A frustrated African-American TV writer proposes a blackface minstrel show in protest, but to his chagrin, it becomes a hit.A frustrated African-American TV writer proposes a blackface minstrel show in protest, but to his chagrin, it becomes a hit.A frustrated African-American TV writer proposes a blackface minstrel show in protest, but to his chagrin, it becomes a hit.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 10 nominations
- Sloan Hopkins
- (as Jada Pinkett-Smith)
- Verna
- (as Gillian Iliana Waters)
- Big Blak Afrika
- (as Mos Def)
- Mau Mau: 1-16th Blak
- (as MC Serch)
- Mau Mau: Hard Blak
- (as Mums)
- Pickaninny: Topsy
- (as Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMost of this film was shot only on digital (Mini DV) camcorders, which can be purchased over the counter at any consumer electronics store. While this choice of technology sacrificed quality, it allowed the cinematographers to film with 15 cameras at a time, and it also allowed Spike Lee to get all the footage he needed shot within the film's modest budget. The "Mantan: The New Millennium Minstrel Show" sequences were the only scenes shot using 16mm film.
- GoofsOne character uses the phrase "drinking the Kool-Aid", a reference to the mass murder/suicide of the Peoples Temple cult in Jonestown, Guyana. The poisoned drink was Flavor-Aid. The pavilion was surrounded by armed guards, and anyone who did not drink the poisoned drink willingly (including children) was either forced to drink it or injected with poison. A number of the bodies had puncture or bullet wounds. Jim Jones died of a gunshot wound to the head, that may have been self-inflicted.
- Quotes
Pierre Delacroix: SPOILER: As I bled to death, as my very life oozed out of me, all I could think of was something the great Negro James Baldwin had written. "People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become, and they pay for it, very simply, by the lives they lead." Now it was time for me to buy the farm. To meet my maker. Goodbye cousins. Tune in next week for "The Best of Mantan: The New Millennium Minstrel Show".
- Crazy creditsThe credits roll over several "coon" collectable items that are wound-up.
I consider myself an educated, articulate, middle-class black-american. And I was wary of Lee's supposed satire which centers on the creation of Minstrel show for the new millenium. By the time I credits rolled, I was applauding.
In this film, Lee takes no prisoners, he neither excuses the white establishment for its entrenched and hard-to-expose racism nor does he excuse the blacks and other non-whites who become the literal agents of this process.
This story of two young black men's rise to financial and commercial glory through demeaning themselves, their talent and by example the group of people from which they hail, is an allegory. Rather than getting stuck in a discussion of this film's form, viewers should consider what it means about the world around them.
The disturbing and unnerving finale, is a suitable response to our rising awareness of inner-city violence, hip-hop culture, the prison industrial complex, and the police state in which many blacks, poor or not, find themselves a part. Instead of offering us solutions this film offers us, as in many other of Lee's films, a wake up call.
As in the body of Lee's work, the camera work gives a gritty cinema verite feel to the scenes, and the performances of Glover, Davidson, Pinkett, Wayans, and Rappaport are dead-on. The cast has a good chemistry and the dialogue will have have you howling with disbelief and laughter.
An incredibly important film, for any consumer, and by definition, any creator of popular culture who may be responsible for the perpetuation and dissemination of DAMAGING and DEGRADING stereotypes. Thank you, Mr. Lee.
- nocabout
- Oct 21, 2000
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $10,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $2,274,979
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $190,720
- Oct 8, 2000
- Gross worldwide
- $2,463,650
- Runtime2 hours 15 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix