There is a lot to pick apart here, I could spend a good amount of time discussing why this movie is irritating.
I see a lot of praise from people in the reviews, and that's okay. I get why people would sorta like this, it's a "powerful feminist movie for our time" I see that. Where I cannot jive with this AT ALL is why they took the name Chi-raq. I don't know any people in Chicago who support this movie, the majority think it's goofy and cultural appropriation at it's worst.
The violence problems in Chiraq are not over colors, and women cannot stop it just by "withholding sex". You can say "it's a positive message, it applies to many places". No, not here. Chiraq is a term from that culture, the savages of Chiraq came up with that term when they started breaking homicide records. People there are irritated because Spike Lee heard the name and decided to run with it without doing ANY research into the culture he was completely and utterly misrepresenting. What Spike Lee did it the definition of appropriating, and it's just not right.
Aside from those ethical frustrations, the movie just isn't good. I'm still mind boggled as to why Nick Canon ever got a role in this film. He's not a good actor. The style of Spike Lee's directing has never been a favorite of mine, it's tolerable in here honestly; that was the singularly redeeming aspect of this film. Otherwise, this is a waste of money.
I see a lot of praise from people in the reviews, and that's okay. I get why people would sorta like this, it's a "powerful feminist movie for our time" I see that. Where I cannot jive with this AT ALL is why they took the name Chi-raq. I don't know any people in Chicago who support this movie, the majority think it's goofy and cultural appropriation at it's worst.
The violence problems in Chiraq are not over colors, and women cannot stop it just by "withholding sex". You can say "it's a positive message, it applies to many places". No, not here. Chiraq is a term from that culture, the savages of Chiraq came up with that term when they started breaking homicide records. People there are irritated because Spike Lee heard the name and decided to run with it without doing ANY research into the culture he was completely and utterly misrepresenting. What Spike Lee did it the definition of appropriating, and it's just not right.
Aside from those ethical frustrations, the movie just isn't good. I'm still mind boggled as to why Nick Canon ever got a role in this film. He's not a good actor. The style of Spike Lee's directing has never been a favorite of mine, it's tolerable in here honestly; that was the singularly redeeming aspect of this film. Otherwise, this is a waste of money.