You might remember that just before the film opened nationwide, the always opinionated Spike Lee weighed in on Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained." "…it's disrespectful to my ancestors, to see that film," he said in an interview, while he also hit Twitter to proclaim, "American Slavery Was Not A Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western. It Was A Holocaust. My Ancestors Are Slaves. Stolen From Africa. I Will Honor Them." Since then, there hasn't been much reaction from camp 'Django,' but now Jamie Foxx has broken the silence.
Catching up with the Guardian recently, helping to promote the film as it opens in the U.K. this weekend, he was asked about Lee's comments and Foxx was quite candid. "The question for me is: where's Spike Lee coming from? He didn't like Whoopi Goldberg, he doesn't like Tyler Perry, he doesn't like anybody, I think he's sort of run his course," he said. Indeed, Lee has made his feelings known about the 'Madea' writer/director/producer/star and earned Perry's ire in the process. But really, Foxx just thinks Lee should see the movie first.
"I mean, I respect Spike, he's a fantastic director. But he gets a little shady when he's taking shots at his colleagues without looking at the work. To me, that's irresponsible," Foxx said.
And even though discussion around the film will likely continue (the movie prompted us to write three different reviews), the bottom line is audiences have been embracing it. "Django Unchained" has become the best box office film domestically in Tarantino's career, and with five Oscar nominations, even more honors could be coming its way very soon. The film is in theaters now.
