Do The Right Thing

Do The Right Thing by Spike Lee

This film is quite an interesting film. This film is Spike Lee's way of showing us how racism is a very big deal in today's (well back then in the early 1990's) society. Race is a very big role in this movie. The whole movie takes place on this one or two block neighborhood over the time period of just one single day. There is racial tension all up and down these blocks. Whether you were black, white, Spanish  or Asian  Throughout the movie you're always hearing the same song "Fight the power" by Public Enemy. You hear it as the theme song in the beginning of the movie and its non-stop played by Radio Raheem on his boom box where ever he goes. Its actually kind of significant because he is the one who ends up being killed by the cop or aka the 'power' and and the song obviously says 'fight the power' over, and over. It kind describes the whole movie is one song. 

This movie says that racism is such a nasty thing that can't be avoided where ever you are or who ever you are. Literally. There is this one specific scene where this guy who is Caucasian happens to be riding his bike home, and accidentally shoulder bumps the trouble making character buggin' out. He also dirtied his new shoes. The man didn't pay any mind to it, and kept walking to his door step but to buggin' out it was such a big deal. Also because she left a dirty mark on his sneakers. Buggin out curses the man out and even questions why does this 'white man' ever choose to live here? He says 'go back to your own white folk neighborhood'. My point is that is it had been another black man bumping him it wouldn't had mattered as much as it did because this man happened to be white. 

At the end of the movie where Mookie throws the trashcan through the glass window of Sal's pizza shop to me symbolizes all of them breaking free, and 'fighting the power". I don't think it was necessarily the right thing to do, but neither was Radio Raheem dying. I think they all went over board with everything and took it to the extreme with the whole place burning down and death, but they were all tired of the racism that, that pizza shop caused. Maybe if Sal would have compromised with his customers things would of worked out better, because personally I do kind of agree with them because if it wasn't for them they would have no business. I think Mookie played a tough character. He was like the peace maker through out the whole film. He had to keep his white boss happy and still stay true to his community and race. He basically had to play both sides of the story to please everyone.

Overall I have mixed emotions about the movie. For the most part I really didn't like it because it was sad, and mean, and it just gave every race a bad look. I did like the fact that no one race was favored though. I noticed that they made ALL of the characters races look bad, and one wasn't more exploited more than the other. Another reason why I didn't enjoy it that much is because the it just reminded me of what pain this world has been through because of racism. It reminded me how unfriendly a human can be just because of our skin color. The film "Do The Right Thing" I think opens peoples eyes in a sense that they question themselves on who or what was right in this movie. Did Mookie do the right thing? If so does that make you favor one race more then the other? Or did he do the wrong thing, and did he betray Sal? What do you think?