Spike Lee: Message of 'BlacKkKlansman' very relevant today

NEW YORK (FOX5NY.COM) - Few reviews will claim Spike Lee's new movie is too subtle. "BlacKkKlansman" is about a black police officer infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan. The movie is set in the 1970s, but Lee said the story is very relevant today.

Lee's new joint is a buddy cop crime drama with a very direct message. Lee told Good Day New York that he made a point of linking America's racist history with the headlines today. He released the film the same weekend as the first anniversary of the deadly white supremacist march in Charlottesville.

"BlackKkKlansman" focuses on the first African American police detective in Colorado Springs, Colorado, who ends up infiltrating the KKK. But the film also explores how the KKK strategized by using politics to spread their divisive views on issues like immigration, affirmative action, and the economy.

Lee, who also directed socially conscious films like "Do the Right Thing," said he typically doesn't want viewers to take a particular point of view. But this time it is different.

"We have to register to vote and if these last 18 months of this guy in the White House does not motivate you to register to vote, I don't know what will," Lee said.

If actor John David Washington looks familiar, that is because he is a son of Denzel Washington, who starred in many of Lee's movies.