Spike Lee criticizes Clint Eastwood for not casting black soldiers in the movie "The Flags of Our Fathers" though 900 of them fought along the US forces.

Absent from history: the black soldiers at Iwo Jima

Then,

Clint Eastwood and Spike Lee Go to War!

"Reverse Racism" is a huge problem that people hardly talk about, nor the media. What next? The first person to land on the moon was BLACK?
"C" grade director trying to gain attention going after "A" grade directors using the same old excuse "Racism". He needs to get a life and make some better movies instead.

They say "Ignorance is a bliss" but doesn't it startle any one of you when you discover what you have been deprived of  i.e.accurate information?

Spike Lee, who notoriously has had been branded as a Reverse Racist, evokes a stir whenever he makes such kind of remarks no matter whether these is substance to it or not.

Some filmmakers people are obsessed with making movie with subject matter dealing with their own people or identity like Scorsese' movies deals with Italian-Americans, Manoj Kumar deals with Bharata and so forth.
But I think that is legit as long as no truth is distorted. Of course, it goes without saying their choice of subject is a matter of their own personal preference.

Oh yes of course, "there is no such thing as a bad publicity", this one could boost his next movie release if there is one coming out shortly.

There's an Indian and lots of Japanese, what makes you think he didn't want to put Blacks in the movie? Simply they weren't there. Cheap publicity for his next movie. Calling out "Racism" for everything is a joke nowadays. I'm definetly NOT going to watch his movie, anyway his taste and quality are CHEAP.

Rewire!
It was a war against the Japanese so it's not easy to miss them. If you read from the first link I think you will get the answer to your question. The article defends the director indicating the movie is true to the historical records. But the problem arises when the historical records themselves are not accurate.
You can ask yourself "When undertaking a movie project of historical significance, is it also prudent to interview the surviving actual characters and reflect that in the script?"

No doubt, Clint Eastwood is a filmmaker whom most of us probably thought is done with cinema when he churns out mega-hit movie after another as a director looking past "Unforgiven". He is a true movie legend who might have already overshadowed John Wayne by now.

mr hyde,
If the history has been distorted, then how does that make Clint responsible, let alone be criticized at at public place. He made with the material he had. If you and Spike are so concern about the history, take those facts(proofs) and submit it to the historical society of US and the Congress. And please do not say he will not be taken seriously or discriminated. Two words for you, Barack Obama. Blaming Clint is like barking at the wrong dog.
On that note, Spike's new movie is about WWII which was the allied nations against the Germans and the Japs. We can bring out version of Racism saying Spike didn't portrait Asians, which I'm pretty sure he has none in his movie. There's not end to this. Admit it, Spike is a piece of shit.

You might have read my response but you have not analyzed it.
Clinton lost the primaries because more American people have better faith in Obama than in Clinton.
The argument boils down to (for the n^th time) the black soldiers who put their lives on the line during that battle have not been represented in the movie. That's where this argument arises.
I wrote on the immediate previous post.
"The article defends the director indicating the movie is true to the historical records."
Mr. Rewire, you are being too aggressive when you write I and Spike Lee should take the matter to the Congress.

Spike lee is using this propaganda to promote his next film, it’s that simple.  I’ve watched flags of our father twice and the movie is about the soldiers who raised the flag at Iowa Jima that time, not about others.  Now if no black soldiers raised the flag than he can’t change history just to please some racists thug like lee. 

my hyde
You should read all the posting on the website that you've put the link at the beginning of this thread. See what majority of them has to say. They're calling him "Fool". Black people were portrait in every single of movies related to Vietnam, which was a historical fact. Go check them out if you have forgotten, you'll find at least one black guy in every god damn Vietnam movie, some don't even show a single Vietnamese. How the hell can they say they were not portrait in movies?
If they were not in Iwo Jima, then the blatant call of racism doesn't change the fact they WERE NOT there.

Rewire!
So there is more truth in the consensus than in the facts? What a joke!


Jonny, if it's about only about raising the flag then the movie would have been only two minutes long instead of an epic.

my hyde,
"Fact"? How do you know it's a fact and not a made up story by a whinny ass "C" grade director.
It appears you've been influenced heavily by "rap & hip/hop" propaganda. Spread your wings and embrace friends from other circles, you'll get a very different views.
I know somewhere down this posting, you'll call me a "Racist", which is normal defense mechanism for this sort of issue.

Mr Hyde,"The argument boils down to (for the n^th time) the black soldiers who put their lives on the line during that battle have not been represented in the movie. That's where this argument arises."

Well the question I ask Mr hyde is..was Clint present there in IIworld war ? Nope. Was Spike present there during raising of the flag ? Nope. So both are going by the historical account of what happened by people who wrote it. Mind you US was a racist country back then(no voting rights for blacks, Japanese Americans were sent to prison camps). Now if the historical accounts show that there were only white folks there then you cannot really go and blame Clint for that can you ? So if he wants to chage it then as Rewire mentioned ..he needs to present those black survivors to historians and establish the facts before running his mouth for publicity and personal gain(promoting his own movie). Vietnam war came after the whole civil rights movement so of course they were forced to mention black soldiers on the same page as white folks.

Besides film making is an art, so if Mr. Eastwood want to portray only white soldiers then that is his choice. Just like nobody goes and questions why Mr. Lee only picks black subjects for his movies and not others. If this is not reverse racism then I dun know what is.

Mr  Hyde, Here is the information about the movie.

Flags of Our Fathers is a film about the Battle of Iwo Jima and tells the story of how the three surviving flag-raisers were used as propaganda tools by the United States government to lift the morale of the American people and raise money for the war effort. It also shows the effects of war on the veterans and how they suffered from memories of the war for the rest of their lives.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_Our_Fathers_(film)

For your convenience, I have copied and pasted this from the opener to here all because very few, including you,  refused to be sincere to themselves. Lastly, it does not matter what you assume of me - a prince or a pauper. I am who I am. I am comfortable in my own skin

For factual evidence read:

Absent from history: the black soldiers at Iwo Jima

Nearly 900 African-Americans fought on the Japanese island but not one appears in Clint Eastwood's Oscar-tipped film, writes Dan Glaister

read more ...

dude,
just because some yahoo wrote on a British paper doesn't necessarily men anything. Anyway, how come a British newspaper know more of American history? It's  just a cheap publicity from Spike and his goons from the media.Nothing more, nothing less. You can believe in anything, nobody is forcing you. But you've to agree Spike likes attention and has not done any thing of significant since Malcom X. Bamboozles...Come on, the name says it,a  JOKE.

Again the same thing, Here is from time magazine.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1812972,00.html

"Flags Of Our Fathers  zeroes in on the soldiers who hoisted the U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi, and this task, memorialized in a famous staged photograph, was accomplished by five white servicemen and a sixth, Ira Hayes, of Pima Indian descent."

Mr  Hyde,

I recommend you watch "The War" by Ken Burns which was featured on PBS some time ago.A very good documentary.

Bathroom Coffee!
Some of the point you make are excellent,
I am not an expert but historical records can be drawn from manuscripts, artifacts etc. Sometimes, the events in question are so old and the evidences are so scanty we have rely upon just the available artifacts and circumstantial evidences. For example, who among has witnessed Hitler and his atrocities?  We just have to rely on records and supporting artifacts just like nobody disputes PNS uniting Nepal in the 18th century.

But fortunately, in this case, 1945 was not a long time ago and the black soldier Captain Thomas H. McPhatter being included in the article (link above) was still alive as of 2006 and forms the basis of the article. I am sure there are other surviving non-black soldiers in the hundreds / thousands who served as a "band of brothers" together who can corroborate to McPhatters claim.
Read more on Captain Thomas H. McPhatter (picture included)

Regarding cast members, I think one should attempt to provide a balance in every aspect especially when making a historical movie so as not to alienate any category of people for which there are supporting facts . (It's good for business too). The article defends the director again and points finger to the book the movie was based on.

Rewire, I never used to read your postings. I should have done just that today as well. Now you are resorting to speculations without substance. The article clearly was published in 2006 as a commentary to the movie release and Spike Lee row started recently. How can be go back in time and fabricate that story? The problem communicating with you is so darn difficult because you would not even acknowledge simple facts to move onto the next level just like never getting to prove a theorem since the underlying facts axioms are so shaky.

Tisa, will do if I get a chance. Not a war movie fanatic but Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan was a visually stunning movie. Wasn't it?

Hyde, what is ur point???? Clint Eastwood is a racist???

 

Hehe Mav! what's in it for me?

Spike Lee has found something to pick on but this time it is pretty compelling. I would never brand this amazing movie legend Eastwood a racist. If he had done some more research for materials and incorporated those in the movie, the whole row could have been avoided. Interviews with soldiers of different background as bonus materials/special features would be excellent on DVD, I reckon.

My hyde
900 servicemen and none recorded in the history -seems a bit far fetched, to my understanding. Let's say Captain Thomas was there indeed with other black marines/army on the mission, they should have a record of his duty at least. Let's assume the white commanders didn't bother to record it, then there should be other black servicemen/women to back up his story of the war on those islands. And their records needs to be checked for the credential. The reporter, Dan, should present a copy of the interview, written or recorded. If those things are presented forward, then we can have a "acknowledgment" like you said.If not it's just mere Spike's publicity. We'll see in the coming days.
Tisa,
Ken Burn's episode was really eye opening especially the Japanese story. They were defending America and fighting the Europeans, while thousand of family /friends were put in internment camps for just being Japanese, many of them were born and raised in the US.Thousands died. There are still places on the West Coast where Japanese has settled before the Whites living a simple agricultural life, but they were all hoarded into the camps.You don't hear their side of story too much, do you?  nor DO THEY wine like Spike. Japanese have far succeeded over their misery in Japan and overseas with hard work and intelligence.