NFL
By: Matt Overton
The Tenth Joint
Get on the Bus is another Spike Lee film that sets out to empower the Black community. It tells the tale of a group of Black men who hop on a chartered bus in Los Angeles to join the Million Man March in Washington D.C. 1995 must’ve been a crazy year to be alive—on the cusp of a new millennium and yet America was dealing with the same racial divide that has persisted throughout our entire history. This is an inherently political film, Spike’s bread and butter, but this one is probably the first in his filmography that deals with politics in a fully encompassing manner.
There are less than twenty men on the bus, but each of them are making the trek for different reasons. There’s a father/son duo who are handcuffed to each other by court order, an estranged gay couple, a newly reformed Muslim, a burgeoning Hollywood star, a film student, a Republican, a biracial cop, and a few others who get no backstory whatsoever. It wasn’t that noticeable because the story is pretty complex and dealing with a lot of ideas all at once; but then the final somber scene hits with all the men gathered together and there’s a couple actors who I forgot were even in the movie.
Probably about 90% of this movie takes place on or around the bus. It involves a lot of debates about the role Black men play in American society, if anyone other than themselves can do anything about uplifting them, and a whole other range of debates about homosexuality, religion, gang violence, and a lot more. This is a dialogue heavy movie that’s less interested in plot development and more about an exchange of ideas.
Get on the Bus is an interesting production in Spike Lee’s filmography. It’s a hard one to score because it’s less a piece of entertainment and more a piece of education. I’d wager this isn’t a film people revisit a whole lot because I get the feeling one viewing is enough. Now if there are any ignorant people in your life, this could be a good piece to have educate them with, but they’ll probably miss the point. Get on the Bus was impossible to find online too, so good luck.
I was intrigued from the get go by this movie’s title, as it sounded very literal in regards to the story. But surprise surprise, watch a movie and you just might grasp the title better. I like to think this particular title was chosen as a message aimed directly at the audience. In a way, Spike is telling any and all viewers to get on the metaphorical bus, as in get with the times and stop being so hateful towards others.
