White writers of BlacKkKlansman say they expect to receive threats over the film

The two white writers of Spike Lee’s politically charged new drama BlacKkKlansman say they expect to receive death threats when the film hits theaters this weekend.

But David Rabinowitz and Charlie Wachtel refuse to back down on their political stance that President Donald Trump ‘is no different than a member of the Ku Klux Klan’ and tell the haters to ‘bring it on’.

They insist that the film – which tells the true story of how black cop Ron Stallworth infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s – is more relevant to modern day society. It was adapted from Stallworth’s 2014 book.

Stallworth, the first African-American detective in Colorado Springs Police Department, infiltrates and exposes the Ku Klux Klan after answering an ad seeking members to start a new chapter of the KKK.

Posing as a racist white man, he only spoke to the head of the new chapter by phone and recruited a white officer (played by Adam Driver in the film), into the undercover operation to be his front man.

 

The two white screenwriters of new crime film BlacKkKlansman, David Rabinowitz (far left) and Charlie Wachtel (second from left) say they are ‘expecting’ threats over the movie but tell critics to ‘bring it on. They are pictured with former officer Ron Stallworth and his wife Patsy Terrazas-Stallworth 

Stallworth is played by Denzel Washington’s son John David Washington in the film, which features a final five minutes addressing the current political climate, will present Trump as a KKK member.

Wachtel claims that their screenplay echoes America’s 2018 issues. He told DailyMail.com: ‘I think we are very aware of our safety right now at this current time in America.’ Fellow writer Rabinowitz chimed in: ‘We’re not giving away our address or number publicly.’

While Wachtel added: ‘It’s probably for the best and we’re taking precautionary measures to make sure that nobody finds out about it, but at the same time, it’s like we expect it. 

‘It’s like bring it on. You want to make death threats, go ahead. We won’t be surprised if there are.’

The biographical movie, directed by Spike Lee (pictured at the film's premiere) contains parallels between America's race problem in the 1970s and the current political climate 

The biographical movie, directed by Spike Lee (pictured at the film’s premiere) contains parallels between America’s race problem in the 1970s and the current political climate 

The duo remained bullish amid social media backlash this week calling critics of their work ‘insane.’

Rabinowitz added: ‘I’ve seen some of the comments of the people who you could probably describe as Trump supporters about this film. They’re calling it anti-white. Well that’s insane and ridiculous. If you watch the film, it’s not anti-white at all; it’s anti-white supremacy, which is completely different.

‘I’ll say also to Trump supporters: hey you might really enjoy this movie.’

Wachtel then detailed that the movie, which features a final five minutes addressing the current political climate, will present Trump as a KKK member.

‘It’s very important for America. It goes without saying that we’re making a lot of parallels with this movie to what’s going on in the current political climate and the current conversation, and to be very blunt, we’re making the comparison that Donald Trump is no different than a member of the Ku Klux Klan and the people who voted for Donald Trump, that gives them something to think about.’

Rabinowitz added: ‘It’s a period piece, but as you watch the film, it’s pretty clear that it’s not about the 70s. It’s about today.’

The pair continued their attack on Trump insisting that the Republican leader has created an environment where racism is acceptable.

Wachtel feels that the controversy over NFL players kneeling for the national anthem, opposed by Trump, has prompted even more division.

‘It just goes to show where people’s heads are at in terms of their attitude. Their attitude is race based. It’s not issue based anymore. That’s because Donald Trump has changed that conversation.’

The politically-charged film, which features Topher Grace as leader David Duke, and Adam Driver, as an undercover detective, tells the true story of how black police officer Ron Stallworth infiltrated the KKK in the 1970s 

The politically-charged film, which features Topher Grace as leader David Duke, and Adam Driver, as an undercover detective, tells the true story of how black police officer Ron Stallworth infiltrated the KKK in the 1970s 

The final five minutes of the film addresses the current political climate and will present Trump as a KKK member, the writers revealed

The final five minutes of the film addresses the current political climate and will present Trump as a KKK member, the writers revealed

The writing duo reckons that ‘thin skinned’ Trump would likely never watch the film but simply ‘denounce’ the true life drama on Twitter.

Wachtel goaded the President: ‘Donald Trump – if you’re watching this, you should watch BlacKkKlansman. You’re going to love it.

‘We hear you’re a film critic.  

‘We hope he tweets about it, because he’s got 55 million followers.’

The film executives delivered their strong opinions at the Los Angeles premiere of R-rated BlacKkKlansman, which Focus Features will release across a staggering 1,512 US screens Friday.

The writers’ stance was echoed by the film’s hero Stallworth, 65, who accused Trump of actively pushing the doctrine of white supremacist leader and former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke.

The retired cop branded the POTUS ‘an imbecile in the White House’, ‘who embodies everything that Duke tried to achieve’, adding: ‘Trump is the ideological leader of the White Supremacy in America right now by his words and deeds. This film points that out.’

Stallworth says that the movie will not impact white supremacy groups’ views on removing blacks from the US: ‘These guys don’t care about anything except for promoting their ideological stance.

‘Donald Trump is helping them to move that agenda slightly. They talk about Make America Great again, we need to take America back again.’

Director Lee – who co-wrote the film with Rabinowitz and Wachtel – insisted his 70s drama makes audiences reflect on today’s ‘disturbing’ society.

He hopes their drama, tinged with comedic moments, will become one of the biggest films of the year.

He said: ‘That was very important. That was one of the goals to tell this story that all of us had to see present in this film. This can’t be a period piece; this can’t be a film about a historical piece. We want it to connect the past with today. The world we live in today. The topsy-turvy world that we live in today.’

 

 



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