Ed Guerrero

Despite - or possibly as a result of - not being totally conversant in the political and racial language of Guerrero's argument, I appreciated the complex, layered look at Spike Lee's seminal film. In particular, I appreciated the context of the "white Hollywood hegemony" in which the film was released; I had forgotten that Driving Miss Daisy- a pleasant but simplistic film, treating race from a distinctly and rather sanctimonious white point of view - came out the same year, which throws a lot of the discussion of Lee's "radicalism" into sharp perspective. I also found myself agreeing with Guerrero about Lee's characterizations, few of which are truly sympathetic; Radio Raheem in no way deserves to die, but he does present the body language of a physically intimidating bully, and that necessarily complicates any audience member's take on him. (Similar complex readings are presented of Buggin' Out, Sal, Mookie, and perhaps most intriguingly, Pino, who is said to reflect Mookie as a "mirror image" - something I really hadn't contemplated before.)

This is a film pretty firmly outside of my wheelhouse, so perhaps my take on Guerrero's monograph is simply naive; however, for whatever it's worth, I enjoyed it. It does need updating, though; 2001 is a long time ago to be talking about the political and social relevance of a film, and some of Guerrero's points - particularly almost any made in the final section, about the modern history of police brutality - are simply outmoded now.… (more)