Malcolm X

I thought this film would be incendiary based on its titles – an American flag burning away to reveal an eponymous X. What I found instead was a riveting character-driven narrative.

Malcolm X hits all the traditional points of the biopic but the film features one factor that other biopics often overlook: the main character undergoes genuine change from the beginning to the finale. Most biopics depict their characters through the lens of the present; knowing where they’ll end up, biopics tend to imbue their characters from the beginning with the innate goodness that inspired the filmmakers to commit such a story to celluloid. Therefore, even in a character’s darkest hour, they will always pull through so that they can meet the end point of personal glory and general endearment that the audience knows is coming.

Malcolm X, played by Denzel Washington, is in the process of becoming for the entire film. He survives his brushes with the law and prison, tangles with the media for what they perceive as hostile rhetoric, and realizes that after all those trials, he can still do better. He becomes the best version of himself and is cut down almost immediately, reminding me of Bill Hicks’ monologue about what we do to people who remind us that human divisiveness is often itself man-made: we kill them.

Washington is marvelous in Malcolm X because he is Malcolm at every stop in the story – I often teach selections from his autobiography, including videos of his speeches, and there were times when Malcolm’s voice in my head became Denzel’s instead. He embodies every characteristic that was magnetic about Malcolm: the steel edge in his voice, the large smile, and a focused look that seemed to peer beyond his time. At the end of the film, Washington’s Malcolm doesn’t grimace at his suddenly imminent fate; instead, he meets it with an upturned grin. “It is a time of martyrs,” Malcolm says, and he seems to meet his death with the knowledge that his words will carry more weight than ever before.

One last idea that I found interesting: Spike Lee uses “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke to underscore Malcolm’s final drive to the Audubon Theater. The song has long been associated with the civil rights movement, being released in 1964 before the Civil Rights Act was passed. The song is often paired with the more “positive” side of the movement, the contingent led by Dr. King who preached non-violence, a contrast to the militancy that is traditionally associated with Malcolm. However, by using the song with Malcolm, Lee is saying that it was Malcolm that inspired the meaningful change embodied by Cooke’s powerful performance. Malcolm was was a catalyst for what transpired as the decade wore on, and his words seem less militant or harsh with the knowledge of how that era fell apart.

“By any means necessary” is how Malcolm X expressed his ideas and it is indeed how Spike Lee got this wonderful testament to a human’s capacity for change made.

Watch the clip above featuring James Baldwin, a contemporary of King and X, if you’re interested in learning more about the Civil Rights movement. Also check out the documentary about Baldwin, titled I Am Not Your Negro