S1. Ep. 2: Eddie and Spike - Brooklyn Be Brooklyn

Vincent Williams: I'm Vincent Williams. 

Len Webb: I'm Len Webb.

Vincent: And we’re your hosts of the Micheaux Mission. 

Len: Two Men, one podcast, every black film ever made. 

Vincent: This is our podcast documentary, The Class of 1989. 

Len: 1989 was an important year in film when Hollywood would change forever thanks to six films about race. 

Vincent: Some are obvious, like Do the Right Thing, Harlem Nights, and Glory. 

Len: A few might surprise you, like A Dry White Season, Lean on Me, and Driving Miss Daisy. 

Vincent: Join us as we explore what happened and what changed…

Len: because of the class of 1989.

THEME SONG

Clip - Do the Right Thing: - Mike Tyson? Mike Tyson ain't s**t, I remember when he mugged that woman right there on Lester. Remember that s**t. - You gonna tell him that? - I'll tell him that, I ain't… - Mike Tyson. To his face? - That's right, you’re goddamn right. I drop him like a bad habit. Mike Tyson dream about whooping’ my ass, he better wake up and apologize.

Vincent: Very charismatic and foul mouthed Robin Harris. God rest his soul. And he had fewer lines, but just as much presence in Harlem Nights. Two films directed by two Black men from Brooklyn in a decade that didn't have many Black directors with box office hits. In this episode, we're going to compare the visions of rising stars Spike Lee and first time director with all the Hollywood clout, Eddie Murphy. Let's set the tone. Where is Eddie Murphy in 1989? Comedian Darryl Charles has something to say about that.

Darry Charles: There’s this great book called Laughing Mad by Bambi Haggins. She writes about the era of Black comedy starting from, like Dick Gregory and Bill Cosby on. And she has a wonderful chapter about Eddie Murphy and about the place [where] he was in history. And I can't, I will not do it justice, please go get the book, it's fantastic. But I think she brings up Coming to America as a prime example. There were so many things he had to hit. It was like, you talk about race, but you do it by proxy. It's a fish out of water thing. It's, here's some Black culture stuff. Like, he had to hit all of these notes.

And I think he tried it again with Harlem Nights and maybe it was the period peace part. I don't know why it didn't like, get a bunch of people behind it, but, you know, for all I know, maybe it did and it just, they just didn't put it on the news. Maybe Dan Rather was just like, “Nah.”

Len: And I think Josiah Howard subtly sums up who Spike Lee is in comparison to all the Black films that came before.

Josiah Howard: There's a lot of the Blaxploitation in it. Yeah. I think it's a, if I dare say it, above and beyond Blaxploitation because it's more thoughtful, political, and certainly better done on a larger budget. So all of that makes for a different viewing experience. And he was just gifted with being able to do everything better.

Len: Spike Lee had already made a name for himself with his debut feature film, She's Gotta Have It in 1986, and his musical follow up School Daze in 1988. But in 1989, he was ready to show that he was down for the right cause by doing the right thing, as he expressed in this interview with the American Film Institute in 2020.

Clip - Spike Lee at AFI: At that time, the late eighties, it was not the most pleasant as far as race relations go, especially between the African American and the Puerto Rican communities and the NYPD. There are many, many instances where honest brown people were murdered by the NYPD and unfortunately [it] hasn't stopped. That's really where the impetus came from. But what a lot of people don't know is I had the title before I had anything. I knew what the subject matter [was] going to be. I knew the film would be called Do the Right Thing. 

What I like about the title is that everyone has their own interpretation of what is the right thing. Not only in the audience, but the characters in the film too. I would love to go to theaters all across the country and watch the film, sit in the back, hat down, and then stand out in the lobby and listen to the debates and the arguments and these exchanges. I mean, people, the ushers would be mad because people were not leaving and they had to bring in the next show. And that was really what we wanted to try to do with that film. To really spark discussion, exchange ideals, debate about race.

Vincent: Yes, I like that because, without a doubt, Spike is a better filmmaker than Eddie Murphy in 1989.

Len: These two men had totally different budgets, but they also had two totally different missions and uses of comedy. Again, comedian Darryl Charles.

Darryl Charles: You know what was beautiful about Do the Right Thing? They let Robin Harris just be Robin Harris. Spike let him, he was like, “Yo, just bus on these people real fast. I'm gonna hit the camera, turn the camera on, and I'll be back.” You know? And it, yeah, that scene is just fantastic. 

But I think Do the Right Thing gave you everything. Right? It was drama, there was comedy, there was, you know, sharp biting wit, there was, you know, poignant social commentary. The reason why that movie's so good is that you didn't know what was coming, so it left you open for the messaging. This is why people get upset with the wokeness, right? When you can put it into television and comedy or drama or whatever, because you don't know what you're getting, you have to be receptive to all of it. And it softens you up for the blow that's coming later. Yeah, I think that's the difference because, you know, Harlem Nights was billed as a comedy, nobody expected anything really poignant to come out of it. I mean, you’ve got to think about 1989, the Black Renaissance, the history of Harlem, that was not in the public sphere. And so, I want to give Eddie Murphy the credit, right? Because nobody was talking about the Black Renaissance. Nobody was talking about the fine and upstanding people of Harlem, New York who were wearing coats and had cars and had to create a community and a thriving economy in the shadow of being blackballed from the economy of New York City, right? It's a different story. 

And maybe telling that story at that time led to some vitriol or the willingness to discard it as a weird passion project or something. I've noticed this with a lot of comedians, with a lot of public personas as I study the craft. There's definitely a time when a lot of the greats give credence to the greats that were before them. And I think that this was Eddie Murphy doing that, because I mean, it's a laundry list of Black performers who were all old at this point, right? Della Reese, Redd Foxx, Robin Harris is in there, you know, like all of these luminaries. And I think he was giving them time to shine and a nice way to make some residual money.

Len: We spoke to cinematographer and director of photography, Michelle Crenshaw, on the exact differences between these two films from a filmmaking perspective.

Michelle Crenshaw: You know, here you have Do the Right Thing that, like, [it] was about six and a half million [dollars] to produce, and Eddie Murphy, come on, he had $30 million. So you can't really compare because the budgets are so different. The storyline is so different. So, how you get across the story itself is based on how much money you have. You have choices in who you choose to act, you have choices in locations, wardrobe, hair, makeup, and the crew itself. The limitations of locations. That's why filmmaking is such a collaborative art form. And when you see those credits behind these movies, those are everybody getting paid. It's not like the Little Rascals and Our Gang in [the] theater and you all come together, let's do this guys. You know, that only goes so far. So, Spike Lee was a master of making films based on the budgets that he could work with, or [was] allowed to have, and developed that aesthetic with that in relation to the DP.

First of all, you know, period pieces usually cost more because you have to get the wardrobe, you have to get production design, art direction. Then you're dealing with guns. Any kind of, you know, special effects. That costs money. You've got all those comedians and stars and they're at the top of their game. You have Richard Pryor, you’ve got Redd Foxx, you’ve got all of 'em, including Eddie. They're at the top of their game. And you can tell it's a big studio production. 

Spike, at that time, was still indie, you know, raising bonds, doing what he needed to do to tell his work. I mean, like Gordon Parks, Spike Lee really is the African American indie filmmaker of America. He's, to me, on the same caliber as Woody Allen. To me, Spike Lee is what Woody Allen is to New York. Spike Lee is the Black version of New York. You know, even though his budgets might not allow him to be bigger aesthetically, only on smaller budgets, he probably gets bigger budgets. That creates a different aesthetic. This was based on the amount of money you have or access to it.

Tim Cogshell: And that's what Do the Right Thing was talking about at that very moment, thirty plus years ago. And of course that narrative, with all of these wonderful characters being performed by all of these amazing performers, Ossie, Faison, Sam Jackson sitting in that booth on that radio. I mean, we didn't know these people. Now it’s easy. Now it's because, oh. Cause we are seeing Carlo and Bill Nunn, and so it’s easy now. You know, Martin Lawrence, everyone running around. But way back then, they were all just being brilliant, representing people, crew. If you were Black, it's like you knew these people, Rosie Perez, it's like you knew all these people. You know, it's like that's bugging out.

Like they even had names of people we knew. “On this hot, hot hot,” which is another brilliant thing, set it on the hottest day of the year, the day that we all know anything can happen. And then that culmination, you know, what it comes to, and what happens with Bill's character. And how can we not think about that when we think about George Floyd. It's like it was prescient. It was precient. It's as if he was looking into the future. And in some ways it's really sad that, you know, that thirty plus years later, the thing that we could see as a possibility is just, it's a thing that not only happened to George Floyd, but happens all the time, it happens a lot.

Clip - Do the Right Thing: - Can I talk to you for a second? - What? - Pino, who's your favorite basketball player? - Magic Johnson. - Who's your favorite movie star? - Eddie Murphy. - Who's your favorite rock star? - Prince. Boss, Bruce, Prince, Bruce. - Pino, all you ever talk about is n***** this and n***** that, and all your favorite people are so called n*****s. - It's different. Magic, Eddie, Prince are not n*****s. I mean, they're not Black. I mean, let me explain myself. They, they're not really Black. I mean they're Black, but they're not really Black. They're more than Black. It's different. - It's different? - Yeah. To me it's different. - Pino, deep down inside, I think you wish you were Black. - Get the f*** out of here.

Vincent: You know, some people actually like Harlem Nights, right? I mean, Eddie wasn't Spike Lee, but he's undeniable even in a film that isn't Oscar worthy.

Elizabeth Wellington: So, remember when Eddie Murphy was doing the promotion for Coming to America 2? And, they showed an old clip of Eddie Murphy on Arsenio Hall Show, and he was talking to Arsenio Hall about his next project. 

Clip - Arsenio Hall Show: - How's Harlem Nights coming along? You're directing that. - You know, you came out real good in the movie. Arsenio's in the movie. Me, Richard Pryor, Arsenio, Redd Foxx, Danny Aiello, Michael Lerner, Jasmine guy. - You got a powerhouse cast man. It looks good? - Yeah, man. I kill Arsenio in this movie. - Don't tell ‘em. - Well, they gotta go see. - No, not dead for real! It's very funny when you see it.

Elizabeth Wellington: He was all excited about it. So he was kind of giving us, like, some hints, but he didn't tell us what the project was about. And to me, that movie is like, the nostalgia is just like, so much time has passed. Like, it feels like it was yesterday. And I'm looking at Richard Pryor and he's looking, he doesn't even look old. You know, I'm looking at Eddie Murphy. He looks like, he looks so young. I'm looking at Della Reese. You know, I'm seeing all these people who, it was almost like watching Life. Remember when, in that section in Life, in the movie, where you see just the people, like, disappear, and you see it and that was another Eddie Murphy movie. But it's like, I'm just, and I'm seeing all these like, people and I was actually focused, more focused on the people in the movie than the actual story.

I mean, I knew what the story was because I'd seen Harlem Nights a couple of times and then, so things made me, the same lines made me laugh. And it just made me remember these wonderful, great, fantastic actors who were just gone. Like, even, like I say, even Charlie Murphy is gone, right? And so, it was such a slice of time in that space. The irony is that I also watched Boomerang this weekend and it's just, it's like, it was just a slate of movies when Eddie Murphy was on top of the world and you could see why he was on top of the world, and you could see how like, funny and debonair and interesting he was.

1989 is interesting because you could almost say that that was like, that is a building block and it's not that many building blocks in film. It was also at the height of the golden age of hip hop.

Len: Which plays a part in Do the Right Thing!

Elizabeth Wellington: You know what I mean? That's why it was very like, you know, you see Rosie Perez, and it's a very like, In Living Color- ish and, but that was, that's what was going on at the time.

Len: And this is before In Living Color.

Elizabeth Wellington: And you can almost argue that hip hop inspired Harlem Nights, even though it was in the roaring twenties, but when you look at the haircuts and look at the clothes, look at the way they were talking to each other, you didn't hear hip hop in it, but hip hop’s not far away. 

Len: Yeah. You heard its vibe. You heard its essence there. Most certainly. 

Michelle Crenshaw: Yeah. Spike Lee has done so much, like Gordon Parks, to change the playing field for African American filmmakers, actors, and people who worked in crew. Eddie Murphy is Eddie Murphy. He's part of a whole studio conglomerate. I'm not saying he's not talented, of course he's talented, and he was able to bring, especially with Harlem Nights, all those comedians together in one story and give them a platform in such a way that no one else would.

Clip - Harlem Nights: - I knew it. I knew it. - Knew what? - I knew that girl the other night had it for me. Look what I just got in the mail. Dear Mr. Quick, I couldn't help but acknowledge the obvious electric attraction between the two of us. Huh? Perhaps we should have dinner and talk. Please respond. Evergreen 20304. signed truly, Miss Dominique La Rue. See? That girl coming by here the other night didn't have nothing to do with that cop that came by your apartment. She made Small bring her here so she can meet me. She probably seen me up on the Boulevard at the picture show wanting to meet me ever since. - Quick, I asked you not to mess with that woman. - Sugar, she came after me, and besides, we don't even know if she's still down with Calhoun. Least I'm gonna do is find out. - Dominique La Rue. Now where did she get that French name? - She's Creole. - Oh, what, you don't wanna mess around with one of them Creole women.

Michelle Crenshaw: As well as Spike Lee, he has opened the door for a lot of actors and a lot of actors went on to be mainstream Hollywood once they were working with Spike Lee. And Ernest Dickerson made a point even as cinematographer and director of photography, to have other brothers shoot for him after Ernest moved on. And women. He's very progressive. But you know, Eddie, going back to Eddie Murphy, he's an artist and we love him. He's a comedian, one of the greatest. But he does have support of Hollywood and there's a different aesthetic because of that. But I am happy, when he did Coming to America 2, it was historic because there were more African Americans on set behind the scene than any other film in history.

And I can, I know for a fact, I wish I worked on it, but I didn't. The majority of the camera crew was Black and that's huge. Jody Williams was the director of photography, his first major feature since coming from television. He did an excellent job out of Chicago. It was huge, that if you ever see a group photo of the cast and crew, it's monumental. And this is 2021.

Len: We can't talk about 1989’s Do the Right Thing without talking about 1988’s Coming to America. Spike had been working around the edges of Indie Hollywood with She's Gotta Have It School Daze, some short films and music videos.

Len: Eddie sets a film in Brooklyn. Unlike his earlier affair, a film in its own universe away from the white world. Coming to America was Black, Blackity-Black, Black, Black. And Coming to America made money.

Clip - Coming to America trailer: - Once upon a time in a far away kingdom lived a handsome prince. - Why? Why can't I find my own wife? - We've gone to a great deal of trouble to select for you a very fine wife. - I want a woman that's going to arouse my intellect as well as my loins. - Where will you find such a woman? - In America.

Vincent: Known for such films as The Blues Brothers, American Werewolf in London, Animal House and Trading Places, director/producer John Landis might have personally earned more on coming to America than the whole budget of Do the Right Thing.

Len: Point: Do the Right Thing had a budget of 6 million [dollars] while Coming to America’s budget, according to Wikipedia, was $36 million with Eddie Murphy accounting for 8 million [dollars] of that. 

Vincent: In many ways, Lee is an upstart coming to the table with chutzpah to direct his Brooklyn movie almost in response to Coming to America. 

Len: Point of order though. In She’s Gotta Have It, Spike has his Mars Black men running around wearing a Brooklyn cap crown to his dome. So, this wasn't the first or last glimpse into Spike's love affair with the borough. 

Clip - She’s Gotta Have It: What about Nola Darling? What do you wanna know? I thought she was a freaky. You know, freaky deaky. You asked why I continue to see her? I look like a r*****. I'm not crazy. The sex was deaf. Nola had the goods and she knew what to do. Look, all men want freaks. We just don't want ‘em for a wife.

Vincent: I can also see Eddie looking at and around the way a kid like Spike, shaking up things in Hollywood without stifling his unique voice and point of view, and saying, “I recorded a number one song with Rick James. I want to party all the time. Now, I want to direct a movie too.” And he calls all his friends to come and be in it. 

Len: Meanwhile, Spike gets a case of the Mo Betta Blues before getting his grand opus off the ground.

Vincent: Malcolm X.

Len: Set where?

Vincent: In Harlem. 

Len: Eddie steps out of the director's chair, never to return, deciding his best behind-the-camera roll is producer, adding Boomerang, Vampire in Brooklyn, and the Nutty Professor to an output increasingly marketed to an African American clientele, while cashing the big checks for Another 48 Hours, The Distinguished Gentleman, and Beverly Hills Cop Three. 

Vincent: Another 48 Hours was fun-ish, but his heart didn't really seem to be in the other two. 

Len: Spike Lee and Ernest Dickerson part ways after Malcolm X, as Dickerson steps into the director's chair and Spike secures bigger budgets with inconsistent results. Crooklyn begets Clockers, which begets Girl Six, which begets Get on the Bus, the critically acclaimed, underperforming, He Got Game begets the mixed-reviewed underperformance of Summer of Sam. 

Vincent: But you know what? The only thing we proved with this whole exercise is that it's not really fair to compare Harlem Nights to Do the Right Thing. 

Len: Well, it's not fair to compare most movies to Do the Right Thing. 

Vincent: This is true.

Len: That’s it for this episode of the Class of 1989. Tune in next week for episode 3: “Commercial Race Theater.”

The Class of 1989 is produced by Len Webb, Vincent Williams, and Moe Poplar

Written by Len Webb, Vincent Williams and Moe Poplar

Edited by Len Webb 

Mix and mastered by Chris Boniello

Production help from Jordan Aaron 

Marketing by Joni Deutsch, Matt Keeley, and Annabella Pena

Music by Alexa Gold 

Art by Tom Grillo

Special thanks to Dan Christo

And executive produced by Jeff Umbro and the Podglomerate 

Alright ladies and gentlemen, until next time, he's Vince, I'm Len. And in parting we say – 

Vincent: We'll see you when it's time to meet again.