The Spike Lee directed movie “Chi-raq”…..where shall i begin? I guess ill begin at the beginning.

Ever since the title of Spike Lee’s movie “Chi-raq was first announced, the movie has been under constant discussion criticism and scrutiny. Due to the gun violence that has occurred in Chicago the past two decades; particularly in the black community; the city has earned in no good way the nickname of Chi-raq.

For most residents of Chicago however, this nickname is not a badge of honor but instead a lable of great sadness, frustration, an shame.

So it is no surprise that these same emotions would be projected on to a form of creative expression bearing the same name. An it also is no suprise that such emotion would set a bar of standard that no movie, tv show or any other form of expression could ever hope to reach that would be satisfactory.

It would seem that anything bearing such a name would be doomed to failure. An that is exactly the case with the movie “CHI-RAQ.

Now to be fair, first let me say that any one piece of expression that centers on the subject of gun violence in the chicago black community, will always fail in the sense of highlighting an trying to address an tackle all the issues an complex components of gun violence. The fact of the matter is, the issue of gun violence in the chicago black community is such a complex matter with so many different layers that no one piece alone will ever fully address it.

It will take just as much complex and varied expression of the issues as there are the issues themselves. In other words, we need movies, tv shows, radio shows, articles an reports for each an every component of the problem.

An this is one of my first problems with the movie Chi-raq….the movie bites off way more than it can chew and seems to not really effectively highlight any one real aspect of the problem nor provide any effective solution.

Now it must be understood that this movie is a saterical comedy, with a bit of drama thrown in, but not enough to classify it as a “dramady”, an because of this i do not judge it by the same standard that i would judge a more serious work that was meant to be intellectually stimulating.

However i will say, even satire comedy is supposed to contain a level of intelligence that inspires deep thought to go along with the laughs.

Honestly the movie Chi-raq, did not provide me with that intelligence nor inspire deep thought within me, on the contrary many times the movie inspired frustration an disdain within me…there were quite a few moments where i was thinking “what the f*#!! am i watching!!!!”

Many times i literally wanted to get up an walk out the movie theater. There came a point however, after absorbing some of the reactions to certain things in the movie from the crowd in the theater with me, i began to have a different thought an understanding…which i will touch on in a minute. First let me give a brief gist of the story.

(WARNING..POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT)

The basic story of the movie is the violence in chicago has gotten out of control especiall due to the ongoing war between the STALLONS and the TROJANS two rival street gangs. The Stallons are lead by Chi-raq(played by Nick Cannon)….an aspiring gangster rapper an all around stereotypical thug who never knew his father whom died in prison when he was a baby.

The Trojans are lead by Cyclops (played by Wesley Snipes), a one eyed cartoonish buffoon who looks like something out of loony tunes cartoon (the way Snipes portrays the character you would never guess this is the same man who played Nino Brown or Blade).

One of the gangs many shoot-outs, results in the death of a little girl who is hit by a stray bullet. The death sparks the women of the community; lead by Lysistrata (played by Teyonah Parris) the girlfriend of Chi-raq; to go on a sex strike, refusing to have sex with any man until there is peace between the warring gangs.

The movement spreads to social media and then spreads across the globe, with women of all countries vowing to not have sex until the violence stops. This prompts many different community leaders, politicians an various other colorful characters to get involved in the melee due to men all over being refused sex, which sets up a somewhat hilarious set of events that leads to the movies conclusion.

An of course throughout the movie the audience is provided summary an commentary by the character Dolometis (played by Samuel Jackson) which is a character that seems to be outside of the movie…that narrates the movie in rhyme.

Now….as i said, while watching the movie i had many displeased an outright “what the f#*$@!” moments. My first issue was the cartoonish look an feel of the movie. Being an inhabitant of Chicago the movie did not seem to accurately portray my city, especially in regards to the gangs an members of the residential communities.

Now i dont know if Mr Lee did not want to represent real chicago gangs such as the Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords, Black P. Stones, or Black Disciples, however the fiction gangs he portrays (the stallons an trojans) are nothing like any real gang in existence and are down right mockeries, an while one could argue that gangs should not be glorified at all an should be mocked, but when one is not authentic then not only do you mock the gang but you mock the problem an any chance of solving it.

Again i realise that this is a comedy, however much of it is treated as a joke on chicago so to speak.

The characters all seem very over the top, stereotypically ghetto, an rather buffoonish an lack luster. Even Angela Basset (whom is one of my favorite actors) gave a rather poor performance in my opinion, although i believe it was through no fault of her own but instead a poor premise an script.

My next big problem is, that most of the dialogue of the movie is done in rhyme, as if this was some sort of hip hop musical, an this got very annoying very quickly. At first it seemed kind of cute; sometimes we black people tend to talk in rhyme, especially when its elder blacks giving advice to younger blacks an this is just one of the interesting an subtle nuances of our culture.

But the movie immediately makes you regret this nuance. The movie’s use of constant rhyme actually gives the over all movie a very terrible rhythm. It just seems completely out of place an was not needed.

Another thing that was not needed…was Samuel Jackson’s character. As much as i love Sam as an actor…he made an already bad movie that much more terrible due to his cartoonish character popping up ever 10 minutes to rap narrate the next scene.

Again i understand this was a comedy….but Sam’s character wasnt funny at all and this movie didnt need it or him (not Sam’s fault…the premise an script’s fault)

Another serious pet peeve…was that all the typical stereotypical coonish aspects of black life as well as what is shopped to black people to condition us an our lives, reared its head in this movie..

Things like:

1. the fiesty angry black woman
2. the absent father scenario
3. the white savior figure
4. the chauvanistic black male
5. interracial coupling
6. white person dressing up as a historical black person
7. illogical street conflicts
8. hyper sexualized black people

^^^^ An while some of these things could have made for intelligent issues an themes to explore….the movie explores none of them in any depth…they seemed to be shoved in the movie as some needed filler

Finally my big problem with the movie is just how it just seemed to trivialize EVERYTHING. From the violence period, the gang aspect, the impact of music, the infrastructure of the black community, to the death of the little girl, even to the sex strike going viral an becoming a global movement.

The movie seems to trivialize an make a mockery of it all. Everything just seems very fake or just like a big joke. The movie seems to treat Chicago with about as much respect as a guest on Jerry Springer.

The movie tries to deliver various messages such as; the consequences of reckless violence, the consequences of chauvinism, the value of self worth, the importance of family an family structure, the power of unity to create change. In my opinion the movie fails to deliver effectively on any of these messages.

The message comes either too heavy handedly, an feels as though one is being beat over the head with the message, or the message comes too subtly an gets hidden by all the ignorance an over-the-top buffoonery.

AGAIN…i know this is a comedy…but the movie seemed to not take anything seriously….not even its own comedy.

SO overall as a movie goer, aspiring movie maker, an someone who considers himself to be a proud African descent man with some measure of intelligence….i would have to give this movie a D-

I felt it was not only insulting to the people of chicago, but especially insulting to people who have lost loved ones to violence. An its doubly insulting to any an all proud black african descent people who have a level of pride an awakened intelligence.

HOWEVER….the movie does have merit….

An this is where that deeper thought an understanding comes into play.

As stated, i sat through this movie feeling very uncomfortable frustrated an even mentally insulted. I thought to myself….”DAMNIT SPIKE…how dare you make a pile of crap like this, especially after ive spent months trying to defend this movie an you to others…how dare you”….

I continued to think to myself….”damn Spike Lee and hollywood must think black people in Chicago are just down right retarded asleep blinded morons….they must think we really are ignorant…

Then it dawned on me…perhaps this was the level of satire Spike was trying to reach. Maybe this whole movie, with its overblown cartoonish buffoonery an ignorance….was Spike’s deeper illustration an commentary on how far the black community has truly sank

While I found myself many times off put by how the messages of the movie were being delivered, some in the audience actually responded an liked the message being put in that way. For a few, i could actually see the light bulbs going off in their heads at certain times.

The movie itself seemed to be completely in love with an wrapped up in its own ignorance, an to be honest this is very symbolic of the black community.

Due to poverty, broken families, lack of cultural an historical education, and an in flux of negative reinforcing entertainment an technology, the black community in many ways has become very dumbed down an without an identifiable cultural pride now more so than even 15years ago.

As much as it pains me to say….there are members of our community who have been seriously dumbed down. Intelligence pride and deductive reasoning has not been cultivated in some of our people, an combine that with the fact that some come from hopeless backgrounds, one can understand why some of us arent thinking deeply.

So perhaps we need a movie like Chi-raq…which seems to wallow in its own ignorance…which seems to promote ignorance…but perhaps is the best way to reach the ignorant.

Perhaps the best way to spread knowledge to our people….is to wrap it up within ignorance in order for them to better digest it….

Is this what Spike’s ultimate goal was….maybe…..maybe not…i dont know….

I just know two things….while i personally did not enjoy the movie CHI-RAQ….

1. The movie being done here in chicago brings more film an video opportunities to black independent film makers….an will create more opportunities for more creative artist to do work that can tackle an shed light on all the complex issues of the chicago black community an chicago experience in general

2. This movie did manage to reach people…it made some people think….it made most people react…and it got a message across to someone….and i definitely see the merit in that……Ra

FINAL GRADE

Quality: D-