Filmmaker Spike Lee is taking criticism for the trailer of “Chi-raq” which was released last Tuesday. The movie is a satire about women in Chicago withholding sex from their boyfriends and husbands as a protest to gun violence.
The name Chi-raq is a combination of Chicago and Iraq and is meant to compare the death tolls of Chicago to those in Iraq which is currently a war zone. According to Lee’s trailer, “homicides in Chicago, Illinois have surpassed the death toll of American Special Forces in Iraq.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has expressed his dissatisfaction with the title of the movie and said that there are many good people still living in Englewood where the movie is being filmed and good things are happening there. Alderman William Burns said in an interview with CNN that the people that live here don’t view their neighborhood as Chi-raq but as Englewood or Hyde Park.
However, others are in support of the movie and its title. Rev. Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Catholic Church, debated with Alderman Burns.
“I’m almost insulted by the fact that we’re discussing this,” said Pfleger. “We’re not dealing with the real issues.”
“Instead I’m discussing the name of a movie,” Pfleger added.
Pfleger also wrote on Facebook, “I’m so tired of hearing people on [Facebook] upset about the Spike Lee movie title Chiraq.”
Nick Cannon, who is starring in the movie, tweeted a picture of Tyshawn Lee, a boy that was shot and killed in Auburn Gresham on Monday, saying “Heartbroken! This is what we should be focusing on. Let’s stop the senseless violence in our communities.”
Watch the trailer and see what you think: