Black Film by Hannah

The Malcolm X movie was directed, written, and produced by Spike Lee. It was released November 18, 1992. The movie is a tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation, Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the ’50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.

The movie starts with a prayer being made by Malcom X (played by Denzel Washington) at a muslim dominated church. His congregation cheered on his radical style of preaching. The movie then transitions to him at a barbershop. I always have found barbershop talks to be funny and real. I found it funny when the barber put the hair relaxer chemicals in his hair. I didn’t know men used it back in the day just as much if not more than women.

X’s father was introduced in the film as a radical, I see where he got it from. His dad believed black people should live in Africa. His wife or X’s mom was white passing. She actually hated her skin color, that’s why she married and had kids with X’s father who was dark skinned. I wonder if the actress who played his mom was white. If so, I don’t think that was a good choice during casting. They should’ve picked a very light skinned black woman.

There was a swing dancing scene that I loved! I loved the way people danced back in the day. Everyone had so much energy. They just wanted to have a great time.

X’s permed/relaxed hair looked a hot mess. It just looked so dry. He had reddish hair so his nickname was “Red.”

X had a girlfriend but would cheat on her with this white lady named Sophia. He would sneak out to meet up with her and do sexual things. He had her kiss his feet and feed him. Him cheating on his girlfriend and treating Sophia like this made me view him as a womanizer. It also made me not trust men even more haha.

There was a flashback when X’s teacher called him a nigger. I found that to be crazy and bold of the teacher. The teacher told him that he won’t amount to anything but a carpenter. This scene infuriated me. Teachers like that need to be fired. That scene made me realize how important having black and brown teachers is vital for black and brown children.

When X was a child, the KKK tried to burn down his family home. His father talked to the head of the town and said the KKK’s uniformlooked like bed sheets! That made me laugh. I don’t know how I would’ve been able to live during this time period.

X was quite the character when he was younger. He was aggressive, arrogant, and many more things. I just wouldn’t have liked him if I had met him.

When X was incarcerated he told the priest at the facility to, “Tell Jesus to kiss my ass.” I find that when most people go through tough situations they don’t see religion or God.

Some of my favorite scenes in the movie is X interacting with the muslim prisoner. The muslim man did a fantastic job at telling X about himself. He once said, “Why don’t you want to look like who you are?” He told X he was a prisoner in his own mind. He was referring to X eating pork, putting chemicals in his hair to look like the white man, etc. The man said that, “ A man cusses cause he doesn’t have the words to express his mind.” Im saying this man was proving his point. He was spitting some real facts. X consumed that and started his self discovery and joined the Nation of Islam.

After he got out of prison, the muslim man introduced him to Elijah Muhammad. Through working with him he met Betty. He loved Betty, she was smart and beautiful. He ended up asking her to marry him over the phone while he was traveling. Back in the day women were a lot simpler and easy to please. I know I wouldn’t want my boyfriend to ask to marry me over the phone.

“When we come together, who can beat us?”

X was a preacher who reached to his audience tremendously well. The scene where he brought the male members of his church with him to the police department was powerful. He moved his finger a certain way and everyone would turn and walk on one accord. That was impressive. A coo that witnessed him do that said, “A man with that much power is dangerous.” It is.

Another favorite moment in this movie is when X went to Islam and he created a new prospective on white people and the meaning of being Muslim.

X’s death was a tragedy that was so unfair in my opinion. Jealousy and envy is real. I feel like if X could’ve listened to his wife more and looked at things for what they were he probably could’ve avoided his lives longer. Everything happens for a reason though.

This was a well produced film. Highly recommended.

I’d like to take a moment to recognize the amazing job Denzel Washington did playing Malcolm X and Angela Bassett playing his wife, Betty Shabazz.

Thank you for reading my review on Malcolm X.