Multiethnic in Films by Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese

Two influential film directors, Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee, both used the concept of multiethnic in their works. Multiethnic is when an ethnic group relating to, or constituting several other ethnic groups. These two directors made films to covey a message regarding the role of multiethnic in America, specifically New York City.

Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York has at least three different groups; Blacks, Irish, Americans, and Chinese. Scorsese’s film parallels Spike Lee’s film Do The Right Thing portraying Blacks, Italians and Koreans. Scorsese’s film encompasses a broader area of New York City while Lee’s work is a smaller version of New York in one particular neighborhood. One must argue that both films are similar in the concept of multiethnic, however each utilizes different sites, settings and plots.

Sal’s Pizzeria is the main setting and object of controversy in Do The Right Thing.
The storefront not only is a backdrop for many scenes, it symbolizes how the American Dream of ownership and success is not always attainable to all ethnic groups. The window glass itself is symbolic neighborhood. “[Italians] have spoken (and continue to speak) proudly of the ways in which they pulled themselves up by their bootstraps by working hard and shunning government assistance” (p. 42, Guglielmo). Sal explained to his son, Pino, about how he kept his business strong and has pride in it and does not want to lose the pride of Italian Americans. Later, Smiley, a Black man, appears at the window with a picture of Martin Luther King Jr. with Malcolm X. In the background, there is a Korean family run fruit stand. This scene is very critical for Lee and how he wants to show more than one culture living and dwelling in one geographical area. Lee decided to frame these th glass which acts as a barrier between Italians and Blacks. In one particular scene, we see an Italian father and his son inside the store by the window, discussing about moving the business out of theree cultures in this scene together while conveying that there is separation as well. Three ethnic groups sharing the neighborhood but always remain and maintain a degree of segregation from each other. Italians are separated from the Blacks. This message is conveyed to the viewer by Smiley and the picture of King and Malcolm, by the window storefront. The members of the two ethnic groups can see each other through the window glass but cannot go near each other, or if they do there will be problems. The idea of multiethnic in Bed-sty neighborhood is to stay Black. Black people in the area do not want to give up their homes or their rights, to white people like Sal and the Koreans. Pino begged his father to move out of the neighborhood because he knows that it is not their place to be in the Blacks’ neighborhood. “While Sal ‘owns’ his pizzeria, Pino reminds him again and again that ‘this’ is not ‘their’ neighborhood; they don’t ‘belong’ here” (p. 113, Lubiano). Each family member brings forth two sides of the conflict. Sal represents the pride of being Italian American by working hard and owning a business. Pino represents the problem of having a business in a different ethnic area other than their own and how wrong is it for Italians to own a business in a Black neighborhood while the Blacks that live there are unable to start up and own businesses of their own.

Spike Lee casted with Italians and Blacks to show that they are different. From the article by Pasquale Verdicchio, “Lee casts Italians as different, but not so different, from Blacks, because in the end they too cannot achieve (nor may they desire) full assimilation” (p. 106). Lee wants to show us that not only Blacks have to struggle for their rights, fighting against racism. Italians and Koreans from Do The Right Thing have to fight for their rights to own and run a business in a Black neighborhood. The character, Bugging Out, is Italian Black in real life, which is very interesting and ironic because the film portrays issues between Italians and Black. Bugging Outs real ethnic biracial Black Italian background is not shown in the film. In the film he is representing Black.

Lee also shows us the struggle of identity in his film with Pino and Mookie in their conversation about being Black. Pino was asking questions about famous Black leaders and said that they are not really Black. Mookie got back at Pino by suggesting that Pino wishes that he was Black instead of Italian. Both identities, Black for Mookie and Italian for Pino, are struggling here. Mookie is Black but is he Black? Pino is Italian but does he really want to be Black? Another view could be that Pino is frustrated with black people in his father’s pizzeria? Verdicchio states that , “The varying degrees of blackness, as they involve Pino and Vito, is illustrated by Vito’s association with Mookie and Mookie’s confrontational relationship with Pino regarding his Identity problems” (p. 110). in this scene, we can see the painting in the background, centered between Pino and Mookie. The picture shows land in Italy which is degraded, which refers to the Italians and how they are declining in Bed –Sty neighborhood. It also shows the problem of identity with Italians in America.

The concept of multiethnic appears in Scorsese’s film, Gangs of New York. The main setting in this film is the Five Point Area in New York during 1876, then again during 1890. There are Americans, Irish, Black, and many more ethnics groups in that area. They are battling over the rights to the land and battling over their own identity. The immigrants fought for their rights in America while there is slavery going on. Not only did Blacks have to fight back, but the immigrants from Ireland, Italy, German, etc. have to fight back as well. The Chinese exists in this situation as well and they too have to fight against the Whiteness of America society.

Throughout the entire film, the Irish are trying to become assimilated and equal to Americans. They formed gangs to fight with other ethnic gangs in the area. The Irish were really fighting for their rights to be Americans all at the same time as the Civil war was going on. The civil war is brought out in the film to convey the huge race conflict, the segregation between black and white America. However, in the film, what really is set forth is that these two conflicts, Irish and Civil War, are actually the very same idea with how any new immigrants continue to be segregated from the current Americans, or the people who were there before the Period of Immigration. The film clearly not only focuses on the New York area but includes the entire country with the Civil War which is happening in America. From Scorsese on Scorsese, he said, “After two and a half hours, I hope the riots do seem inevitable, even if you don’t understand fully why they erupted. You see how little attention the main characters pay to the Civil War and how little they care about the abolition of slavery, but there are other currents running through other parts of the city, beyond the Five Points” (p. 263). Scorsese used the civil war to show us the larger concept about multiethnic and how the general population is struggling with their own individual identities. Scorsese also took advantage of subtitles to label a variety of locations where there are battles going on. “In northern cities like New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, Rochester, New Haven, Buffalo, and Philadelphia, various immigrants groups vigorously resisted the influx of Italians (particularly those from the South of Italy)…. Likewise, on Chicago’s near North Side, bloody battles involving sticks, guns, knives, and blackjacks occurred regularly between Swedes and Sicilians” (p. 35, Guglielmo). Scorsese shows the viewers the part of American history which most people are not aware of. He is educating us about immigrants’ history and of their experiences moving to America.

Throughout the film, Gangs of New York, the priest Vallado’s son, Amsterdam, represents immigrants from European countries. In one scene, the native leader, Bill the Butcher, asks priest’s boy for his name. The boy said “Amsterdam” and the leader joked back and said he is now “New York.” The leader is representing the people who lived in America before the immigrant’s period. This significant to demonstrate how Scorsese compares two cities from two different countries in the same room. Scorsese used the concept of putting these two together to create multiethnic into an issue between the leader and the priest’s son. The message of multiethnic is very broad and encompasses people one a very visual level but there is also a very deep and personal component to this issue. This is demonstrated by looking at Amsterdam and Jenny.

When Amsterdam found out about Jenny’s abortion, in Gangs of New York, it causes Amsterdam to hold and control his sexual desires. This can be explained further by comments by Richard Dyer. “To ensure the survival of the race, they have to have sex- but having sex, and sexual desire, are not very white: the means of reproducing whiteness are not themselves pure white” (p. 26). It was Bill the Butcher who took out the baby. Bill is American while Jenny and Amsterdam are Irish. It is clearly that Bill does not want to lose his American whiteness with an Irish woman. He removed the baby to protect his whiteness. He also wanted to protect his classification as a gang leader by not having kid with a prostitute, Jenny. Later in the film, Jenny and Amsterdam had sex. Richard Dyer wrote, “White men are seen as divided, with more powerful sex drives but also a greater will power. The sexual dramas of white men have to do with not being able to resist the drives or with struggling to master them” (p. 27). Amsterdam could not resist wanting to be with Jenny. It is ironic how Dyer wrote about keeping pure white by not having sex and but having great desire for sex. Jenny is a character which represents sexuality between Bill and Amsterdam.

Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee used the concept of multiethnic frequently in their other works as well. This is a reflection on themselves in their real life. The characters in the film are struggling with identity. In reality, Scorsese is struggling with his Italian identity as well as his Christian identity. Spike Lee also struggles with his own identity within the Black community. Lee questions himself wondering if he is Black enough to be Black. Interesting enough Lee has become the voice for the Black community, carrying out messages that are not so obvious but still loud through his films. Lee has evolved to become one of the most successful Black filmmakers during late 20th century and into 21st century today. Martin Scorsese, has too, became one of the most well known directors of today’s Hollywood.


WORK CITED

Christie, Ian, ed. “Gangs of New York-New Projects.” Scorsese on Scorsese. Faber and Faber: London, 2003. 250-272.

Dyer, Richard. “The Matter of Whiteness.” White. Routledge: London UK, 1997. 1-40.

Guglielmo, Thomas A. “No Color Barrier: Italians, Race, and Power in the United States.” Are Italians White? How Race is Made in America. Routledge: London UK, 2003. 29-43.

Lubiano, Wahneema. “But Compared to What?: Reading Realism, Representation, and Essentialism in School Daze, Do the Right Thing, and the Spike Lee Discourse.” Representing Blackness: Issues in Film and Video. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick New Jersey, 1997. 97-122.

Verdicchio, Pasquale. “If I was Six Feet Tall, I would have been Italian: Spike Lee’s Guineas.” Bound by Distance: Rethinking Nationalism through the Italian Diaspora. Associated University Presses, Inc., London, 1997. 106-111.

HISTORY OF MIGRATION IN FILMS BY SCORSESE AND LEE

Migration during the late 1800’s to the 1920’s made a huge impact on both African and Italian Americans. In American Society there’s an awareness of African migration from the south, but not Italians from Italy. The article by Donna Gabaccia purports how these two migrations are related to each other to form America during that period. The culture that developed during the migration period (1870-1930) was influenced heavily on Italian and African American generations. Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee portrayed their own culture in each of their films. Martin Scorsese used this migration concept in his film, Italianamerican. Spike Lee may not be as obvious as Scorsese but used Blaxploitation in his film, She’s Gotta Have It.

First, Scorsese made Italianamerica by request. He refused the first offer from the National Endowment for the Humanities. “Nonetheless, he initially turned down the project, and then agrees to participate only if he was allowed not to rely primilary on archival and other traditional documentary- type materials” (p.37, Casillo). A short documentary was made of Scorsese’s parents, as the second or transitional Italian generation, in New York on Elizabeth Street. Scorsese avoided using the standard documentary style and made that film more of a personal journey into his culture and the rich history of the migration. He decided to film in his parent’s apartment, which is usual for a documentary. Throughout the film, Scorsese’s parents talked about how their parents moved to America and worked their way to make a living. Life and American society was different for each generation of immigrants. The first generation focused primarily on traditions of Italy and each generation evolved towards Americans. The second generation was the transition generation and the third generation the Italian culture diminished away. Scorsese used variety of techniques with still photographs from the vacations his parents took as well of his mother after her story about the fig tree.

Racism exists in both Scorsese and Lee’s work. From Italianamerican, Scorsese’s parents discussed how the Irish owned bars on the street which was primarily Italians and the Chinese were in another area. There are diverse and segregated areas in New York. It is this segregation which influenced discrimination against different races and ethnic groups. Scorsese used the idea of escaping into other ethnic areas. Scorsese, in his work tries to escape into areas other than his own Italian cultural area. Despite this removing of himself from his own culture Scorsese could not escape his own identity.

Spike Lee experienced a great amount of racism in New York. Lee is constantly angry with how America society has been against black people for many years, how the government took advantages of their dreams. 40 acres and a Mule represents the promise which the U. S. Government made to the Black people but never followed through with fulfilling the promise. Spike Lee used that idea for his Production Company, 40 Acres and a Mule Productions. Lee also was raised in New York like Scorsese and experienced many different radical approaches to racism. Lee strongly used the exploitation of black people and racism in general in his works. The best example of his works is She’s Gotta Have It.

When viewers first saw She’s Gotta Have It, they felt insulted by a negative stereotype of a woman as a player/cunt. Lee did not just do it to reverse the gender roles, but if you analyze his film, there is a lot of information about how slaves were abused, exploited, and left out of America’s society. The most famous scene of She’s Gotta Have It is the rape. The rape represents how white people often portrayed black men to be rapist of white women. However, at the same time, Lee portrayed the idea of how black women were constantly raped by white men. White men used their actions to label the black men as rapists. In the background during the rape scene, there is a collage of black people and their brutality during their time in America. Lee used the modern idea of Malcolm X and police brutality against black people. “During his pre-production research period he had rented Godfrey Reggio’s Koyaanisqatsi (1983) and was struck by how the film was able to tell a story without a dialogue. It gave him the idea of using David’s still photos within the film: ‘Film is a visual medium, and in She’s Gotta Have It there are all types of references within the frame to Malcolm X and black politics. If you look at the mural on the wall in Nola’s apartment, it’s a reference to Malcolm X’”(p. 44, Aftab). Not only did Lee use the mural/collage, he used still photographs (black and white) of the people in New York area during that period when the film was made as well. Lee used those photographs to show that the film is about the general population, not only the actors in the film. Lee wants to get the message about black community out there for everyone. Lee is a very aggressive person, and the “voice” of the Black community. He struggled through so much to become a black filmmaker.

Scorsese and Lee both used the references of migration/ immigration and the culture they are from frequently in their works. It is entirely up to them as directors as to how they want to relay the messages in their works. They both communicate their messages differently but at the same time, they both are successful at it. Critics were not too keen about either of them because the critics often overlooked the “silent”, hidden underlying messages. It is important to both directors to use their life experiences and their background in their films. This type of application is auteur theory, where the directors made their works with their “signature” style.

WORK CITED

Aftab, Kaleem. Spike Lee, That’s My Story and I ‘m Sticking To It. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2006. P. 35- 64.

Casillo, Robert. Gangster Priest: The Italian American Cinema of Martin Scorsese. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006. P. 3-55.

Gabaccia, Donna. “Two Great migrations: American and Italian Southerners in Comparative Perspective.” The American South and the Italian Mezzogiorno: Essays in Comparative History. Hampshire: Palgrave Publishers Ltd, 2002. P. 215- 232.