Film discussion Tuesday night: Chi-Raq

Sometimes the issue was Lee’s taste for satire, which went over the heads of many critics. And sometimes the problem was the Lee has never been afraid to target anyone, black or white, who needed to be schooled on their behavior. There’s a lot of teacher in Spike Lee, and people in theater seats don’t like to be taught.

But Spike is energetic, unrepentant and productive. He has dozens of credits for projects you may never have heard of. So when a film like Chi-Raq grabs a ton of headlines, it’s a good idea to pay attention.

Who’s Spike tweaking now? Well, let’s just say that Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago has been less than pleased to have his city compared to Iraq. And the NRA has not offered to support distribution of the film. And some feminist critics have … ummmm … quibbled with Spike’s treatment of female sexuality.

In other words, Spike still has his A-game.

Chi-Raq famously has its roots in the ancient Greek play Lysistrata by Aristophanes, a man who knew how to get under Athenians’ skin in a very Spike Lee-like way. It’s the story of a group of women who are tired of having their men off fighting wars all the time, so they decide to withhold their sexual favors (one of my favorite euphemisms of all time) until the men agree to drop their weapons.

Yes, this one should be fun! It will also give us a chance to discuss why the Oscars (coming right up on February 28) didn’t include nominations for any non-whites in any category.

I didn’t plan to have both of my February discussion devoted to the works of bomb-throwers, but with Where to Invade Next, Michael Moore’s latest, coming up on February 23, that’s the way it worked out. This is Moore’s first film in six years, and it should make for a great discussion. Moore is a rumpled loose cannon, but he’s seldom dull, as his masterpiece, Fahrenheit 9/11 proved.

So I hope to see you in the Historic Theater tonight, February 16. We’ll warm the room up.

Paul Goodwin
TMHMG