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Malcolm and Sophia, the white woman he meets at the dance hall, seem to have an instant attraction to each other, but viewers are left to wonder how genuine their attraction is, and if they are both simply acting from a place of mutual fetishization that stems from the “taboo” nature of mixed-race couples during this time. We first see Sophia with an angelic glow surrounding her, Malcolm admiring her in a daze as poor Laura sadly watches the scene play out behind him. Sophia bears a striking resemblance to 1950s Hollywood icon Grace Kelly, which I’m sure was no coincidence on Lee’s part when casting the archetypal Beautiful White Woman. The two interact in a way that reveals the role society has played in how they view themselves and the other person. This is evident in the way they speak to each other throughout the course of their relationship, beginning with Malcolm choosing Sophia over Laura at the dance hall and Sophia later asking excitedly if she’s the only white woman he’s ever been with. After a night together, Malcolm suspiciously asks Sophia when she’s going to “call rape” on him, and tells her to kiss his foot and feed him. She obeys, and only seems to grow more infatuated with him the more he gets sucked into the dangerous world of gambling. After pulling a frightening stunt on another man, threatening to shoot him in the head, she giggles and mouths, “I love you.” In this way, she appears to be more attracted to the danger that surrounds Malcolm than Malcolm himself. Sophia’s character serves as a symbol for Malcolm’s own internalized insecurities about his blackness, emphasized by his desire to dress white and conk his hair. She is an important person in his life during a time when he isn’t embracing his blackness but rather doing everything he can to subdue it.

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One connection that struck me as extremely profound were the similarities between Lee’s Malcolm X and Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight. Both films are broken into parts, with Moonlight having very distinct separations of the three acts and Malcolm X taking a more subtle approach following his evolution. The films both center around black men in roles that aren’t typically seen on screen; Lee places Malcolm in over-the-top dance sequences and classic Hollywood-era gangster scenes, while Moonlight shows the unique perspective and largely untold narrative of Chiron, an African-American trying to get by as a gay man in the ghetto. While on the surface, sexuality may be the leading plotpoint in Moonlight, Chiron’s blackness is the root of many of the trials he faces, like the pressures of masculinity, the struggles of poverty and lack of opportunity. This parallels Malcolm’s descent into crime and theft, his background of having to scrape by making him feel it necessary to do what it takes to get what he wants, regardless of the consequences. Similar to the way Malcolm goes from Little to Red to X, the protagonist of Moonlight is referred to as “Little” in the first act, “Chiron” in the second, and “Black” in the third. As Little, a nickname given to him by his bullies, he is shy and barely speaks due to the constant harassment he faces, and this continues for Chiron, his birth name, until he retaliates against his main bully and ends up in a juvenile detention center. He emerges as Black, choosing to be known by the nickname Kevin, his first love, gave him. There is a certain power to choosing your name, your identity, and both characters do this when they want to take back power and gain self-ownership. While Chiron’s character is much more reserved and timid, Young Malcolm also possesses a restrained quality and has simply masked his insecurities with a tough, uncaring facade. As Chiron becomes Black and Malcolm becomes Red, and later X, they both grow more accustomed to the violence they are surrounded by and their own role in it. Black becomes a drug dealer, and Red goes into the gambling business, later committing a robbery. Clearly, their environment is what led them to these circumstances, both raised by single mothers, because opportunities for both characters are scarce. An example highlighting this is Malcolm voicing his desire to become a lawyer as a child only to be completely discriminated against and discouraged by his teacher, who reminds him of his place in society.

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The power of names is a frequently visited theme in Malcolm X, because the names serve as markers that pinpoint the various stages of Malcolm’s very prolific life. He is born Malcolm Little, raised by a struggling single mother after his father is murdered by white supremacists. As a young adult, he becomes “Red” and enters the gambling scene, wearing flashy red zoot suits and getting into trouble with his white girlfriend, Sophia, and his boss, West Indian Archie. After landing himself in prison for robbery, he briefly earns the nickname “Satan” for his behavior in solitary confinement, only to discover Islam and transform into who we know him as today: Malcolm X. Each of his names represent the various lives he lived before finding himself. As Malcolm Little, he faced many challenges due to his race but never dug deeper to assess why these things were happening to him. As Red, he is volatile and dishonest, partaking in dangerous activities to get ahead. It is only after hitting rock bottom that he finds his purpose and experiences a true passion for knowledge. He is more self-aware than ever of the trials of black men and the ways the white man has stunted his growth. During this period of his life, he gives himself the last name “X” as a way to represent the way the white man has stripped him of his heritage, his African roots, and his culture by giving his ancestors the last name “Little.” Malcolm is now taking agency over his identity and trying to spread his views to anyone who will listen, because he has found his calling. By giving himself the name “X”, he is taking some agency back from the white man, who took it from him.

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Sources:

Malcolm X. 1992. [film] United States: Spike Lee, Marvin Worth, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, Warner Bros.

Lee, Spike; Perl, Arnold; Baldwin, James. 'Malcolm X'. Manuscript (fourth draft), 1991. https://sfy.ru/?script=malcolm_x

Kubrick, S. (Director). (1960). Spartacus [Motion picture]. United States: Universal Pictures Co.

Iconic Black Lives Matter photo labelled 'legendary'. (2016). Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.myjoyonline.com/news/iconic-black-lives-matter-photo-labelled-legendary/amp/

Statement from BLM Global Network on the Life and Legacy of Muhiyidin Moye. (2018, February 16). Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://blacklivesmatter.com/statement-from-blm-global-network-on-the-life-and-legacy-of-muhiyidin-moye/

Rothman, L. (2013, December 05). Watch: Nelson Mandela's Sole Movie Performance. Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://entertainment.time.com/2013/12/05/watch-nelson-mandelas-sole-movie-performance/

Canby, V. (1992, November 18). Review/Film; 'Malcolm X,' as Complex as Its Subject. Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/18/movies/review-film-malcolm-x-as-complex-as-its-subject.html

Rule, S. (1992, November 15). Malcolm X: The Facts, the Fictions, the Film. Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/15/movies/film-malcolm-x-the-facts-the-fictions-the-film.html

The Lost Tapes: Malcolm X. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.smithsonianchannel.com/shows/the-lost-tapes/malcolm-x/1004513/3456587

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH3QQDEH2TE

^ interview with Spike Lee on Malcom X

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The first picture is of a woman participating in the protest in Baton Rogue after the death of Alton Sterling. The second image is Malcom X giving a speech in 1962 after the death of two Muslim brothers.

In an interview on his film, Malcolm X, Spike Lee responded to the question, “Will [the film] change our understanding of Malcolm by seeing this film” by explaining that it will “if your only understanding of Malcolm comes from the white media, and your entire knowledge is that you think he is anti-semitic, anti-white, and that he advocates violence.” Lee’s point about Malcolm X’s skewed image due to the white media proves the importance of this film. Malcolm X’s story is important to tell, as his impact can still be seen in our society today. Viewing Malcolm X in 2020 is inspiring, while simultaneously sobering. Malcolm X fought his whole life for freedom and equality, and died for this same fight. 55 years later, we are still fighting for the same thing,  and that is extremely disheartening, but also shows why it is important for his story to be discussed. I included these images together because both Malcolm X and the woman from the Baton Rogue protest are Black Muslim Americans speaking out on the police brutality within their community. The sentiment behind these images brings the Black Lives Matter movement to mind.  The Black Lives Matter movement founded in 2013, is how Black Americans continue to fight the same fight as those who came before them, like Malcolm X. The group recognizes Malcolm X on their website as a “freedom fighting ancestors including Erica Garner, Malcolm X and Harriet Tubman.” In a different interview, Spike Lee has spoken of his support for the Black Lives Matter (although he did bring up his issues with it). With this context, the final scene gains a new message as it shows Malcolm’s legacy living on in the youth as they stand up in the classroom for him, just as the Black Lives Matter movement continues to do today. 

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Malcolm X & Spartacus

Continuing to unpack this final scene, I focused on the school children who rise from their seats in both a school in Harlem and in Soweto proclaim, “I AM MALCOLM X”. This could be interpreted as an allusion to the scene in Stanley Kubrick’s film, Spartacus, when the fellow slaves of the Roman Republic rise and claim Spartacus’s identity in the face of their oppressors by shouting “I AM SPARTACUS.” This theme of oppressed people taking on the identity of a leader who is willing to risk his life to fight for them, is similar to the statement Lee makes in his film, with Malcolm as Spartacus. Malcolm spent his whole life fighting for the rights of Black Americans, and his spirit and mission live on in today’s youth. In the movie Spartacus, this moment where the people assume Spartacus’ identity is the end of the rebellion where the people are willing to die for the leader who fought to protect them. Translating this moment into the final scene of Malcolm X, it seems as if Spike Lee is calling upon the audience, specifically the youth, to be willing to risk everything for the fight for freedom and equality. 

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The final scene of Spike Lee’s Malcolm X has a rich message, as it beautifully ties up the movie. This scene solidifies Lee’s film as a visual epitaph created to immortalize Malcolm’s legacy, and acts as the eulogy. The appearance of Former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela in this scene is an important detail to note. His recital of the final lines of Malcolm X’s “By Any Means Necessary” speech in this scene is significant as it is his only appearance in a major motion picture, and was a way for him to honor Malcolm and unite the people of South Africa who were fighting against the apartheid with the people of America fighting alongside Malcolm. In Lee’s words, “the connection between Soweto and Harlem, Nelson and Malcolm, and what Malcolm talked about: pan-Africanism, trying to build these bridges between people of color. He is alive in children in classrooms in Harlem, in classrooms in Soweto.”

It is also important to note that Mandela declined to say Malcolm’s words, “by any means necessary,” as he was afraid that it would be interpreted as encouraging violence, especially considering he was released from prison only two years prior, in 1990, for “conspiring to overthrow the state.” Mandela’s refusal to quote this ending line goes to show how Malcolm X’s ideas were controversial and often misinterpreted back then, and still are today. 

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One theme that I found to be very evident throughout this film is evolution. To evolve means to gradually go through a major change. This film effectively captures Malcolm X evolving from a troubled teen with a rough childhood into one of the most influential and powerful leaders of all time. The film captures Malcolm's evolution through his spiritual quest as well. As Malcolm was changing so were his costumes. For Ruth Carter, it was important to illustrate in the movie how his costume changed with him.

In the first image, we see Malcolm at the peak of his young rebellion. After moving from Michigan to Harlem, New York City in 1943 he engaged in drug dealing, gambling, robbery, and pimping. He is wearing a black a white suit with a cigar and his hair is still red. 

In the second image, after being caught for committing robberies targeting rich white families he was sentenced to Jail for 8 to 10 years. This is where his spiritual evolution began. The film does a great job of demonstrating this process when he meets fellow convict John Bembry. Through John, Malcolm developed an appetite for reading and wanting to learn more.

In prison is where he finds himself after writing to Elijah Muhammad, The leader of the Nation of Islam who advised him to renounce his past, humbly bow in prayer to God, and promise to never engage in destructive behavior again. After receiving such a letter, he shaves his red hair and accepts himself for what he is. He is no longer lost.

After his parole, he dressed primarily in black, white and grey this was mainly because the Muslim dress code called for modest clothing. The colorless clothes gave the film a near- documentary feel.

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Some of Malcolm X suits were made at Saint Laurie in New York. The Zoot suits were all custom made.

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When the movie begins, we see a young Malcolm Little is getting his hair cut. The appearance is that he wants to look more like a white person. Believe it or not, he used to dress in Zoot suits, and they were mostly in black and white, not color like in the movie. He got his nickname “RED” because he dyed his hair red, not because of his red outfits. As I was doing my research, Ruth Carter designed the colorful costumes without Spike Lee’s acknowledgment. She drew inspiration from white mob bosses in the 1950s with the different colors.

For Carter, the different colors represented his younger years, where Malcolm excelled in Middle School and had hope and dreams but weres later crushed, leaving him feeling that the white world offered no place for a career-oriented black man regardless of talent.

Carter worked with news photographs and footage, she aimed to duplicate Malcolm X Clothing. She even consulted his mug shot at the Massachusetts Department of Correction. She also did period research at the fashion institute of technology library in New York.

In the first image, we see the original illustrations done by Carter for the film.

The second picture, her inspiration for the costumes. She said in an interview that she would spend hours looking at movies from the 1950s in order to capture the trends for males and females at the time.

In the third picture, Malcolm Little wearing a zoot suit.

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As I was watching Malcolm X the Movie my attention immediately gravitated towards the fun costumes worn by the actors. The costume designer for the film is named Ruth E. Carter. In the film, Carter showed the evolution of Malcolm X through what clothes Denzel Washington was wearing. This meant a huge color palette switch, going from bright and elaborate zoot suits in the beginning which he wore during the more tumultuous years to simple dark-black suits with skinny ties to show "his spiritual quest" of going on a Hajj and changing from the Nation of Islam to just Islam.

Before I begin laying down Malcolm’s spiritual quest through his costumes, I will give a little background information of the woman behind it. Ruth E. Carter was born on April 10th, 1960 in Springfield, Massachusetts. She finished college at Hampton University, Virginia, in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree.

Why are costumes so important in film?

Costumes are one of many tools the director has to tell the story. Costumes communicate the details of a character's personality to the audience and help actors transform into new and believable people on screen. The film was released in 1992 but thanks to the costume designer we were able to travel back in time to the time where Malcolm was alive.

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Transcript, Malcolm X (1992), Spike Lee

“I can’t remember any of my prison numbers. That seems surprising, even after the dozen years since I have been out of prison. Because your number in prison became part of you. You never heard your name, only your number. On all of your clothing, every item, was your number, stenciled. It grew stenciled on your brain.“ -The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Ch. 10

Numbers define Malcolm’s early years. In the autobiography, he talks extensively about playing “the numbers,” aka gambling. Archie warns him not to write any numbers down. The prominence of gambling in his life is portrayed in a montage of numbers early on in the film. This skill he develops is important when the guard asks him to state his number and he refuses. He claims he forgot it, which we as the audience know, is nearly impossible given this skill. He is tortured in prison: put in a dark isolation cell until he complies with the guard’s order. He is “beaten.” This is rock bottom in Malcolm’s life. The old persona he developed in his gambling years is beaten out of him, and so the numbers motif ends. This is the point when Bembry starts talking about Islam, which is the turning point in Malcolm’s life. His old persona is killed, and he becomes Malcolm X. 

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Jr. Walker & The All-Stars - Shotgun

This song plays immediately after the final non-diegetic gunshot is heard. The song is upbeat and fun and plays under people happily dancing. The scene perfectly parallels one of the scenes in the beginning, where Malcolm meets Sophia at a dance. Though, knowledge of the context and title of the song contrast the tone of the scene, making the viewer uneasy.

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These are three shots where gunshots are heard in the film: Archie pointing finger guns, JFK’s assassination footage, and the establishing shot of the scene proceeding Malcolm’s final speech, where he was assassinated.

The setting of the first shot is West Indian Archie’s house with Sophia. Malcolm has just started gambling. The look on his face is one of concern. The scene had been tense, though it had worked out this time. His facial expression reveals how he really feels: he is not able to fully trust the people he is around now. They are always a threat to him because of the kind of business they get into. The gunshot emphasizes this tension.

The second gif is post-conversion and post-prison. He has become a leader in the Nation of Islam. In this scene, the gunshots are diegetic, because they are part of the recreation of JFK’s assassination. This footage of a beloved leader assassinated cut together with Malcolm’s confident statement provides tension as well. The audience knows that he will have a similar downfall, yet Malcolm is at his peak, totally unaware of this threat. 

In the last gif, he speaks on the phone to his friend the night before his assassination. He knows his killers are listening, so he says the Islamic greeting in English, letting them and the audience know his true nature at this point. His house has just been set afire. From this point forward, he knows his death is imminent. Malcolm has begun espousing the idea of unity and peace, which is cut short by his untimely death. Here, his voice is cut off by the shot of the Audubon Ballroom and the sound of the gunshot, and the audience knows the next gunshot they hear will be real. 

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“It was at this time that I discovered the movies. Sometimes I made as many as five in one day, both downtown and in Harlem. I loved the tough guys, the action, Humphrey Bogart in “Casablanca,” and I loved all of that dancing and carrying on in such films as “Stormy Weather” and “Cabin in the Sky."” -The Autobiography of Malcolm X.

Lee’s most prominent motif is gunshots. When working with a public figure like Malcolm X, whose story is very well-known, the ending of his life looms over the whole film. Though it was not clear to many people why he was assassinated and who was responsible, it was clear it was via gun. 

At around the 18:30 mark, this scene occurs where Malcolm and Shorty play “cops and robbers” as film stars Bogart and Cagney. It establishes Malcolm’s admiration of Humphrey Bogart, which is later referenced in the script when he is given a gun by West Indian Archie. Violence has been present his whole life, and a good guy with a gun, as glamorized by Hollywood, was a myth he believed in. 

Cops and robbers is a silly game for grown men to be playing, and the shot portrayed in the second gif heightens the absurdity of it. But the real gunshot heard in the first gif provides an ominous air. Shorty, when he is “shooting” Malcolm, is hidden behind the tree while the sound effect plays. This heightens the surreality of it, but also obscures Shorty as the shooter. Even now in 2020, the question of who killed Malcolm X is up for debate. A New York Times Article “Who Really Killed Malcolm X?” came out just last month.

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Instead of being arrested at the jewelry shop, Spike Lee has Malcolm arrested while he is in the middle of conking his hair after a grand theft. 

This first gif shows the significant character difference between the first hair treatment, when he first came to Boston, and when he began gambling and robbing. In the crowd of Shorty, West Indian Archie, and company, his confidence grew quickly. We see in the top gif that after robbing the house and seemingly getting away with it, he believes he is invincible: he has found his place within society. A black person who robs from white people is something the white supremacist narrative pushes. After finding success with it, he believed he was in the best position he could be. 

Of course, this does not last long. When no water comes out of the tap, Malcolm must resort to using the toilet water to wash the burning chemicals out. Though he acted tough just moments before, he cannot help but succumb to the pain of the lye. The toilet emphasizes the degrading nature of what he had been doing: both to his hair and his life. The hair chemicals would bring him success socially, though they came at great physical cost. Being a thief gave him the same promise, and the same outcome.

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The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Chapter 3

Spike Lee, Malcolm X (1992) Transcript

Malcolm X (1992) Dir. Spike Lee