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Spike Lee’s DA 5 BLOODS tells the story of 4 Black veterans reckoning with their experiences in Vietnam & at home in the U.S. As Kaleem Aftab ( @aftabamon) writes, “The film’s emphasis on the parallel conflict on the home front now feels horribly timely.” https://bbc.in/2Uwz8e9
In his article, “The long history of racism in war movies” for @BBC_Culture, Aftab tracks underrepresentation of non-white soldiers in popular war films. He explains how Lee wanted to make a Vietnam-era film like DA 5 BLOODS since he learned about marginalization at a young age.
Lee appreciated strides made by films like APOCALYPSE NOW, which featured (albeit a few) African-American characters on the warfront — including a notable all-Black frontline battle scene.
Aftab reports 23% of combat U.S. deaths in Vietnam in 1965 were Black even though Black Americans only made up 11% of the U.S. population.
Lee pays homage to APOCALYPSE NOW in one of the opening scenes in a club.
As Aftab explains, movies like Oliver Stone’s PLATOON, Barry Levinson’s GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM, and Lee’s own MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA attempt to more accurately represent war and those who experienced it — each to varying degrees of success.
Aftab further writes that, “Lee was conscious of redressing the problematic history of ‘Nam movies on two fronts: not just in his depiction of black soldiers, but in his portrayal – and casting – of the Vietnamese characters.”
DA 5 BLOODS utilizes real archival footage from the Civil Rights movement — speeches by Muhammed Ali, Kwame Ture, and Angela Davis — to show what Aftab refers to as “a war on two fronts.”
Here’s what Spike Lee said about DA 5 BLOODS being released right now, a moment when, as Aftab writes, “protestors have taken to the streets around the world demanding an end to US state brutality”:
To learn more about marginalization and racism in war movies, read @aftabamon's analysis for @BBC_Culture.
You can watch @SpikeLeeJoint's DA 5 BLOODS on Netflix. https://bbc.in/2Uwz8e9
You can watch @SpikeLeeJoint's DA 5 BLOODS on Netflix. https://bbc.in/2Uwz8e9
