Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.life From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Malcolm's message lost in the market Date: Wed, 18 Nov 92 16:10:35 EST Message-ID: \SE E;LIFE;MALCOLM IN THE EXTREME \SS (WS) \HD Malcolm's message lost in the market \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT NEW YORK NEW YORK - He was a radical and a revolutionary; now he's a movie and a mass market. Malcolm X, white America's ex-nightmare, is a $100 million business these days - and Spike Lee's much-anticipated film biography has yet to hit the screen. As "Malcolm X" arrives today, expect another surge in Malcolm-abilia. The selling of Malcolm - done under the watchful eye of a company hired by his widow - already has some people wondering if his message is getting lost in the marketing. "Spike's only message is 'Give me some money,' " charges playwright Amiri Baraka. "The people who are profiting from this have no desire for people to know Malcolm or to understand what Malcolm did. It's simply colors." While Malcolm's "X" was once strictly a political symbol, it's evolved into a fashion statement. Fans, from NBA superstar Michael Jordan to President-elect Clinton, have donned "X" hats, the most common Malcolm memento. His widow, Betty Shabazz, moved this year to protect her husband's estate - a decision that will make her millions, including a tidy sum from Mr. Lee for the rights to her late husband's logo. Mr. Lee's much-hyped movie should boost sales. But Malcolm's profile, revived by rappers and historians, was great before Mr. Lee began his three-hour, 21-minute film of the black leader's life and times. Why the sudden interest in a man dead 27 years? And why the crossover appeal? "History's portrayal of Malcolm X was not a very pleasant portrayal. We grew up thinking this guy was a radical-type person, not a good person. But people today want to form their own opinion," says Mark Roesler, the CEO of Curtis Management Group. The Indianapolis-based firm was brought in this year to monitor the plethora of Malcolm products. The ubiquitous X logo quickly became the hottest in merchandising, blowing past Bart Simpson and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, says Mr. Roesler. The products are endless: hats, jackets, sweat shirts, T-shirts, postcards, posters, medallions, mugs, sunglasses, earrings, bow ties, calendars. A sales figure of $100 million by year's end is possible, Mr. Roesler says. Many of the hats and T-shirts are worn by kids who weren't even born when Malcolm was assassinated in the Audubon Ballroom on Feb. 21, 1965. "Whether these young people even understand where the X came from is questionable," says Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Alvin Poussaint, who served as a consultant to TV's "The Cosby Show" and "A Different World." "There's been very little copy on the life of Malcolm, what Malcolm meant," Dr. Poussaint says. "If you ask young people, in fact, they know very little, except he was a defiant, militant black man, a leader who was assassinated." Mr. Lee was 7 years old when Malcolm died at the hands of former Nation of Islam colleagues, but the director has turned the making of "Malcolm X" into a personal crusade. He hit up fellow black celebrities for extra cash to finish the movie. He defended the work in progress against criticism from other artists. He's ceaselessly promoted the film, from wearing an X baseball cap at his courtside New York Knicks seats to pitching the movie at a convention of black journalists. "This is an important film," Mr. Lee said recently. "African Americans should take their children and go see it as a family." The $40 million film stars Denzel Washington as Malcolm, and it's already created a stir. At an October news conference, Mr. Lee answered just two questions before leaving, but camera crews and reporters turned out to hang on every word. Mr. Lee's movie has raised some hackles. The Nation of Islam has hinted it might object to Mr. Lee's presentation. Playwright Baraka scorns Mr. Lee's version, based on an early script. "He doesn't care about Malcolm. He doesn't know anything about Malcolm," says Mr. Baraka, who twice met Malcolm X. "He's stressed the Detroit Red-pimp-dope seller, which is what Hollywood would do. He's diminished the rest of it, made it part of the current genre of slick caricatures, surface portraits of black people, black life." As for the Nation of Islam, Mr. Lee refused to let a representative of the group into a preview screening. The director received the blessing of Minister Louis Farrakhan before starting the project, but rapper Chuck D - afraid of repercussions - decided not to do a song for the soundtrack, Mr. Lee says. Mr. Lee hopes his film will present Malcolm and his message to a new generation of blacks. Dr. Poussaint wonders if the whole Malcolm hoopla is missing the point. "Malcolm stood for the black community's economic development. My son gave me a Malcolm X hat. I looked inside, and it said, 'Made in Malaysia.' We're missing something about what Malcolm X meant." This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM