Clint Eastwood and Spike Lee Are BOTH Right

t's hard to find fault with director Spike Lee in terms of his pride, passion and advocacy for African-Americans in film. He's been speaking on our behalf for quite some time and arguably has received less credit than deserved, above and beyond just the films he's made.

If there was another director who would have dared touch upon the harsh realities of race in contemporary society in the manner that Do the Right Thing did…feel free to remind me accordingly.

If Lee is anything, he is consistent. He has been consistent in his love for African-Americans on and off the screen. He has been diligent in creating images of us in which we can be both proud and point to as truthful. Such authenticity from an artist is rare.

For those reasons and many others, I appreciate who Spike Lee is and what he does.

When one looks at Spike Lee through such a lens (no film pun intended) it puts his recent dispute with venerable director Clint Eastwood in a more proper perspective. At the same time, Clint Eastwood should be looked upon in an equally comprehensive sense. Clint Eastwood is a film legend and it's fair to treat him as such. He's not infallible, but let's be both honest and fair; Eastwood's directorial history has been more inclusive than exclusive in nature.

For those who aren't up to date, Lee launched the first war-movie-salvo with the following:

"He (Eastwood) did two films about Iwo Jima back to back and there was not one black soldier in both of those films. Many veterans, African-Americans who survived that war are upset at Clint Eastwood in his vision of Iwo Jima, Negro soldiers did not exist. Simple as that. I have a different version."

To Spike's credit, it's a fair criticism in terms of highlighting where documented history differs from "his-story." To Eastwood's credit, he didn't set out to create a documentary, he made a film...a dramatization. One can not and should not look upon Flags of Our Fathers in the same way we do 4 Little Girls.

You have to compare apples with apples.