Malcolm X

This seems a well-crafted movie by Spike Lee. At the beginning of the movie, before Malcolm becomes politically aware, we see Malcolm and his friends, seemingly happy, emulating the larger societies dress and mannerisms. Is this a statement about the times? Personally, I noticed a parallel between these fawning citizens of yesteryear, and contemporary, going along, happy whites of today -er of 1992.

Was this Lees point?

Malcolm himself becomes politically aware, and thinks back about his relationships with whites. Realizing, at best, he's simply been used by them. He decides to join the Black Muslims. The movie follows him on his rise to prominence, "That's too much power for one man to have".

I remember when this movie came out. Everyone was wearing Malcolm X T-shirts and Malcolm X hats. I'd never seen anything like it before. Malcolm X's influence and legacy loom larger than ever. Certainly large in 1992.

What is Malcolm X's legacy tho?

Was he just a tool used to pacify the underclass - when they wouldn't trust the media, the government, academia, their women, or whites?

Is his legacy the opposite? One of keeping resistance alive. Certainly people of all kinds seem angrier now than ever. Do the powers-that-be simply think we work harder when we're angry? Or is resistance needed now more than ever?

Is Malcolm X's religious vision actually the most true worship of God, and is this his legacy?

Did Malcolm X create his own legacy. . . ?

In the movie, Lee focuses intensely on the scene where Malcolm and his friend (shorty?), and their girlfriends, play a game of Russian Roulette that Malcolm forces on them. Malcolm is a bad-character at this time, but he becomes aware of the effect this gun and his attitude have on his surrounding friends. . .

Is this his legacy. . . ?

The problem is. . .

People don't condone violence forever. . . What happens when people turn their backs on violence? Unimpressed. What happens when everyone turns their back on violence?

When you no longer have faith in your great 'accomplishments'? Then what are you left with?

Where do you go then?

El Haj Malik El Shabazz is a personal hero of mine; a man I admire and consider to be a truly great human being. This might not be anything out of the ordinary were it not for the fact that I am a 45 year old white man with a now deceased Italian Mother who said "he never said anything I didn't agree with". The Power Of Truth in the words one speaks is an awesome thing. Upon reading the Autobiography Of Malcolm X in the early 1980's I really couldn't relate to it or understand it until the Spike Lee Movie brought it to life for me in 1992. As I watched with great interest on the screen what seemed to be even more removed from what I had read in the book I began to realize that I was ignorant of the facts of the Man's life thanks to the media in this country who had only shown me the Pre-Mecca Malcolm, bombarding we paranoid whites with "hate speech" sound bites on black-and-white film, while at the same time totally ignoring the wonderful and inspiring transformation Malcolm underwent on his 1964 trip to The Holy Land. As I see it, what makes a man great is his capacity for positive change at any cost when the end goal is the welfare of ALL people. I'm quite sure at his most basic human level, like all of us Malcolm desired to live a long life, but like others before and after he chose the more dangerous and eventually fatal path of exposing to the world the ugliness of American Racism. We were preaching to South Africa, Cuba and the Belgian Congo about the righteousness of our way of life while we were treating our African American citizens like sub-humans. After all, all Malcolm was asking for was American Justice for his People, and like others he paid the ultimate price for it, but his legacy vindicates his efforts. See Denzel Washington's should-have-won Oscar performance and get to know The Man.

Perhaps the critics were right in saying that this production came off as a bit too long, and a bit too reverent, toward one of the chief civil rights leaders of the mid-20th century. Malcolm was macho, and had an air of danger, and he made Martin Luther King's protestant pleas for integration seem mainstream, compared to his Islamic separatist stance. But the country needed a Malcolm X, and I started out as a white teenage hater of him, until reading the autobiography he published with Alex Haley. His death at the hands of other Black Muslims who stayed loyal to the disappointing Elijah Muhammed was indeed a tragedy, not equivalent to the loss of both Kennedys and Dr. King, but first, and more important in retrospect than it seemed at the time. And now that the USA is at war with certain kinds of Muslims, but not particularly the black American ones we feared in the late '50's, it is clear that Malcolm is deserving of a big screen epic biography. Denzel Washington is super in the title role. If you have any interest in the Civil Rights Movement and its early struggles, don't miss this movie.

I have two favorite movies of all time, and this is one of them. This is a film that every man (black or white, but especially black) should and needs to see. I was just telling my husband the other day that Malcolm X in my opinion, represented in every way what it meant to be a black man in America. From pimping and number-running to becoming one of the most influential black men of our time, If I was granted a wish to bring someone back to this earth, it would surely be him. I truly believe that had he lived another 30 or 40 years, he would have reshaped the role of black men. He had the intelligence and the charisma to bring about the necessary change that the black community needs today starting with our men. People respected and admired him, but at the same time others choose to look down on him, for standing up for what he believed in. As much as he tried to empower the black race, to instill any hope of integrity and self-worth in his people, ultimately it cost him his life. What I admired most about him, was although he had been betrayed, he overcame his hostilities and anger, and continued to fight for justice and equality. He overcame his fear of the unknown, racism, and bigotry. Spike Lee did an amazing job bringing to life his story, and Denzel Washington portrayed him such a way, that he became Malcom X without flaws. This is without a doubt Spike Lees Best!!

Arguably Spike Lee's greatest film, Malcolm X falls into that realm that many biopic's strive for yet don't achieve, it's so good it causes itself to be imprinted on your mind whenever you read about the REAL events. For years after, when you hear of an event from Malcolm X's life, the visuals of the film will be entertwined with the real visuals you may see....Denzel Washington's voice will be the voice you hear in your head when you read Malcolm's words....

Yes. It's that good.

Denzel Washington turns in an amazing performance which was completely deserving of his Oscar nomination that year (if not the win he didn't receive). Washington's rendition of Malcolm believably shows the emotion and the transformation he undergoes throughout his life, from petty thug in his early years, to polarizing civil rights leader, to his later days as a more MLK-esque supporter of peace.

Although a bit long at 201 minutes, this movie rarely feels it, since so much of Malcolm's life is shown over the span of the film, the length seems necessary for the amount of information it contains.