to David Somerset of the British Film Institute (where the film was screened in May 2012 as part of their "African Odysseys" strand): "the major achievement of Spook is its depiction of a spectrum of social roles within the African-American community. It's a vivid picture of the language of race politics whose complexity and inherent contradictions go to the heart of the African-American experience, encouraging the viewer to transcend class and consider their collective plight. Without this critique of individual complicity in oppression, The Spook Who Sat by the Door could be accused of being a rabble-rousing exercise in fuelling blind resentment, but as Freeman tells a fellow gang member, 'This is not about hating white folks… this is about loving freedom enough to fight and die for it. Richard Brody, writing in The New Yorker in 2018, describes the film as "a distinctive and accomplished work of art, no mere artifact of the times". Title The title of the film refers to a practice in the early days of affirmative action when the first Black person hired by a company or agency would be seated close to the office entrance so that all who came and went could see that the company was racially mixed. The word "spook" in the title has a dual meaning: a racial slur for an African American and a slang term for spy. This is shown in Spook when Freeman is asked to give a tour to senators. After Freeman takes the senators on their tour, one of the senators stays back and congratulates the General for integrating Freeman into his personal staff. The General tells his second-in-command that making Freeman a part of his personal staff sounds like a good idea. The agent responds by saying: "We can put him out in reception, so all of our visitors can see we're integrated." Sam Greenlee also claimed another layer of meaning for the sardonic wordplay in his novel's title: "that an armed revolution by Black people haunts White America, and has for centuries." Legacy In 2011, a documentary about the making of the movie entitled Infiltrating Hollywood: The Rise and Fall of the Spook Who Sat By the Door was released, winning the Black Reel Award for Outstanding Independent Documentary in 2012. Directed by Christine Acham and Clifford Ward, Infiltrating Hollywood featured Sam Greenlee and others involved in the making of the film. In