 AM

I agree totally with you mark, the thought that we judge movies by how much money they make might go over well with the people that finance movies, but Rowles makes it the central theme of his argument that somehow a guy who makes tons of money by making dick joke movies is a better director than Lee is absurd.

Posted by: Pookie at September 17, 2008 11:32 AM

RD your assessment on Spike Lee was spot on.

I have never been a Spike Lee fan or any of his Spike Lee Joint films. They always come across as amatuerish and condesnding -- just like him. Spike Lee seems to forget that if it wasn't for the "White Man" Hollywood establishment he would not have a career. They "green lighted" his first film(s) (i.e. Do The Right Thing & School Daze). But since Spike has a Napoleon Complex, both figuratively and literally, he will bite that hand that fed him.

He's a legend in his own mind. Unfortunately the film/media industry have given him free reign and appointed Spike the foremost authority on inner-city race matters. Message to Spike, get over yourself. You're a second-rate hack and a mediocre director/producer of inconsiquential dramas and movies. I think the time has come for the movie-going public to extinguish Spike and his SL Joint(s).... we deserve better.

Posted by: Brooklyn Gal at September 17, 2008 11:51 AM

Who is 'Williams'?

And, uh, what's a Nubian?

Posted by: -tom at September 17, 2008 12:03 PM

Excuse me Brooklyn Gal, but men are talking here. Shouldn't you be somewhere making your husband or boyfriend or lesbian lover miserable? All of black America thanks the "White Man" for all he has done for us and to us.

Posted by: Pookie at September 17, 2008 12:20 PM

Don't make say the pimp's prayer gal from Brooklyn...

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at September 17, 2008 12:29 PM

BSlim I like your style, I would be proud to have you accompany me as I go collect money from my stable, you can be my collector.

Posted by: Pookie at September 17, 2008 1:43 PM

Yeah, I'm sorry but to me Judd Apatow makes tepid comedies. They are really good considering how low the bar for movies and comedies has been lately but corny nonetheless. Some will hate me for this but Apatow is closer to Brisco's description of Tyler Perry at this point because he's managed to make the same movie several times with great success and the recycled theme gets a new lead, same cast members.
So, if I were in the business as long as Spike and worked as hard as Spike, and put out the quality work that he has (albeit he's had some misses) I wouldn't want to be grouped with him either. And I would be offended if everyone thought it was my responsibility to know this guys name by heart. You sound like you think Spike should be asking for Judd's autograph. I also have to say that i'm actually not a major Spike fan but I think it's evident that these two don't need to be in the same category.

I would love to pick up my spear and chuck it into this 'race war' but i'll restrain myself for now.

Posted by: ms shai at September 17, 2008 1:46 PM

Dude's insulting Apapoe, Pajiba rage ensues. Go figure, after all the fucking Apapoe hype i had to endure here. And what's this supposed to mean "How about a guy who has made more money on the last two films he directed (Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin) than Spike Lee probably has with his entire directorial output."???! The fuck? How much money did Werner herzog made, compared to, oh let's say Michael bay? Since when does the amount of profit a movie makes in hollywood amounts to its quality? You really want to compare the 25th Hour to a 40 year old virgin? This is especially disappointing, coming from Pajiba.

Posted by: Arthur Dent at September 17, 2008 4:24 PM

Pook testified
Pajiban outcry
Black people sighed
When the other man tried.
Skit keeps serving up the double trouble
I caterwaul that I'm postin'
From the lower level.

...sorry.

Lots of people think they aren't getting enough credit for their efforts. Some of them are even right.

Posted by: replica at September 17, 2008 4:56 PM

i find the low blows of sexism quite sad Pookie. immature and unintelligent..and not needed or welcome on pajiba.

Posted by: emily at September 17, 2008 6:30 PM

Emily I assure you I've fought on the forefront of women's issues, and I have no problem standing behind a good women, especially if she's bent over.

Posted by: Pookie at September 17, 2008 7:06 PM

Apatow is a talentless clown; his movies are for potsmokers and idiot fratboys. Spike Lee has more directorial ability in his pinky finger than Apatow has in his entire body.

Posted by: Steve at February 13, 2009 10:48 PM