The satirical black comedy Bamboozled and romantic sports drama Love & Basketball will be preserved in the Library of Congress.
Bamboozled and Love & Basketball joined 23 other motion pictures as part of the Library of Congress National Film Registry’s 2023 class. The LOC selects movies each year for their cultural, historic or aesthetic importance to preserve the nation’s film heritage.
The public submitted 6,875 titles this year for National Film Registry consideration. 1955’s Lady and the Tramp, 1980’s Fame, 1990’s Home Alone, 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 2013’s 12 Years a Slave and other movies also made the cut.
Spike Lee Says Bamboozled Has One Of The Most Powerful Scenes Of His Career
Director Spike Lee’s Bamboozled starred Damon Wayans, Savion Glover, Jada Pinkett Smith, Tommy Davidson, Michael Rapaport, Mos Def and Paul Mooney. Hip-Hop acts The Roots, Canibus, Charli Baltimore and MC Serch also appeared in the cast.
“One of the most powerful sequences I think I’ve done is the closing scenes of Bamboozled where we show historically, visually, the hatefulness of white people in blackface,” Lee said. “Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Eddie Cantor… just the debasement of who we are as a people.”
Lee is a multi-time Academy Award-nominated filmmaker. His BlacKkKlansman won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2019. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also presented Lee with the 2016 Academy Honorary Award.
Bamboozled initially garnered negative reviews from many critics. However, the film gained significant cultural relevance and appreciation in later years. In contrast, Love & Basketball received mostly positive feedback from critics upon its release.
Gina Prince-Bythewood Was Discouraged By The Lack Of Black Love Stories
“A great deal of this film was autobiographical,” Love & Basketball director Gina Prince-Bythewood stated. “Monica’s character, growing up as an athlete, all the feelings she felt, feeling ‘othered’ and different as if something’s wrong with her because she loves sports. All those were things that I had to deal with growing up, being a female athlete and with my parents.”
Sanaa Lathan played the older version of Monica Wright-McCall in Love & Basketball. Kyla Pratt portrayed a younger version of Monica. Omar Epps starred opposite Lathan as the older Quincy McCall. Glenndon Chatman took on the role of young Quincy.
“I was really discouraged that there weren’t Black love stories,” Prince-Bythewood admitted. “And so I wanted to see myself in a love story.” She also added, “It’s incredibly humbling. It absolutely set the tone for my career.”
Gina Prince-Bythewood also directed feature films like The Secret Life of Bees, Beyond the Lights, Before I Fall, The Old Guard and The Woman King. Additionally, she served as a writer for television series such as A Different World, South Central and Shots Fired.
