It's because he is jealous of the Italian-American directors who are far superior to him, such as Scorsese, Tarantino and Coppola. Look at Do the Right Thing even; the best actors and/or characters were the Italian-Americans. Spike's character was uninteresting and unsympathetic, as was that dummy with the rings and boom box, when compared to Danny Aiello's character. In fact, the plot line of an Italian-American family coping with the changes in the neighborhood was the more interesting and compelling story than some loud mouth who had a kid with a (hot) woman he wasn't married to (and who only would have been attracted to an ugly runt like Lee in a movie). Ironically, Esposito, who played the role of the "militant/activist" (all of Spike's characters are merely superficial representations...Aiello managed to go beyond that), is Italian. It must have bothered Lee knowing that Aiello garnered as much, or more, praise for his part in the film as he received for his direction. In short, Spike doesn't necessarily portray Italian-Americans stereotypically but blacks, Jews and others that way as well. It stems from his limitations as a writer. He just lacks the imagination to create characters that go beyond caricature. He puts his voice as a director ahead of the voice of the characters because his ego is greater than his talent.
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RelpScooby
10 years ago
I haven't read all the posts, butttttttt let's see.
There's a town in Chicagoland, called Melrose Park. Historically 1 of thee most "Top Racist" places in history. I didn't know this at first because I wasn't born before the 70's. My friend and I used to DJ in Melrose Park and think nothing of it. But when the kids we dj'd for started using the "N word and when 1 of the parents found out that "I" wasn't black...he started being a a-hole, big time". This guy was mob related and when the parties had loud music, he was able to tell the policemen patrolling by to relax and let them have their fun until late hours of the night and the cop was cool with it. I even went inside 1 of these people's homes to use the bathroom and next to the toilet was a huge book, "Encyclopedia to the Mob". After seeing that......I saw it all !!!
Not to mention who's the most famous gangster of them all = Alphonso Capone
So unfortunately "somethings" seem exaggerated and somethings are right on point. You have to live it or be there to understand. BTW the Italian Cops in Chicago are the biggest dix at times.
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