Episode description
With the Academy Awards right around the corner, we take a look back at some previous Best Picture winners. When these winning films were about race, they often highlighted a feel-good racial reconciliation fantasy. But about 30 years ago, there was one movie that was snubbed at the Oscars — “Do the Right Thing” — that is anything but a feel-good racial reconciliation fantasy. We revisit how “Do the Right Thing” showcased realities about race in America in ways that none of the current Oscar nominees — including Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman” — do, and why it matters.
Discussed this week:
- “Green Book” (directed by Peter Farrelly, 2018)
- “Forrest Gump” (directed by Robert Zemeckis, 1994)
- “Crash” (directed by Paul Haggis, 2004)
- “Driving Miss Daisy” (directed by Bruce Beresford, 1989)
- “BlacKkKlansman” (directed by Spike Lee, 2018)
- Kim Basinger going off-script at the 1990 Academy Awards
- “Do the Right Thing” (directed by Spike Lee, 1989)
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