Spike Lee Defends
Title of New Film ‘Chiraq,’ says Critics ‘Know Nothing About the Film’
by Daniel Nussbaum15 May 2015
Spike Lee defended the
title of his new movie Chiraq at a press conference in Chicago on Thursday, but offered little in the way
of plot or casting details to defuse the controversy surrounding the film.
The title of Lee’s film, purportedly about gun violence in
the Englewood section of Chicago, has faced criticism from some, including
Chicago Mayor Rahm
Emanuel, for its provocative implication: a fusion between the
gun violence-drenched streets of Chicago and war-plagued Iraq.
Appearing at the press conference with actor John Cusack,
the Rev. Michael Pfleger and members of gun violence support group Purpose Over Pain,
Lee said the “people who are judging from afar” should not weigh in on the
film’s title, which he suggested could change.
“A lot of things have been said about this film by people
who know nothing about the film,” Lee told the media, according
to the Chicago Tribune. “A lot of people have
opinions about the so-called title of the film. So we thought it was
appropriate that we say what the narrative is – the filmmakers, the
people doing this – not people who are judging from afar and, again, don’t know
what the hell they’re talking about.”
The “Chiraq” moniker has irked Chicago city officials for
some time; last year, residents and officials took to social media to launch a
campaign aimed at discouraging
the use of the suggestive nickname.
According
to CBS
Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel met with Lee last month to air his displeasure with
the film’s title.
“I told him there were very good people in Englewood who are
raising their families,” Emanuel told CBS. “There are very good people in
Englewood.”
Still, Lee said the title of his film is not meant to be an
indictment of the city.
“We have to stop the madness. This is insane. This is
nothing to do about Chicago losing tourism. This is not about Chicago losing
business,” Lee said at his press conference.
Of course, Lee has tackled controversial topics in his
previous films; 1989’s Do The Right Thing, 1992’s Malcolm X,
1995’s drug-dealing caper Clockers and 1997 documentary 4 Little
Girls have all touched on themes of race and violence.
Cusack, a native of Chicago, bolstered Lee’s defense of the
film, saying he was “very proud” to be in it and that its scope extended
outside Chicago to “any urban American city where poverty and violence and
desperation are so ever-present.”
“Spike called me up and told me what he was up to. We met,
and he looked me in the eye, and said, ‘Johnny, the only reason to do this film
is to help save lives,'” said Cusack. “I love my city of Chicago – all of
Chicago – and I would never do anything to hurt it.”
“I am 100 percent sure that the great city of Chicago can
survive a film of conscience, just like it did Transformers,” the
actor joked.
Oddly enough, the film may not be the gritty,
violence-drenched affair that the title’s critics think it is. ScreenDaily
reported
this week that Chiraq is a “reimagining” of the ancient Greek comedy Lysistrata.
In the original work, the women of Greece decide to withhold sex from their
spouses until the men put an end to war. ScreenDaily says Chiraq will
similarly “center on a woman’s quest to end gang warfare in Chicago,”
presumably using similar means.
While not much is yet known about the film, Samuel L.
Jackson and John Cusack are both reportedly circling roles, while Jennifer
Hudson may also have an unspecified part. The film will reportedly be released
on Amazon
in the United States, though it is also being shopped at this week’s Cannes
Film Festival.
John Cusack
John
Cusack is a director at the Freedom
of the Press Foundation.
Note: Glenn Greenwald
is a director at the Freedom of the
Press Foundation, and contacted Edward
Snowden about NSA programs.
Laura
Poitras is a director at the Freedom
of the Press Foundation, contacted Edward
Snowden about NSA programs, and
a co-author of 2013-2014 coverage of the National
Security Agency (NSA).
Edward Snowden was
contacted by Glenn Greenwald & Laura Poitras about NSA programs, leaked information about
the National Security Agency (NSA),
and a Booz Allen Hamilton employee.
Booz Allen
Hamilton is a contractor for the National
Security Agency (NSA), and Obamacare.
Robert S. Osborne
was the EVP & general counsel for Booz
Allen Hamilton, and is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of
Chicago, Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
R.
Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP.
Barack
Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin
LLP, and Obamacare is his signature
policy initiative.
David
D. Hiller was a partner at Sidley Austin
LLP, the publisher & president & CEO for the Chicago Tribune, and is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Newton
N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP, a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and was a director at CBS.
Van Gordon Sauter
was the president of CBS, and
married to Kathleen L. Brown.
Kathleen L. Brown
is married to Van Gordon Sauter, California state government governor Jerry Brown’s sister, and a member of
the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Rahm
I. Emanuel is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, the Chicago (IL) mayor,
and was the White House chief of staff for the Barack Obama administration.
Valerie B. Jarrett
is a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago, the senior adviser for the Barack
Obama administration, and her great uncle is Vernon E. Jordan Jr.
Vernon E. Jordan
Jr. is Valerie B.
Jarrett’s great uncle, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank), a senior
director at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, an Oak
Bluffs (MA) homeowner, director at the American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank), was a member of the Iraq
Study Group, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think
tank).
Iraq Study Group
made policy recommendations on U.S. involvement in Iraq.
Lee
H. Hamilton was a co-chair at the Iraq
Study Group, and is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank).
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution
(think tank), the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, and the
Urban Institute (think tank).
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Cyrus F.
Freidheim Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was a managing
director at Booz Allen Hamilton.
Booz Allen
Hamilton is a contractor for the National
Security Agency (NSA), and Obamacare.
Tonya Lewis Lee
is a director at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, and married to Spike Lee.
Charles J.
Ogletree Jr. is a director at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational
Fund, and an Oak Bluffs (MA) homeowner.
Spike
Lee is married to Tonya Lewis Lee,
an Oak Bluffs (MA) homeowner,
and his new movie is called Chiraq.
Vernon E. Jordan
Jr. is an Oak Bluffs
(MA) homeowner, a senior director at the NAACP Legal Defense
& Educational Fund, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank), Valerie B.
Jarrett’s great uncle, director at the American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank), a life trustee at the Urban
Institute (think tank), a senior counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, was a member of the Iraq Study Group, and a 2008 Bilderberg
conference participant (think tank).
Iraq Study Group
made policy recommendations on U.S. involvement in Iraq.
Jamie S. Gorelick
is a trustee at the Urban Institute (think
tank), and a director at the Amazon.com,
Inc.
Akin,
Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP is the lobby firm for Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon Studios to Receive Innovation Award For
Transgender Show (Past Research for Amazon.com, Inc.)
Friday, May 15, 2015
Nicolas J.
Hanauer was an early investor in Amazon.com,
Inc, and is an advisory board member
for Everytown for Gun Safety.
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