Spike Lee's Joints

A second discussion of School Daze, in which I trace out Lee's arguments about masculinity and misogyny, drawing us to the film's final moment declaring "Wake up!"

Show Notes

In this piece, I explore the relationship between masculinity and misogyny in School Daze, arguing that Lee links the two and sees the formation of masculine identity as inseparable from the subjugation of women. What is the path out? This is not resolved in the film, but the stakes could not be higher: Lee links the question to slavery and emancipation. Again, the resolution, such that it is, is located in the interrogative. What would masculinity mean if it emerged out of an intimacy between men and the intimacy of the masculine self with itself?

What is Spike Lee's Joints?

20-30 minute reflections on particular Spike Lee films, from School Daze up through Black KkKlansman - précis for a book-length study of Lee's cinema, reflections on a course I've taught a number of times at Amherst College and University of Maryland. In these podcast pieces, I pay particular attention to issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality as they emerge inside particular films and in the history-memory of African American life. How does Lee's cinema think? How does sound and image help us understand representation of Black bodies, Black people, and Black life? What are Lee's innovations, what challenges does he present us with in sound and image? And how can we see questions of masculinity, gender and racial formation, historical violence, and institutional violence evolve across his decades of filmmaking?