Do you think a lot of men feel hated by women?

No, well, I don't feel that way. I don't know any men that say women hate them. Nobody I hang with.

Just Jack. (laughs)

Jack doesn't hate women. He just has a problem with this one woman he loves.

Hey, I'm not saying that he hates women. I'm saying that he has a feeling that women hate him.

I'm saying he thinks Fatima, his ex who turns into his pimp, does, not all women.

Do you think that Jack is, on some level, you? Blacklisted from corporate Hollywood for making challenging movies ...

You sound like my wife. (laughs)

And also objectified by women for what you can provide for them? You know, money, possible paternity, fame.

No, Jack is not me at all.

What's the difference?

First of all, I'm not a businessman, I didn't go to Harvard undergrad, I didn't get an MBA from Wharton and I don't really think I've been shut down. I made 18 films in 18 years. And I like the underdog role. That's the way I came in. As the underdog, you just grab the key, whale away, keep fighting. It's a challenge every time you go out there. This has been very much a part of the African-American experience in this country. No matter who we are, we've always had to make due with what we got. Remember, I made "She's Gotta Have It" with $175,000.

But don't you think what's also true to the African-American male experience is that black men are often kept out of the highest levels of power and objectified for their physicality and athleticism, their ability to work and breed? I think that you're touching on a theme that is much bigger than just Jack.

Well, a lot of people point out, which is true, they say, "Spike, if you were going to be in this film, you would have played the part that Q-Tip played." That's the usual role I play in my movies.

And how would you describe the Q-Tip character?

He's just plodding along. I remember in high school, I was a virgin, and my friend Larry Tucker, this guy did everybody. We were best friends and one of our other friends worked at a drugstore and got free prophylactics and gave me a box. And Larry said, "Why you? Give me that, you don't need these." (laughs) And I go, "Yes I do, yes I do!" (laughs)

But then Jack could be a projection of a fantasy, which is what so many people, especially the women at the NYC screening I attended, are saying.

What I like to say to people when they say, "This is Spike's fantasy, or this is a male's fantasy," is that it is, up to a point, but then it turns to a nightmare.

At what point is that?

When Jack starts to realize what he's doing. I mean, there's a ton of money in his hands and he throws it down in disgust. He is worn out. Mentally, physically, spiritually. He's thinking, if I never see another piece of you know what, I'd be happy. The sperm animation is there for a reason. It's not just there to be funny. He's spent.

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