Malcolm X and The use of Docudrama to narrate history

Based on Alex Haley's biographical book about Malcolm X (who also wrote the book), Spike Lee's film Malcolm X is one of the most vivid and widely accepted examples of Hollywood's transformation of autobiography into big studio motion picture. What is different about Lee's Malcolm
X is that it uses it base as an original autobiography to present messages about race and institutional oppression during Malcolm X's time as well as for the period it was created in.

Similar to Haley's book, Spike Lee's films address the central subject of race in America and the effects it has on the African American male.  Alex Haley depiction of Malcolm X life as told to him by Malcolm, shares the same perception as the movie. Haley recounts the life of Malcolm X in chronological order from Malcolm Little in Nebraska and Lansing, Michigan to Detroit Red in the streets of Roxbury and Harlem to his future as Malcolm X and El Haj Malik Shabazz. Lee condenses the life of Malcolm X by placing much of the drama of his criminal past squarely in Boston, instead of in Harlem and Roxbury as they were noted in the book. Lee's film places the scenes of Malcolm's childhood juxtaposed to other scenarios without taking away from the integrity or outline of the autobiography. The early events of Malcolm's life such father's murder, his mother's institutionalization and the burning of his house by the KKK were told or shown with great accuracy and suggest the effects of accent the effects of violence, racial oppression and youthful nihilism have taken upon the Black community of America.

Lee also takes liberty with the use and creation of characters and events such as Brother Banes of the Nation of Islam. While Lee altered some of the book characters' roles for the movie, Banes is a complete creation of Hollywood. Instead, Banes acts as a composite of multiple characters such as Malcolm's older siblings who brought him into the Nation of Islam and fellow prison inmate Bimbi. In the book Malcolm told how he was introduced to the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad by his own blood brothers and sisters. Malcolm's brother Reginald told him about the devil white man and the brain-washed black man, and Malcolm's sister Hilda told him about Yucab's History. Through dialogue, Lee is able to use the character of Banes as a personification of both Malcolm's naive dedication to the Nation of Islam and his later betrayal.

Another area that is noticably different from the book is Malcolm's relationship to Black women. While it is mentioned significantly in the autobiography, Malcolm's relationship to Sophia, it is a relationship that comes after multiple relationships with Black women. Lee uses this relationship with Sophia to accentuate the self hatred and amoral life Malcolm led prior to joining the Nation of Islam. Another difference between the movie and book is that Malcolm spoke very little about his wife Betty in the book, yet Lee made her a main character in the movie and gave her many of Malcolm's sister Ella's character traits, particularly her strength and pride.









Malcolm's story ended right before his death, but both Lee and Haley had their own very different epilogues.  Lee used his epilogue to illustrate Malcolm's effect on the world after his death. He showed actual filmclips of Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mantelet, the real Malcolm X preaching, Jackie Robinson, Jesse Jackson, an Olympic raised fist for Black Power, and the Ossie Davis Eulogy found in the book and previous documentary. These scenes ground the work in history as well as continue the work of Haley by finishing the story he had yet to write.

One of the most profound scenes in Malcolm X is of young male students in a classroom learning about Malcolm on a holiday dedicated to him (which does not exist) standing and declaring "I am Malcolm X!"  to imply Malcolm's influence extended beyond black males to include other males of color.