Spike Lee has a answered critics of his upcoming movie “Chi-Raq,” which caused an uproar online over the trailer.
Rappers like Lil Durk and Rhymefest were extremely vocal about the trailer, which appeared to make light of the intense violence in Chicago. Spike Lee, a native of Brooklyn, said the notion couldn’t be more wrong.
“The [Chi-Raq trailer] was released…and some people are getting it twisted and thinking that this is a comedy,” Lee said slow and deliberately. “Chi-Raq is not a comedy. Chi-Raq is a satire. And there is a difference between humor and comedy. In no way, shape or form are we not respectful of the situation that is happening in Chi-Raq. In no way, shape or form are we making light of the lives that have been murdered with this senseless violence. Don’t get it twisted. This film is about serious business. And there’s many films that we can look in the history of American cinema that treated a very serious subject matter that had humor in them. There’s an old statement: ‘I gotta laugh to keep from crying.’ I think that apropos for Chi-Raq.”
The movie features Samuel L. Jackson, Nick Cannon, Wesley Snipes, John Cusack, La La Anthony and Jennifer Hudson, among others.