Donning the iconic glasses and a New York Yankees blazer, one of the most controversial directors in modern film confessed at the Hoff Theater last night that he, too, faced the challenges college students have today.

“Drifting, not applying myself, really f—in’ up,” the legendary Spike Lee said to a packed audience last night. “Filmmaking chose me – I did not choose filmmaking.”

Lee, the legendary filmmaker who has gained industry and cultural respect for his work on movies like Malcolm X and the recent Inside Man, was generous in dishing out the wisdom last night as he spoke his mind about college and Hurricane Katrina while lamenting the cultural devolution exemplified in movies like Soul Plane.

Lee rarely makes appearances on the college lecture circuit, but with his laid-back, comfortable delivery, it appeared he’s benefited from teaching at New York University’s film school. His rants on modern society during the two-hour lecture were particularly engaging for the audience, as were his views on race, which have played out in strong themes in much of his work.

He also had some deft advice for career-seeking college students.

“No matter what you do, you’re going to have to need some luck,” Lee said. “These 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 years you’re in school, find out what it is that you love. [Don’t] find the major that will make the most money.”

The Morehouse alumnus spoke about his natural progression to filmmaking and the later emergence of his talent at NYU film school, and said that through the support of his parents and grandmother he was encouraged to do what he liked, unlike many of his peers who were pressured by their parents to pursue business, law and medical degrees.

“Parents kill more dreams than anybody,” Lee said.

He said, however, that although he was able to break into an industry that included only a few black filmmakers, there is far more work to be done, despite some recent recognition of black accomplishments in film.

“The battle now is not how many actors are making over 20 million. The battle is for the gate keepers, the select groups deciding what movies and television shows are getting made,” Lee said. “There is not one person of color who is a gate keeper. There’s not one person in the room to say ‘what the f— are you talking about?'”

He said these “gatekeepers” are the same out-of-touch executives – mostly lawyers and other dual degree holders – who green-lighted a movie like Soul Plane, the 2004 MGM production that starred Snoop Dog as the weed-smoking pilot of a flourescent plane with spinners. The gatekeepers also include sports team front office managers, he said.

He was critical of Snoop’s decision to star in Soul Plane, likening it to the decision of Flavor Flav to star in his reality show Flavor of Love. Both roles represent a cultural dilemma within black society, he said.

“Intelligence is associated with acting white but if you’re on the corner smoking, drinking a 40 … you’re gangsta. This poison goes out through the culture,” Lee said. “We need to be more critical as a consumer.”

His lecture transitioned from his thoughts on culture and film industry norms to his experience working with post-Katrina New Orleans residents in making the documentary After the Levees Broke. Lee strongly questioned the delays of the government and how Holland can have superior levees to those in “richest country in the modern world.”

“Don’t think because the Saints are 7-4 and the Superdome and the French Quarter are open that everything is OK,” Lee said. “The obituary column of the local paper is 38 percent more than pre-Katrina, the homicide rate is up … don’t go for the okey doke.”

Contact reporter Owen Praskievicz at praskieviczdbk@gmail.com.