Malcolm X: Book vs Film
Director Spike Lee based his 1992 movie, Malcolm X starring Denzel Washington, on the 1965 book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley. Most significant events and experiences in the seventeen chapters of the book were covered in the movie with both focusing on the many transformations of Malcolm. However, Lee used artistic license to rearrange the chronology and the interplay of various characters, even going so far as to assign words in the book to different characters in the movie which is obviously based on the book. Early events such as his father's murder, his mother's institutionalization, the white teacher telling him that he couldn't become "...a lawyer, that's no realistic goal for a nigger.", and the burning of his house by the KKK were told or shown with great accuracy, but even the later events that were altered for the movie contributed to the cinema genre without changing the spirit of the message of the book. Book Passages vs. Film Scenes
• Malcolm’s mother
One example of Lee's significantly altering a passage from the book yet maintaining its meaning is his interpretation of Malcolm's feelings toward his mother. In the book Malcolm said, "I have rarely talked to anyone about my mother, for I believe that I am capable of killing a person, without hesitation, who happened to make the wrong kind of remark about my mother." This passage in the book was expressed by Lee in a Harlem bar scene. When Malcolm bumped into a man in a bar and got called 'boy' and a 'country nigger,' he remained unresponsive. But when the man said "What you gonna do, go home to your Momma?" Malcolm hit him over the head with a liquor bottle and angrily said, "Nigger, don't you EVER in your life say anything against my mother!" They are very different versions of Malcolm's devotion to his mother, yet the same message was conveyed.
• Conked Hair
A significant event in Malcolm's life was his first hair conk. It was an important issue with Malcolm then, and Lee
• Malcolm’s mother
One example of Lee's significantly altering a passage from the book yet maintaining its meaning is his interpretation of Malcolm's feelings toward his mother. In the book Malcolm said, "I have rarely talked to anyone about my mother, for I believe that I am capable of killing a person, without hesitation, who happened to make the wrong kind of remark about my mother." This passage in the book was expressed by Lee in a Harlem bar scene. When Malcolm bumped into a man in a bar and got called 'boy' and a 'country nigger,' he remained unresponsive. But when the man said "What you gonna do, go home to your Momma?" Malcolm hit him over the head with a liquor bottle and angrily said, "Nigger, don't you EVER in your life say anything against my mother!" They are very different versions of Malcolm's devotion to his mother, yet the same message was conveyed.
• Conked Hair
A significant event in Malcolm's life was his first hair conk. It was an important issue with Malcolm then, and Lee