Flashback To Summer Of Sam

Spike Lee's newest film, Summer of Sam, has opened across the nation, but the movie is igniting tension and controversy in New York City where the chilling events took place 22 years ago.

In the New York City summer of 1977, temperatures soared, the lights went out and looting began, reports CBS News Correspondent Bobbi Harley. Reggie Jackson ruled the diamond and disco filled the dance floor.

All this, while the city's first so-called serial killer — Â"Son of SamÂ" — had everyone on edge, wondering who was next. David Berkowitz killed six people and wounded seven others before police caught up with him in August of 1977.

Â"I remember the heat, the whole hysteria from Â'Son of Sam,Â'Â" said the filmÂ's director, Spike Lee.

Decades later, Lee has tried to re-create that summer on the big screen. As with much of Lee's work, there's controversy. Lee says Summer of Sam looks at what happens in a Bronx, New York neighborhood when hysteria sets in.

The victims' families say it capitalizes on their pain.

Â"Murder is not entertainment and to me, this is what he's doing—he's exploiting me and everybody else,Â" said Michael Lauria, whose 18-year-old daughter Donna was the Â"Son of SamÂ"'s first victim.

AP
'Son of Sam' victim Judy Placido

Placido, although her injuries have long healed, is once again forced to confront the emotional scars from her brush with Â"Son of Sam.Â"

Â"Quite frankly, I was in denial,Â" Placido told CBS This Morning Co-Anchor Thalia Assuras. Â"It seemed that this movie brought to the surface my acceptance of the fact that I am a victim.Â"

Placido does not like how Spike Lee handled the film and says he lied to her when they spoke about the movie.

Â"[Lee] spoke to me and said that there would be no reference to the victims in terms of the incidents being portrayed,Â" Placido said. Â"I felt very violated then and feel very violated now. I feel that anyone having to do with this movie is really capitalizing on the suffering for the sake of the dollar.Â"

Even Berkowitz—serving six life terms—has told reporters he wished the movie wasn't made.

But one of the stars thinks it tells a much bigger story.
Â"We meant no disrespect by this and I think the film really speaks against the violence of the Â"Son of SamÂ" rather tan glamorizing it,Â" said actress Mira Sorvino.

Spike Lee wants audiences to find a lesson here: it doesn't have to be New York and it doesn't have to be 1977—any place at any time can come under siege, turning people against each other and against themselves.