The letter “X” refers to the X-factor of Malcolm X’s personality. This component was the most dominant, yet the unknown, which drives him throughout his life. Probably, this was the one thing which makes him to transform from one character to another, smoothly.
He was one of the most controversial men in America that you cannot neglect his importance. He spoke on different aspects of black people’s victimhood and how the white people suppress them from centuries. He reflects his contentious point of view through different high voltage emotional speeches and statements, which makes his narrative even stronger that there was a need of certain change: at least towards the overall attitude.
Being racist to the most influential, the Oscar award winning Denzel Washington played Malcolm X’s role outstandingly. Denzel Washington through his dynamic acting skills brought Malcolm X to the next level. The impact of his acting is not new to anyone; every character which he played has tremendous effects on the public.
If you are the fan of Denzel then this film is for you, but if you are not, then again this film has a lot much to offer you. Its plot, its characters, and its dialogues are very strong so much so that they have the power to mesmerize you since the beginning. I wouldn’t be unfair; if I would have to say that this was one of the masterpieces of the director of this film Spike Lee.
Without taking any credit from the producer of the film Marvin Worth who took 25 years to produce this amazing biopic on Malcolm X states that: “It’s such a great story, and it reflects our society in so many ways. He pulled himself from a gutter to become a Muslim. Then he was a spiritual leader who evolved into a humanitarian.”
In my opinion, this film has the most compelling and hard-hitting intro, which hit the needle in the head. It starts with a strong speech of Malcolm X with these words:
“I charge the white man with being the greatest murderer on earth. Everywhere he has gone, he has created destruction. So I charge him for being greatest enslaver on earth. He can’t deny the charges, you can’t deny the charges. We are the living proofs of those charges. You are not the Americans; you are the victims of Americans. He didn’t say black man and women to come on over and help me to build America. He said nigger, get down at the bottom of that boat and I am going to take you over to help me build America. Being born here does not make you an American. I am not an American, you are not the American. You are one of those 22 million people of America who are the victims of America. You and I, we have never seen any democracy. All we have seen is hypocrisy. We don’t see any American dream; we have experienced only the American nightmare”.
This intro of the film has exposed American society, its culture, its politics and its hypocrisy. Although, the language of this intro is immensely harsh, but this is how Malcolm X was. It also shows the hatred or reaction against the majority people of American society.
It was the time when Malcolm X was a racist, anti-white and anti-American. He was against white man’s supremacy moreover he motivated the crowd to demand a complete separation from America. It is the most critical phase of the film when he charged the crowd and brought them against the police.
During this period, he was at the peak of his politics and the depiction of his character through pure dramatization was at its best. The symbolic gestures of his hands moved the crowd from one place to another. Observing this, once police man said “that’s too much power for one man to have...”
I encourage that faction of the society which has fresh and exciting blood to watch this film because it gives you great lessons of life. Although it did unmask the hypocrisy of Americans, the racism against the black people; but on the other hand it showed how inspiringly Malcolm X transformed himself from being a criminal during his early life to become the most influential man in America.
This film will give you the lesson that how to make an impact like Malcolm X, both wrongly and justly. It is the reason why Martin Luther King jnr. got popular support from all corners of society unlike Malcolm X. After taking extreme positions during the course of his life, he then shifted from hard-lines towards soft-lines.
Every product has its pros and cons. As it is stated earlier that this film is controversial, so keeping that in mind, this film will also hurt the sentiments of Muslims because before converting to real Islam Malcolm X by going to Saudi Arabia and offering a pilgrimage. He was part of, a strong anti-white, Islamic movement “Nation of Islam”.
For those who are not aware of Nation of Islam or the real Islam let me tell you for a fact that the Islam belongs to the last prophet of God Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be upon Him). Whereas the Nation of Islam claimed to be the movement of another so-called Prophet named Elijah Muhammad.
But the filmmakers did show the courage to reveal his prophet-hood as well. I guess liberals can digest it easily than conservatives. By saying this, I mean you need to open your mind and lift up from all the biasness before watching this film.
At last but not least, I would like to mention here that the way the assassination of Malcolm X was dramatized it was exceptional and emotional. If you are a sensitive person this will broke you in tears. Human feelings are the core of everyone’s personality. As a matter of fact, the entire film will shake you at all levels of emotions and if the film connects you directly to your emotions. It means there is something special in it which you might not want to skip.