Spike Lee (writer, director) BAMBOOZLED (Jun 1999) Third draft film script

Brooklyn, NY: 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, 1999. Vintage original film script, 11 x 8 1/2″ (28 x 22 cm), 135 leaves, with last page of text numbered 134, brad bound. Third Draft script for the 2000 film, noted as “June Joint” on the front wrapper. Title page with manuscript ink annotations of the name, address and phone number of film sculptor Fred Arbegast (here listed as “Arbergast”) at the top of the page, and two phone numbers at the bottom left, all struck with white-out ink. Extensive manuscript ink annotations of reader’s notes throughout. Front wrapper integral with title page, with credits for screenwriter Spike Lee. Xerographic duplication, rectos only. Near fine.

Spike Lee’s blistering satire of US racism, wherein an African American television writer, Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans), frustrated with the rejection of his scripts which portray black people as positive and intelligent, pitches the most offensive and racist idea he can devise, a 21st century minstrel show, which of course the white network executives love, as does the American public.

Released to mixed reception upon release, the film has since been reappraised and is now considered a cult classic. Rolling Stone senior editor and critic David Fear noted in a 2020 article that “the really scary thing is that, 20 years on, ‘Bamboozled’ feels incredibly contemporary. It doesn’t look so extreme at all… and when you consider the content of this film, that’s a very troubling thing.” (Wikipedia)