Analysis : Spike Lee criticism of Tarantino backfires

Before 'Django Unchained' came out, Spike Lee made a very public outburst against Quentin Tarantino stating that the film was disrespectful to his ancestors.

Following Lee's comments, the debate about the movie and his opinion on it went viral, however, he's faced an uphill battle to convince people that the film is racist and that it shouldn't be watched. In fact, it did extraordinarily well on its first day of release, and for an R-rated movie, Tarantino has scored a big victory. 'Django Unchained' is on course for a spectacular $30 million weekend, pushing it's domestic haul to $64 million in its first week.

Jamie Foxx defended his participation in the film in several interviews prior to its release, and most recently, director Antoine Fuqua who directed 'Training Day' starring Denzel Washington criticized Lee's decision.

"If you disagree with the way a colleague did something, call him up, invite him out for a coffee, talk about it. But don’t do it publically."

- via THR

Although outspoken, Lee is not the only person to criticize Tarantino. Comedian Katt Williams reportedly 'condemned' the film's excessive use of N-words:

“Quentin Tarantino thinks he can say the N-word. But I checked with all of Ni**adom and nobody knows where he got his pass from. I hope he didn’t get it from Samuel L. Jackson and Jamie Foxx cause they aren’t going to help you when I see you.”

But, with 5 Golden Globes nominations and an 8.8 score on IMDB from movie fans, it's pretty hard to tell people this movie is disrespectful when a majority support it. Judging by the box office numbers, 'Django Unchained' just keeps on winning, and this debate has only helped improve its success.