BlacKkKlansman

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Spike Lee won an Oscar for adapting the screenplay for BlacKkKlansman (2018) based on the true story of Ron Stallworth. He was a Black policeman who, with the help of others, infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan during the time when African Americans were discovering Black pride and power in the civil rights movement. Even though the topic of the movie is serious, there is humor and satire in the film, and the story shows how Stallworth was caught between the radical agendas of the racist right and the black revolutionaries since he was part of the law-and-order system.

Lee, a former student and now sometime instructor at the prestigious Tisch film school at NYU, makes references here to movies that, although studied for their cinematic influences, portrayed racist subject matter. The film begins with a scene from Gone with the Wind, a multiple Oscar winner, that portrays slave-owning Southerners during the Civil War sympathetically and Blacks stereotypically.

There is then a shift to a speech by Dr. Kennebrew Beauregard (Alec Baldwin) ranting about how African Americans and Jewish people are ruining the United States for white Christian Protestants, turning the country into “a mongrel” nation. The film stresses how this twisted idea of “purity” is at the heart of segregation and the desire for ethnic cleansing, and how religion is warped to justify racism. The movie ridicules Beauregard by showing him make loud, strange noises as he clears his throat to record his tirade. Lee intercuts scenes during Beauregard’s speech from another film revered for its filmmaking breakthroughs, Birth of a Nation, depicting a white man in exaggerated blackface, accosting a white woman who prefers suicide to being touched by a Black man. Lee is stressing how the film industry was guilty of spreading the stereotype of the Black man as a sexual predator of white women.

The story then moves to Colorado Springs, CO, and Stallworth (John David Washington) enters the police station for an interview. The sign on the building says that “minorities are encouraged to apply.” Well, not until then. Chief Bridges (Robert John Burke) and an African American, Mr. Turrentine (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.), grill Ron, making sure he doesn’t have any negative issues regarding his past. Turrentine says he will be the first black officer on the force, the “Jackie Robinson” of that police department, which places a great deal of responsibility on Ron to be able to withstand bigoted remarks.

Ron gets the job, but he is put in the records section, hidden away from any meaningful work, which means he an ethnic token on the force. He expresses his discontent to Chief Bridges and Sergeant Trapp (Ken Garito), and wants to go undercover, but Bridges turns him down. The cops asking for files call each Black person they investigate a “toad.” Ron shows his resentment for the derogatory classification by saying there are no toads there, only “human beings.”

Bridges changes his mind and assigns Ron to go undercover. He uses him as a Black spy to infiltrate those associated with Black activist Stokely Carmichael, who changed his name to Kwame Ture (Corey Hawkins). Bridges thinks Ture will create unrest among the African Americans in the city. So, Ron is in the compromising position of informing on those with the same racial background as his own.

Two detectives help him prepare for the assignment, Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver, who received an Oscar nomination for supporting actor) and Jimmy Creek (Michael Buscemi, who reminds one of Steve). Ron meets the person who invited Ture, the President of the Colorado College Black Student Union, Patrice Dumas (Laura Harrier), and tries to ingratiate himself to her to gather information. Ture gives an energized speech that urges black pride. Lee frames shots of Black persons which stress the beauty of Black people that does not conform to white ideas of what is attractive. He emphasizes how Black Americans were taught to hate their heritage and says when he was young and watched the white Tarzan beat up Africans, he cheered him on. He now realizes that he was taught to urge violence against himself. Ron hears the passion if the audience as they respond to the speech, and he gets caught up in the emotional moment. Ture says cops continue to shoot down black people in the streets and urges African Americans to retaliate. He says, “Power to all the people,” which includes those who are white and have been oppressed. After the speech, Ron, wanting to know if violence will occur, asks Ture if a race war is coming, and Ture urges Ron to arm himself because a revolution is approaching.

Ron meets Patrice later at a bar. She tells him that the cops pulled the car with Ture in it over. Instead of just narration, we see an impactful dramatization as racist slurs are heaped upon the passengers, and they are threatened to make sure Ture leaves town soon. In a briefing, Ron tries to mitigate the effect of Ture’s speech, calling it “rhetoric,” and Flip and Jimmy agree. When Ron says that Carmichael changed his name, Bridges says that he doesn’t care if he changed his name to Muhammad Ali, “that draft dodger.” Negative feelings toward Blacks exist in the police department here based on a belief that a leader of the African American community is not patriotic even though Ali was expressing the general anti-Vietnam War stance prevalent among whites.

Bridges transfers Ron to the “Intelligence” division. Here is the turning point of the story. Ron decides to call the KKK, asking for reading material. He gets a call back from Walter Breachway (Ryan Eggold). Ron improvises an exaggerated hate rant about hating Blacks and Jews, using ethnic slurs, which is funny as the other cops in the room listen in surprise. Ron tells Walter what he wants to hear, and Walter says that Ron is just the type of person they are looking for, which is humorous since we know that Ron is Black. Flip points out that Ron gave his real name, a major mistake, and the others laugh calling it the “amateur hour,” referencing a TV show back then. Ron goes with Trapp to see Bridges about using a white cop for a meeting with Walter. Bridges, again showing prejudicial views, says the KKK guy will know the difference between the way a white person and a Black person speak. Ron says some people can speak the “King’s English,” and others can talk “jive.” Luckily for Bridges, Ron is bilingual when it comes to this problem. Ron is following up on what Ture said about how white people believe that African Americans can’t do anything without white people helping them. However, in this case, although Ron can talk “white” on the phone, he needs a white man to pull off the investigation.

Flip is going to play white Ron, and the meeting between Ron, Flip, and Jimmy to rehearse is very funny. Flip talks about how all of his heroes are Black. (A similar scene occurs in Lee’s Do the Right Thing). So, Ron jokingly says Flip can now get his dream and play a white version of Black Ron. He wants him to sound somewhat like Ron. But he ironically makes Flip repeat words that a civil rights protester would say in “jive” to stress the differences in speech. Jimmy tells Flip to lose his “Jewish necklace,” and Flip corrects him saying it is “the Star of David.” Ron says he didn’t know Flip was Jewish. Flip interestingly responds by saying, “I don’t know, am I?” Flip reveals here that he hasn’t associated himself with his Jewish background, but that will change as he witnesses the antagonism against those of his background.

Instead of Walter, Flip, wearing a wire, meets with Felix Kendrickson (Jasper Paakonen), an unstable, nasty guy, who puts Flip in a tight spot when he sees someone (Ron) following his truck. He makes Flip load a shotgun, but luckily, he isn’t asked to use it. They meet Walter, the “Organization’s” chapter president, at a bar which advertises its stance with a Confederate Flag in its window. Walter has a personal axe to grind, saying he was shot by Black men who also assaulted his wife. They complain about how African Americans are all over the TV now, when it used to be just Uncle Ben and Aunt Jemima. A man there, Ivanhoe (Paul Walter Houser) says he is okay with those Blacks because he likes rice and pancakes. He’s saying that if African Americans comply with subservient, Uncle Tom roles then it’s okay with the KKK. Ivanhoe implies that there are going to be “fireworks” soon, suggesting that bombings might occur. Walter plays down that talk because Ron (Flip) is new and Walter says they are nonviolent just like Martin Luther King, an ironic statement. Ivanhoe calls the last name of the civil rights leader “Coon,” to add to the derogatory attitude about Blacks and, thus, nonviolence. Felix is suspicious of Flip, suspecting that he is Jewish, and undercover because Flip asks many questions. Walter is more accepting. It is funny when Flip must fill in application forms and receives a membership card, and must pay dues, with robes and hoods costing extra. It’s as if he’s joining an organization that’s as safe as a local choir group.

Ron has dinner with Patrice, who keeps calling cops “pigs,” so, even though she doesn’t know it, she is calling Ron a pig. She notices he is quiet, and he admits that he doesn’t like using that word, and asks her if she thinks all policemen are racist killers. She then asks him if he is a “pig,” and he lies saying he is in construction and just wants to forget the politics. He gives her a necklace, and he is stepping outside of his assignment here because he is obviously interested in Patrice romantically.

Trapp says that the Grand Wizard of the KKK, David Duke (Topher Grace), is making the face of the Klan more appealing as he always wears a three-piece suit and is called the “national director,” instead of the intimidating traditional title. Even Felix said that nobody calls them the Klan, so as not to evoke the same scared response. The movie appears to be equating this past time with political leaders of today who look presentable but harbor hatred underneath their phony appearance. Trapp says to Ron that Duke is looking to get elected to public office by using hot button topics as “affirmative action, immigration, crime, tax reform” to sell hate. The film suggests that these issues provide cover for racists by hiding their bigotry. The hope, Trapp says, is that eventually the racists will get “somebody in the White House that embodies” that bigotry. Ron can’t believe that America would ever elect a man like Duke as President, but Trapp says he is naïve and should “wake up.” Director/writer Lee is obviously referring to how he views Donald Trump as the realization of this prophesy.

Flip goes to a meeting at Felix’s house, where his wife, Connie (Ashlie Atkinson) espouses as much racist talk as her husband. But Felix doesn’t like his macho standing being undermined by a woman, and dismisses her. Felix invites Flip downstairs where he has a gun called a “Jew killer,” and tells Walter he wants to make sure Flip is not Jewish. It is interesting that Walter says that there is no “Star of David” hanging from Flip’s neck, which is exactly what Jimmy warned him to remove. Felix waves a gun at Flip and wants him to take a lie detector test. Felix is unfortunately not alone when he says he believes the Holocaust didn’t happen and is just a Jewish conspiracy. Felix asks Flip if his penis was “circumstanced,” which is the type of malapropism that Archie Bunker would say on All in the Family. Just before Flip has to take the test, the eavesdropping Ron flings a rock through the house window to interrupt Felix’s plans. Connie sees the back of the fleeing Ron and shouts that a “lawn jockey” (they can’t seem to refrain from using ethnic slurs) was on their green lawn. Flip grabs the gun out of Felix’s hand and fires at Ron’s speeding car, calling out some racist names but preventing from Felix from shooting at the fleeing Ron.

Ron and Flip have a private talk where Flip expresses his fear that he was almost shot by Felix for what Flip considers some jerks setting sticks on fire (crosses) and playing dress up. He says that for Ron it’s a “crusade,” but for him it’s only a “job.” He says it shouldn’t be “personal.” For a white man it may not be, but for a Black person, how could it not be? Ron argues that Trip should be dedicated to the operation because he is Jewish, and the KKK hates him just as much as African Americans. The contemplative Ron says he has been “passing” as a WASP, suggesting he is like those Blacks who are light-skinned enough to pass for white and thus deny their own heritage. Ron says he will get Flip the KKK membership card so he can go to the cross burning that the KKK members were talking about. Flip walks out, unhappy about his role at this point, but not pulling out of the assignment.

Ron calls up the central number of the KKK to get his membership card. He actually gets David Duke on the phone, It is hysterical to hear Ron talking about how few white America heroes are left in the country, and saying “God bless white America.” 

Master Patrolman Landers (Frederick Weller) knocks into Ron and causes him to spill documents as he speaks condescendingly to Ron. Flip confirms that it was Landers who pulled over Ture and harassed him. So, Ron must deal with racism outside and inside the police department, the place that is supposed to protect all people from harm. Flip says Landers is a bad cop who killed a Black kid who, despite what Landers said, was unarmed. Jimmy says that they tolerate him because the police must stick together. Ron points out that another group feels the same way, suggesting that the police have some characteristics in common with the Klan.

The Klan members, with Flip, do target practice. Ron, tailing Flip, goes to the location afterwards, and the targets depict black people running. It is a chilling moment as Ron sees the violence inherent in the racism of the group.

Patrice tells Ron how films such as Coffy and Cleopatra Jones, released at that time, were fantasies about empowered black women, but that in real life, cops continued to kill Blacks. She also doesn’t like depictions in motion pictures that have Black men as pimps, saying it promulgates negative stereotypes. Lee, again referencing films, is making a comment about Black exploitation movies that let African Americans vicariously feel strength, but which drained the desire for power after the films were over. Ron, covertly referring to himself, says maybe an African American cop can change things from the inside. Patrice says that can’t happen because the system to too corrupt, and white people will not give up their power to dominate the society. Patrice says that Blacks in America, quoting W.E.B. Du Bois, live a double life as Blacks and Americans which creates an irreconcilable inner war. That is what Ron is experiencing.

Felix hasn’t given up on his suspicions about Flip. He looked up Ron’s name and went to the address associated with it. He finds Ron there with Patrice. Felix, Walter, and Ivanhoe confront Flip, who thinks quickly, and says his number is unlisted, and states another address as his own. Felix points out that Patrice was there, who has the reputation as a Black leader in the area. The investigation is safe for the moment, but the coincidence of a Black guy having the same name as Flip who is with a Black activist could lead to more questions.

Ron receives the KKK membership card and hands it to Flip. He admits that he grew up not even thinking about his Jewish heritage. He didn’t even have a Bar Mitzvah. Now that he sees the hatred of others because of his background up close, he has become preoccupied with “rituals and heritage.” He admits that he has been passing.

The night of a cross burning, Flip is with Ivanhoe, but Ron, monitoring the situation, has a number of police cars go by, so the Klan must cancel the plan. Ivanhoe asks Flip if he knows about C-4, so we know the Klan has been thinking about using explosives. Flip has found out that there are Klan members in the military, another instance of defenders of democracy being hypocrites as they wish to attack citizens of their own nation who do not share the same white complexion. In the background Duke’s civilized voice tries to convince others in a broadcast about what he sees as the moneyed Jewish conspiracy that bankrolls the ethnic cleansing of white European culture.

In a phone conversation between Duke and Ron, Duke says, all indications to the contrary, that the Klan doesn’t hate Blacks, but just feels that they want and should be with their own kind, a feeble attempt to justify segregation. He relates how he had a sort of “mammy” like Hattie McDaniel in Gone with the Wind. Here is another reference to film history, with the stress of how Blacks were portrayed as slaves. McDaniel received an Oscar for supporting actress, but could only do so by playing a stereotype. Ron talks about how as a boy he played with a black kid until the white kid’s father stopped him. Most likely, Ron is talking about a white child who played with him, but then the white boy’s father put a stop to it. Duke comments that Ron’s father was an admirable man, the opposite of what Ron is really saying. Duke admits to the need to have people who think like they do to be in public office. Duke says that America needs to find its greatness again, and there is no doubt that Lee is referencing the current MAGA movement.

Walter thinks the chapter needs new blood and he wants to make sure “loose cannon” Felix doesn’t become the leader. He wants of all people Ron to take over, ironically based on the phone conversations he has had with the real Ron. At a meeting Flip almost messes up when he says he must take care of his sick father in Dallas, although Ron had said El Paso on the phone. He recovers just in time. Felix and Ivanhoe are against the appointment of Flip, having met him only recently. Ron also has been talking to the approving Duke who is visiting to be present at Ron’s initiation. Ron pushes it by asking how does Duke know if he isn’t really talking to a Negro. Duke says he knows Ron isn’t Black by the way he talks. Obviously not an accurate system.

Felix calls Ron at the police station, because he used that direct number when he first called. The audience shares Ron’s uneasiness when hearing Felix’s voice talking to the real Ron Stallworth. He wants Ron to meet him at his house with others. Flip shows up and Felix, amid guns in his basement, says ominously that the war is coming the next weekend. Felix talks with his wife, Connie, about cleansing the country by killing Blacks and Jews. He ironically quotes King by saying, “Free at last, free at last,” and then the Bible by saying that good things come to those that wait. Connie says their actions could be the start of a ‘new Boston Tea Party.” The reference here is connecting the current Tea Party to the American Revolution one, but the meshing of racists with the conservative political movement throws scorn upon the current Tea Party.

Ron receives information from an intelligence worker who says that two of the Klan members work at NORAD, thus placing extremists in a Federal agency whose goal is to protect the citizens that they actually hate. He also tells Ron that explosives have been stolen from the Army that may be linked to the Klan. He is frightened for Patrice, and tells her to stay away from a protest. He confesses to her that he is an undercover detective working in an investigation of the KKK. Patrice is unforgiving and does not appreciate that he must keep his actions secret for them to be effective. He tells her, “Just because I don’t wear a black beret or a black leather jacket, black Ray Bans, screaming ‘Kill Whitey,’ that I don’t care about my people!” The film here shows that when people become radicalized, objectivity can be lost, and unfairness may result.

Bridges assigns Ron to protect the visiting Duke who has received death threats, an assignment that Flip says is dangerous (as well as ironic, since Duke is there for the Ron/Flip initiation), because Duke may recognize Ron’s voice. A fellow Klansman, Walker (Nicholas Turturro), who stole the C-4 from the Army, gives to Connie the explosives and a switch to detonate them. The target is Patrice and the Black Student Union, just as Ron thought. It is very strange to see Ron and Flip, who is supposed to be Ron, in the same place, and especially weird for a Black man to be Duke’s bodyguard. Apparently, Felix does not recognize Ron from when he went to his apartment, looking for Flip as Ron. It may be because Ron is wearing dark sunglasses. Or, maybe because in Felix’s warped mind, all Blacks look alike. Overheard is a Klansman saying, “Make America great again,” an obvious linking of white supremacists with the Donald Trump campaign slogan.

What follows are intercut scenes between a Black activist Jerome Turner (Harry Bellefonte), talking to the Black Union about judicial injustice against African Americans, relating how all-white juries sentence innocent people of color followed by mob torture, and Duke speaking to his fellow Klansmen about Christianity, espousing what is really a perversion of the religion. The Klan leader quotes a scientist who says that the white race is superior. The movie implies that prejudiced people cherry-pick the few bits of statements which are unsubstantiated by evidence and use them to support outrageous theories. Ron then must suffer through his name being initiated into the community of white supremacists. Turner states that Birth of a Nation brought about a “rebirth” of the KKK, where even President Woodrow Wilson showed the movie at the White House and praised it. As he says these words, the Klan watches the film, justifying Turner’s claim. Lee again is indicting the movie industry for its part in fueling racism. The Klan members chant “White Power” which contrasts with shouts by African Americans for “Black Power,” except the film suggests that whites have always had the power. Duke adds patriotism to try to legitimize the KKK by saying they put “America first,” which stresses a white dominance over the countries of color. The effect of these contrasting scenes condemns the Klan for their hatred which is propagated under the guise of professing Christian values.

Walker recognizes Flip, saying to Felix that his name isn’t Ron Stallworth, but is really Phillip Zimmerman. He arrested Walker in the past. Felix hears the name and is incensed that there is a Jew infiltrating their organization. Walker says it could be worse if Ron were Black (he uses the “n” word). Of course, Ron Stallworth is Black, and so the irony thickens.

Ron sees Connie drive off and he alerts the police department to be on the lookout for her car. At the KKK dinner, Felix introduces Flip to Walker and says they are acquainted, and he calls Flip by his real name. When Connie gets to the Black Union rally, she sees many cops there and calls Felix, who tells her to go to Plan B. Due to Connie’s situation, Felix, Walker, and Ivanhoe leave. Flip tells Duke that he was in prison with Walker, and there he had the nickname of Flip. He then excuses himself to evade further scrutiny. In the background are posters of President Richard Nixon with the words over his picture that read, “Now More Than Ever.” Quite an indictment of the former President, associating him with racist mentality.

Ron finds out at the rally that Patrice and Turner left, so he goes to Patrice’s place where Connie is there to deliver the bomb. He wrestles her to the ground. When white cops show up they automatically believe that the Black man is assaulting a white woman, and beat Ron, even though he tells them he is an undercover policeman. The scene stresses the prejudice that exists in the job against a fellow police officer just because of the color of his skin. In the background is a radio broadcast from Duke spouting his white power manifesto which adds to the feeling of hatred to the events depicted. Felix, Walker, and Ivanhoe drive up and Felix flips the switch to detonate the bomb. Luckily, Connie couldn’t fit the explosives inside the mailbox, so she places it in Patrice’s car after the latter arrives home. The bomb goes off right next to the KKK car, killing Felix, Walker, and Ivanhoe. Flip, probably hearing that the police are arriving at Patrice’s home, calls the racist white cops off of Ron.

Ron wears a wire at a restaurant where the racist cop Landers is and he gets him to reveal his threats of killing Blacks, saying it would have been better that they would have been killed instead of the KKK men. Bridges is there and arrests Landers. Despite these wins against racism, Bridges later says there are budget cuts, and he closes down the team’s work, saying there are no longer any “credible threats,” an obvious denial of the remaining KKK’s mission against anyone who is not a white Christian. He says that they must destroy all files relating to their operation, so as not to incite the public. What really is happening is a coverup so that there will be no fueling of outrage among the Black community.

Ron does get in one last shot at Duke as he calls him up and reveals that the Black cop guarding him was the real Ron Stallworth. He calls Duke a “racist, peckerwood, redneck, inchworm, needle-dick, motherfucker” before hanging up and stunning the clueless Duke. Ron subjects Duke to slurs the way that he as a Black man has had to endure.

Patrice tells Ron that she can’t be with him because it would be like sleeping with the enemy. She still can’t see him being a crusading Black man while working in what she considers a pervasive racist law enforcement system. Ron, most likely thinking she is being unfair, says he always wanted to be a cop and does not want to resign. There is a knock at the door and they both draw guns. Lee then employs a signature camera shot used in his other films that makes the two seem like they are gliding forward, their plight taking on an unreal, scary quality, as they approach a door that may have danger on the other side.

There is a cross-burning depicted, and then Lee gives us footage of the events of the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12, 2017, where Nazis clashed with police. One Nazi ran over and killed Heather Heyer, to whom the film is dedicated. There are also shots of then President Trump saying how there were “very fine people” on both sides of the event, and of the real David Duke feeling encouraged by Trump’s election in 2016. Lee is not a subtle filmmaker when it comes to his themes, but, like Oliver Stone, is adept at presenting the images supporting his argument. This real footage is meant to show how Ron’s earlier statement about how the country would not elect a racist was as naïve as Trapp said it was.

The last image is that of an upside-down American flag, suggesting that the judicial idealism of the United States has been inverted, and injustice and hatred have the upper hand.

The next film is Closely Watched Trains.