# Spike Lee says Italians aren't facing up to their real WWII history? Is he correct? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 1, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spike-lee-says-italians-arent-facing-up-to-their-real-wwii-history-is-he-correct/465961 "2008-10-01T03:22:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spike-lee-says-italians-arent-facing-up-to-their-real-wwii-history-is-he-correct/465961/41 "2008-10-02T13:18:54Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > Interesting idea. > > (I know nothing whatsoever about this movie so my comments are neutral in so far as it is specifically concerned) > > So if Hollywood makes a multi million dollar movie that portrays all homeless people as child abusers and animal torturers showing it worldwide, then its up to the homeless people themselves to put the record straight by making their own multi million dollar movie and showing it internationally. > (Always supposing of course that they can get around U.S. protectionism in the industry to ensure general distribution in America). > > I think that I can see one or two flaws in your in your argument. US protectionism in the _film industry_? Are you kidding? Hollywood falls all over itself to market foreign films to the _Sex and the City_ crowd. An accent is good. Subtitles are better. Anyway, you’re missing an important point. _Miracle at St. Anna_ (and the other films I mentioned) are not documentaries and do not present themselves as such. If the public believes homeless people kick puppies and rape little boys _because they saw it in a movie_, the issue is not the film industry but the stupidity of the public. AFAIK, there were no Cold War-era secret agents combing Nassau harbor for the yachts of evil supervillains- but hey, it was in a bunch of Bond movies, so it must be so. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spike-lee-says-italians-arent-facing-up-to-their-real-wwii-history-is-he-correct/465961/42 "2008-10-02T13:52:52Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > that portrays all homeless people as child abusers and animal torturers showing it worldwide 1. How can any serious dramatic movie portray _all X_ as having the characteristic _Y_? 2. Is your argument that Spike Lee’s movie portrays all Italian partisans (or _all_ of any particular group) as having certain characteristics? ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spike-lee-says-italians-arent-facing-up-to-their-real-wwii-history-is-he-correct/465961/43 "2008-10-04T13:34:39Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > AFAIK, there were no Cold War-era secret agents combing Nassau harbor for the yachts of evil supervillains- but hey, it was in a bunch of Bond movies, so it must be so. Well thanks a bunch for shattering all of my illusions about 007. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spike-lee-says-italians-arent-facing-up-to-their-real-wwii-history-is-he-correct/465961/44 "2008-10-04T15:40:09Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > Well thanks a bunch for shattering all of my illusions about 007. Between that and the tooth fairy, I nearly didn’t make it to puberty. A sad day. ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spike-lee-says-italians-arent-facing-up-to-their-real-wwii-history-is-he-correct/465961/45 "2008-10-04T19:17:50Z")
I think we should start a fund that would make regular payments to Spike Lee as long as he _does not_ make any more movies ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spike-lee-says-italians-arent-facing-up-to-their-real-wwii-history-is-he-correct/465961/46 "2008-10-04T21:00:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Miracle at St Anna retells the story of the massacre of 560 civilians – including women and children – in August 1944 by SS troops as they retreated northwards in the face of the Allied advance. > > The film, which highlights the role of African-American soldiers in the war, suggests that antiFascist partisans indirectly caused the atrocity by taking refuge in the village and then abandoning the residents to their fate. That’s interesting. Strikes me as a bit similar to suggesting that the Civil Rights movement in the US is “indirectly responsible” for the Birmingham church bombing in 1963. After all, if the Civil Rights movement hadn’t used Southern churches as organizing centers, the KKK would probably never have put a bomb in one, right? Clearly, this is something about history that African Americans have to come to grips with. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spike-lee-says-italians-arent-facing-up-to-their-real-wwii-history-is-he-correct/465961/47 "2008-10-06T06:24:49Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > This is the highest bullshit. He never asked for a false portrayal of blacks. He never said that real people who were not black should have been depicted as being black. His complaint was that blacks were inappropriately unseen _generally_. Yes it is the highest bullshit. Spike Lee took pot shots at Clint Eastwood regarding his 2 movies adapted from non-fiction books: Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. The first book was about the 6 people who were in the famous flag raising photograph. The second movie represents the Japanese side of the story. None of the main characters were black and black people were not missing from the movie as Spike Lee claimes. **“He did two films about Iwo Jima back to back and [there was not one black soldier in both of those films](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/21/spike-lee-slams-clint-eas_n_102867.html),” Lee said Tuesday at the Cannes Film Festival, where he was a judge in an online short-film competition.** **[From Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_Our_Fathers_(film)): In fact, black Marines are seen in scenes during which the mission is outlined, as well as during the initial landings, when a wounded black Marine is carried away. During the end credits, historical photographs taken during the Battle of Iwo Jima show black Marines. Although black Marines fought in the battle, they were restricted to auxiliary roles such as ammunition supply, and were not involved in the battle’s major assaults, but took part in defensive actions** The result was a movie interpretation by Spike Lee of a fictional book involving black soldiers fighting in Italy. Call it what you want. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spike-lee-says-italians-arent-facing-up-to-their-real-wwii-history-is-he-correct/465961.md?page=2)