Spike Lee is receiving a lot of backlash for his new film CHI-RAQ, which hits theaters on December 5th. The film is a modern day adaptation of the ancient Greek play “Lysistrata” written by Aristophanes. Lee and co-writers, Lee and Kevin Willmott, decided to use the story to tell a current-day tale of how a feministic movement can potentially help a city and a world riddled with violence. Celebrities such as Nick Cannon, Teyonah Parris, Jennifer Hudson, Wesley Snipes, Angela Bassett, Samuel L. Jackson and others have key roles in the film.

Since the trailer was released, Chicago natives and others have expressed their frustration with the film’s title and concept. Many feel like the film – based on the trailer – does not depict the realities of Chicago neighborhoods in which gang violence is huge. Even during the filming of CHI-RAQ, Lee told Chicago Magazine that city’s Mayor Emanuel tried to stop the project because he believed that the title “Chi-Raq” would hurt the tourism and give the city a bad image.

We started shooting Chi-Raq June 1. We finished July 9. During that time, 331 people got wounded, 65 murdered. New York City has three times the population of Chicago; Chicago has more homicides than New York City. Last week, The Daily Beast had a front-page story saying that Chicago is the No. 1 city in America for mass murders [actually, for mass shootings, defined as three or more people shot in a single incident]. Chicago is the poster boy [for violence]. I’m not making this stuff up. So what’s there to argue then?

‘Tis is true. However, Mayor Emanuel is not the only one that doesn’t think the film is a good look.

On social media, the young people of Chicago is speaking out against it. They believe that the film will not show how it REALLY goes down in Chicago. The comedic and musical aspect of this Spike Lee film – which is the directorial style he’s known for – may make the seriousness of the issues and positive message not carry much weight. Critics believe this is not the right way to tell the “Chi-Raq” story. So, many took to Twitter to air out their feelings.

 

 

 

 

The reactions to the trailer are not all bad. There are individuals who think people are jumping-the-gun about the film. Lee, himself, says that that there are lots of messages throughout the film given in spoke word format. He also stated that everyone involved in the film went in with a righteous mind state and, at the end of day, want to save lives.

It’s like Father Pfleger [the outspoken priest at St. Sabina Catholic Church in Auburn Gresham] said: “God’s on our side.” This film is righteous. The No. 1 goal of anybody involved in this film—in front of the camera, behind the camera—was to save lives. Everybody involved knew that going in, and knew it even further while we were making the film. Save lives. This film is about more than Chicago. This film is about the America we are living in today.

 

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE TRAILER? DO YOU THINK THE FILM WILL HELP CHICAGO’S GANG VIOLENCE EPIDEMIC?