Spike Lee's Bold Bid for Greatness

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Cambridge, Massachusetts - September, 2006

There comes a time in almost every person's life when he can choose greatness. Many strive for glory, but few achieve it because the obstacles on the road to heroism are overwhelming. It takes a selfless visionary to take on the problems of others and truly make a difference. For Spike Lee, his moment of greatness may be tucked in When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, his Hurricane Katrina documentary that aired on HBO in August.

Mr. Lee, like most African-Americans in the entertainment industry, scraped by for a long time. With growing success, Lee became known for hard-hitting and socially stirring films such as Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X. He also gained notoriety for his willingness to be outspoken about what some consider taboo subjects - RACE, that dirty little word - CLASSISM, the unspoken plague of society. Who wants to talk about that stuff? Who wants to talk about real life? Especially once you have made it in Hollywood?

But in recent years, Lee has become a little quieter, a little more reserved. It could because he's a little older now, a father of two and possibly a little wiser. He also may have realized he cannot be the spokesman for 25 million African-Americans. More recently, he focused on just being a good filmmaker. He wanted to tell a compelling story that took the audience into an unexpected world. When the Levees Broke gives us a close-up shot of the unhealed wounds and ravaged city that is post-Katrina New Orleans.

Lee: trying to do the right things amidst the ruins.

Recently, I saw the Katrina devastation first hand while building homes with Habitat for Humanity. Most of the city still looked uninhabitable. Some of my colleagues thought that it was “amazing” to witness the destruction first hand, but I wasn't amazed when I walked through the 9th Ward. I was angry, frustrated and disgusted.

I must admit that it was astounding to see Katrina's lasting damage, but when I took a good look at the remnants, all I could see was subtext. These were not just physical structures that had been ruined, these were the homes of minority, poor, or socially marginalized people who were least likely to have the means to start over.

Each home in the 9th Ward has an emblazoned orange X next to the front door. The seemingly innocuous mark would probably not catch the attention of most people who pay more attention to the leveled buildings and upended vehicles, but when one has a little more knowledge about those spray painted tags, the realities of post-Katrina New Orleans start to sink in. The number above the X represents the date when the home was inspected. The number below the X represents the number of dead bodies found in the home. For obvious reasons, that is the number that agitates most of all.

That number represents the government's complete failure to properly evacuate the city. The failure was particularly egregious when one considers that the powers that be knew that the levees could not handle a storm of Katrina's magnitude. Homes can be rebuilt, districts can be revitalized, levees can be reinforced, but loved ones cannot be brought back to life.

The number below the X represents a gross American failure.

The number below the X indicates the number of dead bodies found within each inspected home. Thankfully at this home there were none.

A year later, much of New Orleans is far from being rebuilt. Still, most of us outside the Gulf region remain apathetic. When the Levees Broke tells the stories of a people who were merely seen as expendable. If the treatment of New Orleans' residents is the American way, then I am ashamed. I am not surprised, but I am embarrassed.

When the Levees Broke is a shockingly REAL piece. It is at times as blunt as a shotgun pressed to your forehead and at times as subtle as an ocean breeze in the South Pacific. But it is always graceful, honest and authentic. Bottom line, you need to watch it.

So did Lee achieve greatness? I believe he will if When the Levees Broke motivates us to play a larger part in rebuilding the Gulf region. This accomplishment is far from guaranteed.

What Lee has going for him is that When the Levees Broke is his most selfless project. When the Levees Broke was shot on a $2 million dollar budget. A $2 million dollar budget doesn't leave much for payroll. A $2 million budget can barely buy enough film stock to make a Geico commercial. But the efforts of one feature filmmaker who has just enjoyed the release of his first $100 million movie, Inside Man, may be moving enough to encourage us to “do the right thing.” After all, the best thing about greatness, in its most infectious form, is it can change lives.