Famed director Spike Lee was fired as writer and director of the highly anticipated James Brown bio-pic. Producer Brian Grazer released Spike Lee and hired The Help’s Tate Taylor.
Before The Help, Tate only directed one film Pretty Ugly People. Although The Help was critically-acclaimed, it didn’t quite give a complete view of black life during that era. It was a black story told from a white person’s point of view.
Spike Lee was chosen to direct it back in 2006 after James Brown’s death. We know that sometimes Mr. Lee isn’t always on point but I believe he would be the man for this job. I mean who could forget such classics as Do The Right Thing and Malcolm X.
Eddie Murphy, who was cast by Lee to play Brown, once told BlackTree TV that the script was a “great, great piece.”
Grazer’s decision to fire Lee and hire Tate proves that Hollywood continues to be a racially divided industry. Black filmmakers will only get an opportunity to tell their stories when wealthy blacks make a point to invest in the business by opening more production studios.
Why couldn’t he have chosen another black director?
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