Juxtaposition of identities in BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman (2018) is a movie about undercover detectives investigating the Ku Klux Klan “organization” in Colorado Springs. The investigation is led by the first African-American police officer in the Colorado Springs Police Department, Ron Stallworth, in which he impersonates a racist white man to infiltrate the Klan’s trust and has a body double, Flip Zimmerman, who plays as the “white” Ron Stallworth. Despite being white, Flip is a victim of discrimination from the KKK as well because of his Jewish heritage. This dual-characterization of Ron Stallworth is reflected in the score by jazz composer and trumpeter Terence Blanchard.

My interest was caught by the music right away in the movie when it begins with film based on the Civil War. Right away we are introduced to loud military-like marching snare drum. What follows is sappy orchestral music as the picture is showing hundreds of injured or dead bodies from the war. The music is supposed to create sympathy for the Confederate soldiers who died, as the scene transitions to Alec Baldwin playing some kind of political figure speaking anti-Semitic and pro-segregationist speech over footage that depicts stereotyping or mistreatment of Black people in America. The sentimental and very “patriotic” strings are still playing over this whole speech, but it sounds cheesy and fake. It is asympathetic to the viewers’ feelings of the situation, which is hateful. However, it shows how the propaganda is made and how discrimination has been portrayed as a “patriotic” act in American consciousness. These strings represent the white, conservative identity throughout the movie.

About six minutes into this segment, it cross-cuts to establishing shots of Colorado, the setting of this movie. When John David Washington’s character Ron Stallworth enters the frame, the piece cues the electric guitar. The guitar plays the soulful, moody theme we hear throughout the whole movie. It plays over the strings we heard before, and the guitar represents Ron Stallworth’s blackness. This textural combination foreshadows a major theme: Ron Stallworth has to be two people at once. One is the racist, white KKK member and one is the black man who is sympathetic to the Black community’s struggle.

Overall, I think that Terrance Blanchard did a remarkable job at tackling a sophisticated issue between race in a stylistic and tasteful way. Not to mention, that guitar riff has to be one of the coldest movie themes ever… it’s just too cool. The movie as a whole succeeded in being greatly entertaining and extremely nuanced as well. I hope for it to be remembered as among Spike Lee’s best.