Will Halle, Denzel Spark Changes?

By Stephen M. Silverman

04/01/2002 at 10:29 AM EST

As Sidney Poitier, 75, said to a reporter backstage at the Oscars, "Have there been changes in Hollywood? Or are you asking, have there been enough changes in Hollywood?" Despite last week's honoring of two African-Americans, Denzel Washington, 47, and Halle Berry, 35, as the best in the field of acting, director Spike Lee isn't sure Hollywood is doing the right thing. "Is this a signal that once and for all Hollywood is colorblind and we're all on the same playing field? I don't think so. We have to see what happens," Lee, 45, told students at Ohio's University of Toledo last week, according to the Associated Press. "Let's not get too hyped up. Let's not go crazy and think we've been delivered because of what happened," Lee said. "When Sidney won (the Best Actor Oscar) for (1963's) 'Lilies of the Field,' people probably felt the same way, and it was another 40 years until Denzel won." Best Actor Washington's win was for "Training Day," while Best Actress Berry was cited for her performance in "Monster's Ball," making her the first actress of color to win the top award. Poitier also was presented with a special Oscar for Lifetime Achievement, including, among other accomplishments, his having been the first African-American actor whose name went above the title of a movie. Lee, whose films include "Malcolm X," said the problem is that the gatekeepers of the film industry (producers and studio heads) also have to be people of color.