May 21, 2025: Malcolm X’s 100th: Lee’s Film

[May 19^th marks the 100^th birthday of Malcolm Little, better known as Malcolm X. So this week I’ll AmericanStudy a handful of cultural representations of Malcolm, leading up to a special weekend post on what we can learn from Malcolm here in 2025!]

Three interesting contexts for Spike Lee’s epic 1992 biopic.

1)      A Long-Gestating Script: One of my favorite things about writing this blog is how much I learn from researching just about every post, even on subjects about which I have some starting point knowledge (which isn’t always the case, to be clear). Case in point: I had no idea that the original screenplay on which Lee based his film had been written, or at least started, in the late 1960s, by none other than James Baldwin (collaborating with the formerly blacklisted screenwriter Arnold Perl). Baldwin was never quite able to crack the code of adapting Malcolm’s autobiography into a screenplay, and the project subsequently passed through a number of other talented hands, from David Mamet to David Bradley among others. But when Lee took over as the film’s director (more on that in a moment), it was Baldwin and Perl’s screenplay to which he returned, and so this 1990s film truly had 1960s roots.

2)      An Alternative Director: If that long-gestating script was one reason why it look a good while to make Malcolm X, another was that a different Hollywood director was initially attached: Norman Jewison, who had made In the Heat of the Night (1967) among many other acclaimed films over his long career. A number of African American artists and critics, including Spike Lee himself, protested that move, however, arguing that a Black filmmaker should be the one to direct this marquee project. Producer Marvin Worth (who had been attached to the project since the days of Baldwin and Perl’s initial screenplay) ultimately agreed and asked Jewison to step down in favor of Lee, but it’s interesting to think about what version of the film Jewison might have made—and we have some indications of an answer when we look at the civil rights film Jewison made with star Denzel Washington later in the decade, The Hurricane (1999). At the very least, the two films make for an interesting pairing!

3)      An Interesting Request: In any case, Lee did direct the film, and the result (while to my mind a bit long and meandering at times) is an impressive and important biopic, featuring a career highlight performance from Denzel (which is a competitive category to be sure). Shortly before the film was due to be released in late 1992, Lee put out a controversial request that students skip school to attend screenings (and that adults take the day off from work, but the school idea received more pushback). As an educator and a parent, I understand why people might have resisted the idea; but as an educator and a parent, I also agree with Lee that education and development take multiple forms, and that cultural works have an important role to play in those processes. Hell, my entire elementary school missed class for an assembly where we watched the “Thriller” music video/short film (true story); and while I enjoyed those dancing zombies like everyone one, I’d say the best cinematic representation to date of Malcolm X is a slightly more worthy reason to miss school!

Next MalcolmStudying tomorrow,

Ben

PS. What do you think? Representations or other sides of Malcolm X you’d highlight?