History Film / BlacKkKlansman

It tells the story of Ron Stallworth (Washington), the first Black member of the Colorado Springs police department who took it upon himself to infiltrate and disrupt a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. Teaming up with a Jewish officer named Flip Zimmerman (Driver), who serves as Stallworth's "face", the two of them eventually uncover a plot to attack a local gathering of Black activists who Stallworth has previously been assigned to work with as an undercover officer.

** The man who relates the lynching of Jesse Washington also states that UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson called ''Film/{{The Birth Of A Nation|1915}}'' "like writing history with lightning." This is a popular but apocryphal story that was denied by Wilson's aide. It most likely originated from Thomas Dixon, Jr., who wrote the book upon which the film was based and promoted the film heavily.

** In the credits, [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory they at least say that parts were fictionalized.]] A comparison between the truth and the added elements can [[https://slate.com/culture/2018/08/whats-fact-and-whats-fiction-in-Blackkklansman.html be found here.]]

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''[=BlacKkKlansman=]'' is a 2018 [[BasedOnATrueStory fact-based]] crime {{dramedy}} [[InsistentTerminology joint]] directed by Creator/SpikeLee, produced by Creator/JordanPeele and Jason Blum, and starring Creator/JohnDavidWashington, Creator/AdamDriver, Creator/LauraHarrier, Creator/TopherGrace, Jasper Pääkkönen and Creator/PaulWalterHauser.

It tells the story of Ron Stallworth (Washington), the first black member of the Colorado Springs police department who took it upon himself to infiltrate and disrupt a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. Teaming up with a Jewish officer named Flip Zimmerman (Driver), who serves as Stallworth's "face", the two of them eventually uncover a plot to attack a local gathering of black activists who Stallworth has previously been assigned to work with as an undercover officer.

** In the credits, [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory they at least say that parts were fictionalized.]] A comparison between the truth and the added elements can [[https://slate.com/culture/2018/08/whats-fact-and-whats-fiction-in-blackkklansman.html be found here.]]

*** The real David Duke [[spoiler: did not discover that Ron Stallworth was black until 2006.]]

** [[InvokedTrope Invoked, in a way]]. Stallworth's first assignment as an undercover detective is to infiltrate a local group of black activists to report on whether or not they've become radicalized, and Stallworth takes the assignment in order to better connect with the community.

* CategoryTraitor: A debated point throughout the movie is whether black cops are selling out their race. The fact that Ron is busting up the Klan is a solid argument against it, but on the flipside, his first job as an undercover officer is infiltrating and spying on black activists. Patrice is horrified to find out he's with the CSPD.

* InVinoVeritas: An inebriated Ivanhoe [[LooseLips lets slip]] that they're planning to use "fireworks" against black people, complete with a loud "BOOM!". Walter quickly tries to dismiss it as drunken nonsense, but it's enough of a credible threat that Flip and Ron can continue their investigation.

* OddCouple: "The Stallworth Brothers"--the first black Colorado Springs cop and a non-practicing Jewish man who share the undercover identity of a rising star in the KKK.

* PaperTiger: Ron considers the black activists to be such, noting that for all their talk about "revolution" and "fighting back", they don't actually plan or do anything that involves violence.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Well, yes, naturally, it's the KKK. They hate gays, they hate Jews and they hate all other races but especially blacks.

** Zigzagged a bit with Chief Bridges. He isn't an ardent champion of civil rights, but he does hire Ron Stalworth to bring diversity to the town's police department and works with Ron when he wants to be put on work that isn't the file room. He even is personally involved [[spoiler:in a sting operation on Officer Landers, a bigot who was using his power to harass black people and grope black women.]] That said, he also seems to fully support [[spoiler: shutting down Ron's investigation into the KKK at the end, with all evidence of said investigation being destroyed, as he doesn't want word about any of it to reach the public.]]

** A black man infiltrating the KKK and becoming so friendly with the Grand Wizard that he's appointed the leader of a local chapter. If it wasn't a true story you'd never accept it.

* SpitTake: One cop spits his coffee when overhearing David Duke miming a black guy on the phone.

* StealthInsult: The police captain delivers a not-very-subtle one against David Duke by selecting the only black officer in town to oversee Duke's protection while he's in Colorado Springs. He does this in spite of Ron's protest that this puts his sting operation in jeopardy.

* TwoScenesOneDialogue: "Ron"'s initiation into the [=KKK=] is juxtaposed with Jerome Turner's story about a mentally handicapped black kid he was friends with back in the day (circa 1916) who was accused of raping a white girl and was later [[KangarooCourt "tried"]] and convicted by an all-white jury who deliberated for all of ''four minutes''. As Mr. Turner describes how he hid himself and watched the crowd descend on his friend and tear him apart, an incident which he says was influenced by the infamous ''Film/{{The Birth Of A Nation|1915}}'', we get glimpses of the racial and religious fanaticism displayed by the present day [=KKK=] members. All while Flip, a white ''Jewish''-American, is basically trapped among them, pretending to be one of them.

--->"My sister, Pamela, she was just recently accosted by one of those black coons. Every time I think about that black baboon putting his filthy black hands on her pure-as-white-driven-snow body..."

''[=BlacKkKlansman=]'' is a 2018 [[BasedOnATrueStory fact-based]] crime {{dramedy}} [[InsistentTerminology joint]] directed by Creator/SpikeLee, produced by Creator/JordanPeele and Jason Blum, and starring Creator/JohnDavidWashington, Creator/AdamDriver, Laura Harrier, Creator/TopherGrace, Jasper Pääkkönen and Creator/PaulWalterHauser.

** The man who relates the lynching of Jesse Washington also states that UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson called ''Film/{{The Birth Of A Nation|1915}}'' "like writing history with lightning." This is a popular but apocryphal story that was denied by Wilson's aid. It most likely originated from Thomas Dixon, Jr., who wrote the book upon which the film was based and promoted the film heavily.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: As befitting Spike Lee's confrontational style, the movie draws direct parallels between the KKK of the 1970s and the right-wing politics of the late 2010s.

* ClusterFBomb: Sergeant Trapp delivers one to Ron and Flip after discovering that [[spoiler:shots were fired after Ron throws a black lawn jockey at one of the windows of Felix's house when Flip refuses to take Felix's "jew lie detector test".]]

** It's left ambiguous in the climax [[spoiler: that one of the Klansmen burning the cross appears to be Flip, even though the undercover mission is explicitly ended. Either Flip is still sticking with his persona to keep the channel open or he has actually fallen into their indoctrination]].

** It is heavily implied that Jesse Washington was scapegoated for the rape of the white woman, and the court and jury's expedient sentencing and execution of him lacked anything resembling a proper investigation.

* AngryBlackMan: Ron has to carefully [[DefiedTrope defy]] this image in all of his interactions with the Colorado Springs PD, even in the face of blatant, rage-inducing racism.

* AnAesop:: The film makes a point about how White Supremacists sanitize their language to come off as rational and legitimate, which makes it easier to see them as actual people and not just caricatures.

** Creator/AlecBaldwin appears in the beginning as the fictional Dr. Kennebrew Beaureguard. Baldwin is known for his portrayal of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump on Series/SaturdayNightLive. News footage of Trump appears in the end [[spoiler: interspersed with footage of the Charlottesville rally.]]

* RealityIsUnrealistic: Not only did this story happen in real life, it was ''weirder'' in real life: Ron Stallworth didn't put on a "white voice" to speak with David Duke over the phone, he [[PaperThinDisguise used his own]], and the Klan [[WhatAnIdiot still fell for it.]]

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Deconstructed with Felix and Connie Kendrickson. While they genuinely love each other, they are still despicable bigots who are willing to murder people for not being heterosexual, Anglo-Saxon protestants. Rather than serving as a redeeming quality, Felix and Connie's love for each other only serves to show them as utterly myopic. As a result, [[spoiler:the audience may find it difficult, if not impossible, to feel any sympathy for Connie when Felix dies from a bomb she was going to use to kill Patrice.]]