BlackkKlansman: Two Worlds in One

BlackkKlansman, the film by Spike Lee, is set in the 1970’s when an undercover black cop infiltrates the KKK. However, despite this setting based on a real event, Lee has also managed to make the film feel like it has a foothold in the modern day. Rather than just telling a great true story in the 70s, Lee has made it so that BlackkKlansman takes place in two worlds at the same time.

First off, the set design and costume design help the movie look and feel strongly in the 70’s category. Ron Stallworth and Patrice Dumas have big afros, as well as many of the other members of the Black Student Union. Ron’s desk at the police station features a rotary phone from which he calls the KKK from. According to the costume designer for the film Marci Rodgers, she did extensive research into the real life Kwame Ture by visiting his college and finding old pictures of him as a student. Thanks to Marci’s research, the characters look like and interact with a world in the 70s.

However, at the same time, Spike has managed to sprinkle in some dialogue that causes the characters to reach beyond the veil of time into our modern day 2019. When talking to the Sergeant in the stairwell, Ron bluntly says “There’s no way that America would ever elect someone like David Duke as the president.” At  different points in the movie, the KKK members say things that are close to (but not quite) “Make America Great Again”. Lastly, Ron and Patrice have a conversation about the duality of being black and American in this country. All of these discussions and turns of phrase cause the audience for this movie (modern day viewers) to suddenly pay attention and wonder “Did he really just say that?”. These dialogue choices bring in Spike Lee’s modern day politics to a movie that most filmmakers would have kept self contained in the 70’s. The ending is the ultimate climax of these two worlds, the modern and the 70s, as our lead characters are confronted by the KKK before Lee cuts to modern day KKK activities.

While most filmmakers would have tried to keep this film as a simple story about an amazing black cop, Spike Lee takes it upon himself to heighten Ron Stallworth’s story by bringing it up to speed on the bleak future of America.

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 19, 2020 at 8:14 PM

    Hey Rachel!!

    I also found myself noticing the instances of modern day and not-so-modern day details throughout the movie. And, going to class yesterday helped me recognize more than I originally noticed! That's so cool that you did research on the costume designer as well!

    Great job :)
    - Chloe Kowalyk

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jacquelyn HeinenNovember 21, 2020 at 10:28 AM

    I really liked your response, and I talked about how it connected to today as well. I also thought the costume design was interesting and how it really fit the film, but didn't take away from the elements that connected it to today!

    ReplyDelete

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