Spike Lee has always been at the forefront of socially conscious
films and his latest, BlacKkKlansman, is exceptionally poignant. In 1979, Ron
Stallworth created his own undercover assignment by joining the local chapter
of the KKK. It wouldn’t be noteworthy except Stallworth was the first
African-American police officer to serve in Colorado Springs. He would talk to
various members, and even organization leader David Duke, by phone and a
Caucasian officer would pretend to be him in face to face meetings. The film
covers this true story and whether anything has changed in over thirty years.
John David Washington is perfectly cast as Ron Stallworth. In
the film, his character is straddling two worlds. His job interview even includes
the question of what he would do if a fellow cop called him a “n-----“ but also encourages Stallworth to keep his afro. Similar to Sorry to Bother You, the idea of a white voice is explored. On the
other hand, Stallworth is expected to spy on a former Black Panther member and
describe how the crowd reacted to messages about a future uprising. It’s here
that he meets Patrice Dumas (Laura Harrier), the president of the Black Student
Union Leader. As his fellow police seek to keep a status quo between the
Caucasians in Colorado Springs and everyone else, Dumas wants to break the
racial barriers and have true equality. Her words make Stallworth reconsider
his own life and decisions. Dumas could have been fleshed out a bit more, but
she does pass the Bechdel-Wallace Test, the DuVernay Test and the Sexy Lamp
Shade Test. Her influence also presses Stallworth to press coworker Flip Zimmerman
(Adam Driver) to consider his own minority status more. Zimmerman might be
Caucasian and able to portray Stallworth around KKK members when face to face
but he’s Jewish and that makes him just as hated by the KKK and other hate
groups as being Black. This was another character that could have used more
development to know what he was like before having to realize how much it hurt
to lie about his religion with the KKK.
What makes BlacKkKlansman so important at this time also
makes for a viewing experience that varies between hard to watch and
distracting. Even though the film takes place in 1979, it’s set up to see the
parallels with modern day hate. The KKK even discuss how the new agenda should be
to go after immigration fears as a gateway to getting people to join. Another
part of their agenda is to get candidates that believe in their ideals and
maybe someday, they could even put one of their own “in the White House”.
Later, several members speak of “making America great again”. It takes the
viewer away from the story, disturbing the suspension of disbelief…but is that
a bad thing? If forcing the viewer to think differently about current events is
the price paid, isn’t that worth it? It borders on overkill with the message to
include Charlottesville at the end. However, the aim is to force the viewer
into action just as Stallworth and Zimmerman were forced to see how their
minority status made their existence tenuous. When it comes to the KKK, hate is
not kept just for minorities but anyone that gets in their way, too., like Heather
Heyer.
One of the highlights of BlacKkKlansman is Harry Belafonte, who's riveting to listen to and a living Civil Rights icon. The
90 year old’s character recounts a story of a childhood friend being lynched as
the scene switches back and forth from his story of the early 1900s with people
eager to hate to a 1979 meeting of the KKK where people are still that eager to
hate. The Charlottesville ending shows how the hate persists despite people
fighting against it. It’s a hard realization and the real focus of the film
rather than the characters inside it. The characters are underdeveloped, but
the rest is Spike Lee at his best.
8 out of 10
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