Anthony Mackie stars In Spike Lee's "She Hate Me" as John Henry Armstrong, a biotech executive who loses his job when he's labeled a whistleblower. Unable to find work in his chosen field, Armstrong does something drastic: he takes up his ex-girlfriend's offer of cash to impregnate her and her girlfriend. Word quickly spreads within the lesbian community, and Armstrong soon finds himself making $10,000 per 'service.' And while he might be raking in the dough from this unusual business arrangement, all's not well in Armstrong's life. Armstrong finds his world growing ever more complicated as his old boss contrives to frame him for securities fraud.
Why this movie and why now? Filmmaker Spike Lee addresses those questions and more in this interview to promote his latest movie, "She Hate Me."
INTERVIEW WITH FILMMAKER SPIKE LEE:
Could you talk broadly about what inspired you to
make this movie and the things that were important for
you to touch on?
The inspiration for this movie came from the New
York Times and reading The Wall Street Journal when
they broke the whole story on Enron. …And then when it
broadened to Bernie Evers at WorldCom and [Kozlowski] at Tyco and Imclone, the
Waskal Brothers, Martha Stewart, the Regis' at
Adelphia, and just greed. Look, human beings are
always going to be greedy, but this is, like, just
bold-faced. They're not ever trying to be shy about
it. Stealing money for the golf courses and paintings
and all kinds of stuff. And then you see people being
hurt. You know, I really felt sympathetic to the hard
workers, the good hard-working Americans who worked at
a company like Enron and put their life savings in
Enron stock. And [it just] evaporated, it just
disappeared.
When did the plot about impregnating lesbians come
in?
That came at the same time. Because we wanted to
tell more than one story, we wanted this film to have
two spines and the thinking went like this: Progea is
the company in this film, that scandal being, like, an
overall view. But I think the audience would be able
to identify more with one man's dilemma
or journey and his own moral struggle. And that would
be the thing with John Henry Armstrong and what he
does.
Did you have any discussions with the gay community
about the way that the lesbians were going to be
portrayed in this movie?
Well, we hired a technical consultant. Her name is
Tristan Taormino. Tristan is well-respected
within the lesbian community so, we hired her, she
worked with me on the script. You know, the script
was written, but she looked at the script and pointed
things out. She also worked with the actresses.
Was there any thought about the male aspect of
bisexuality?
His character mentions that, but that's a
whole other movie. We wanted to mention it, though.
Is it odd that these women are so impressed with his body?
Why? I don't think it's odd. Why is it odd?
Because they're acting like they are attracted to
him.
Because they want to have nice-looking kids. No, no, no, though, it's not just his
penis, they want to see his full physique. You want to see what you're buying. If you go to a sperm bank and you fill out a form, you write what height, weight,
what color eyes, what color hair. If you want your
sperm donor to have a post-graduate degree, that's an
extra $5,000 dollars. So, to me, maybe not for you,
but for me, I find it believable. If this guy's gonna
be, if my egg's gonna meet his sperm, I want to see
what his physique is. They know he went to Harvard,
they know he got his MBA, they looked at his file,
they see that his medical health, he's clean here.
They questioned Fatima 10 million times, "What's he
like?" you know, they want to know everything about
him, because they're taking it serious. This guy is
gonna help bring my child into the world, so for me, I
find it believable that they want to see what the
goods [are].
That scene plays like he's up on the auction block.
Exactly. I'm glad you brought that up because
that scene for me, it works on double levels. The two
levels are this: You have level of sexual
objectification, which meant another story forever,
which meant that now the tables were turned. But a
more subtle level, which most people haven't gotten, the level of the auction block is a direct reference to African Americans being sold as slaves. When you
stood up on that little thing and you were buck-naked
and [the] master or potential master opened your mouth,
felt your teeth like you were a horse and felt your
genitals and felt your muscles. And if it looked like
you were a big buck and you could sire a whole bunch
of pickaninnies, than you got more money. So that was
another reference to that.
Themes of race definitely play a part in this film.
But in the background. I don't think race is
really overt in this. That's my opinion.
Why do you think the character ultimately condemns
himself for helping these women?
That's a good question. There are
some people in the world that have a problem with
bringing 19 kids into the world and being paid for it.
And also, I'd like to state, I'd like to make the
point, it's not the fact that women are lesbians, it's
just the fact that he feels like a prostitute. He
brought 19 kids into this world.
A lot of those were complete families.
I understand that. But, John Henry Armstong still
cannot get around the fact that even though he signed
a donor waver agreement, even though these children
are wanted and loved, he still is the father of 19
kids, and he got paid for it. And some people, some
men…I would have a hard time with that on my
conscience.
Are you saying it's important to have a male and
female influence on a child?
No, I'm not saying that. I mean, there's been no
scientific studies saying that children of same sex
parents grow up to be any worse than any children with
a mommy and a daddy at home.
You are a very political filmmaker. What are your
thoughts on the upcoming election?
Oh, I'm very nervous about this election because
we're all going to go to hell if George Bush wins.
Well, we have to mobilize so that doesn't happen.
People have to register to vote. Despite what we feel
about John Kerry, we have to rally behind him.
Do you think this movie will help that?
No, I think the work's going to be done by
"Fahrenheit 9/11." Yes, it's a great movie.
Can that movie help the change?
Yes, it has already. Let me answer it this way. Michael Moore would not need armed guards around him 24 hours a day if that film had no impact. The man has
armed bodyguards around him 24-7. That is the biggest
testament to the impact of the film.
There are a lot of themes in this about family. Can
you talk about your stance and the things that were
important to you?
Well, I think if you look at the end of the film,
I think we present a new configuration of family, what
people thought of family. Even 10 years ago, what people thought of
family is much different than it is today. I found it
very amusing that our new president tried to ram home
this new amendment to the constitution that was
quickly shot down, banning gay marriage. But, to
answer your question in a broader sense, we wanted
this film to reflect the crazy world we live in. And
that was really the blueprint of this film, to jam
pack as much as we could into this film within the
allotted time, all the issues, and it would be like an
assault. The same way individuals assault in the world
we live in today with subject matter, images, and all
types of stuff.
When you first started making movies, it was a
revolution to show black professionals. Do you think
that those kinds of straight forward movies can still
be made, because this is high concept?
Well, I don't know how to really answer that
question. I think that, again, this movie does not
come from a Hollywood studio, the studio system. We
went to everybody, they didn't want to make it, and I
can understand so. But if you look at the films that
they make for African American audiences, I think that
their vision of African Americans is very limiting.
You made comments against "Soul Plane." Do you think
those types of movies will continue to be made?
Oh, they'll continue to make them, and I know for
sure if "Soul Plane" had been a hit, there would
have been "Soul Plane 2." I don't have this on a…I was just told if that film had done well on opening weekend, Monday morning they would have put things in
motion for the sequel.
Does a movie like that make you really concerned
about African American portrayal in mainstream
Hollywood?
Oh yes. I was disturbed before "Soul Plane."
Let's not put everything on "Soul Plane," it's
not like the first. That wasn't the first one.
Do you think that it's still a minstrel show or is
it getting better?
I'm not that stupid. Will Smith, "I, Robot,"
made $52 million. But Will, Denzel [Washington], they're operating
outside of what we're talking about. And also [there's] another advancement, I'll give you examples of three films that were directed by African Americans that had
nothing to do with African American culture: Clark
Johnson directed "SWAT," Antoine Fuqua, "King
Arthur," F. Gary Grey with "The Italian Job"
and "Be Cool," the new thing. So those are
advancements. But, at the same time, I still am sad
that there's not one African American who's in the
gatekeeper position at a network or studio that can
greenlight a picture. As far as the VP that creates
things, several studios don't have an African American
at all, this late in the game.
"SHE HATE ME" RESOURCES:
"She Hate Me" Photo Gallery
"She Hate Me" Credits, Trailer and Websites
