The Arts in New York City

Melting Pot or Salad Bowl? How would you describe New York City?

When I was first asked this question, in the beginning of ninth grade, my response was immediately “melting pot.” Looking back, I think this response could be attributed to my innocent thoughts and genuine hopes that all people of different backgrounds and cultures would be able to co-exist in peace and harmony.

I asked myself this question again after watching Mad Hot Ballroom and Do The Right Thing, and quickly realized that an artist can force you to view New York, or any society, from his or her subjective point of view. These two films show that all art must be taken with a grain of salt, and an educated audience will be able to pick out what is fact and what is solely based on the artist’s perspective.

Let my preface my discussion about the two films with a quote that sums up the importance of studying these two films simultaneously. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “We must learn to live together as brothers, or we will perish as fools.” According to the two films, tolerance is taught in schools, and accepted by children; however, the “adults” of society are prejudiced against certain groups of people.

The film Mad Hot Ballroom, profiles the ballroom dancing program found in certain elementary schools of New York City. In these schools, children dance with children of different cultures, and they work together to win the championship ballroom dancing competition. Although the kids know far too much for their age regarding the problems in society, the children are depicted mingling with children of other races and nationalities. Additionally, the dances they learn are heritage dances of certain cultures, but all children are able to participate.

I believe the prevalence of tolerance in the movie is partially a result of reality, but is also partially attributed to the filmmaker’s goals in creating the movie. The filmmaker wanted to highlight the beneficial aspects of the ballroom dancing program in elementary schools, but more importantly, he wanted to make a movie that would appeal to New York City children and parents. Overall, the movie had a positive energy about it, and the inclusion of racial tensions, would have drawn attention to the negative aspects of society.

On the other hand, Do The Right Thing was centered on the cultural tensions of Manhattan. Radiohead and his friends barged into Sal’s pizza place because they viewed him as pro-white due to the fact that all of the photos in his restaurant were photos of famous white people. A fight erupted outside of the restaurant, and Sal was almost chocked to death by the boys, and the cops killed Radiohead. The cops didn’t have an issue going against Radiohead and his friends, but it could be argued that Radiohead and his friends were breaking the law by setting the pizza parlor on fire. When the mob turns to the other side of the street to attack the Korean store, the storeowners convince the mob that they are not white, and as a result, are able to save their store.

Each time Smiley came onto the set, the only emotion I felt for him was sympathy, and when Smiley appeared following the destruction of the pizza parlor, I actually began to cry. The character of Smiley reminds us to be grateful for what we do have in life and to cherish the little things. I think Mr. Man is the hero of the movie. If the use of the hoses to spray down the mob could be compared to the civil rights movement, then Mr. Man could be compared to Martin Luther King Jr. He tries to bring the community together, and he risks his life to do the right thing – he jumps in front of a moving car to save a little boy.

These two films show what the filmmakers want them to show about New York City. I personally am more familiar with the New York found in Mad Hot Ballroom. Although I did not attend a New York City public school, and therefore did not have the opportunity to participate in the Ballroom dancing program, I was a child living near the city, and had the opportunity to interact with children of all different cultures. We were kids…we didn’t judge each other, but happily played with one another, not worrying about the places we came from and the religions we practiced. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have been proud!

The views of New York in “Do the Right Thing” and “Mad Hot Ballroom” couldn’t be more different.  The communities depicted in “Mad Hot Ballroom” are of naive and innocent children, with few prejudices other than mild ones based on gender.  The town in “Do the Right Thing” is full of people who are angry, have seen harsh realities, and some are the most prejudiced people I’ve ever seen.  The children are very open to new ideas, despite initial reluctance.  Though some did not want to dance at first because it was uncool or they didn’t like the idea of getting so close to the opposite sex, they eventually got past their reluctance and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  The characters in Spike Lee’s work were incapable of getting past their prejudice and just became more angry over the course of the film.

“Mad Hot Ballroom” also showed more variety of community than did “Do the Right Thing.”  This is one of the many reason that the New York of “Mad Hot Ballroom” was more familiar to me.  I could identify with the shots of crowded Manhattan which I am used to when I go there as well as the shots of playground and residential neighborhoods.  There were one family houses with small yards and space between the houses.  This is visually much more like my New York than the series of connected apartment houses.  The look of the people in “Mad Hot Ballroom” was more familiar to me as well, but that may just be due to the time period of “Do the Right Thing.”

The strongest reason I could better identify with the New York of “Mad Hot Ballroom” was the general feeling of the atmosphere and experiences of the characters.   The grammar school experience in “Mad Hot Ballroom” was very similar to mine.  Kind, caring teachers, the conflict of trying to be “cool” or “mature” while still being young, and the awkwardness of boy-girl interaction was all part of my time in grammar school.  I could also relate, to a degree, with the process of learning dance.  Though I never had as extensive a program as the one depicted in “Mad Hot Ballroom” I did have to take part in a spring performance every year.  For this “Spring Show” the teacher would pick a song and, with the help of a local dance teacher, choreograph a simple dance.  There would be initial complaints and protests from the boys, but in the end everyone enjoyed it.  Like in “Mad Hot Ballroom” there was always discomfort involved when boys and girls had to be paired up.  There would be teasing if a pair got too close, and no matter who I or any other boy was partnered with, the question “do you like her?”  Seeing all these similar conversations and emotions in the interactions of the children in the film made me strongly relate to the New York shown.

In contrast, I could find very little relatable in the experiences of the characters in “Do the Right Thing.”  The obsession with race and the seemingly incessant conflict is not remotely present in my New York.  There is clearly a focus on racial tension and conflict in the movie- Buggin’ Out’s insistence on the presence of Black people on the wall of fame, and the successive shots of community members spewing racial slurs being two of the strongest cases.  However, I was struck by the presence of both racial awareness and conflict in general.  Buggin’ Out’s commands to “stay black” as well as Sal’s pride in his Italian heritage are not about conflict, but a general focus on race.  This was never something present in my community.  Whitestone is made up of mostly Italian, German, and Irish, and Greek people, but the only flags to be seen are American.  There is very little talk of ethnic pride or identity except on major holidays and festivals.

The only thing that exists less in Whitestone than racial pride is conflict, and this is not due to the lack of racial tension.  The community of “Do the Right Thing” is filled with conflict in addition to those which are racially charged.  There are a number of non-racial conflicts in the movie- Sal’s conflict with Radio, the Mayor’s with Mother-Sister, Mookie’s with Tina, the young men’s with Mayor, as well as man others.  There is an anger and readiness to fight in the community that is not in mine.  The community seems defined by conflict, but the movie doesn’t explore the reasoning behind this.  Perhaps instead of making the major issue race, the issue should be the readiness for and acceptability of violence.  If not for the angry, violent atmosphere of the neighborhood in general, the explosion of violence leading to Radio’s death may never have occurred.  If the general population in “Do the Right Thing” was more inclined to deal with problems civilly, they may have been able to find a better way to settle the conflict over the pictures, the radio, and everything else people were angry about.

When I watch movies, I usually feel like an outsider.  I’m not the girl shooting spells from a wand, or the girl sneaking out the window to go to a party, or the girl trying to find romance in the big city.  Instead, I’m the bored girl sitting in front of the TV screen to pass some time away.  When I saw “Mad Hot Ballroom”, I didn’t feel this way at all.  Instead, I felt like an insider.  I saw my city in the movie and I got excited.  I saw the schools and they reminded me of my old elementary school.  I saw the streets and even though I didn’t know what streets they were, they were undeniably the streets of New York.  Seeing all this in one movie made me feel happy and childlike again.

By contrast, “Do the Right Thing” left me feeling enraged.  I ended this movie as a furious girl who really wanted to punch something.  The sad thing is, the racism in the movie didn’t even surprise me that much.  It saddened me and angered me, but it didn’t surprise me.  When the policeman killed Radio Raheem for example, I wondered if Spike Lee had gazed into a crystal ball and seen all the different times that the police would brutally overreact and kill black males.  This violence is what made watching this movie such a different, more difficult experience for me from watching “Mad Hot Ballroom”.

“Mad Hot Ballroom” made me fall in love with the kids preparing for the ballroom dance competition.  As I followed these kids on their journey to the finals, I saw their lives in New York City.  I saw them walking past vendors in the street, hanging out at the park, and walking to school.  This all seemed so familiar to me; it took me back to my elementary school days when I would walk to the library with my neighbors and siblings, chatting incessantly.  The cheerful, merry music that accompanied these scenes added to my enjoyment of the movie.

When “Do the Right Thing” began, I was irritated by the loud, headache-inducing music.  “How much longer will this continue?” I thought when the music went on for several minutes.  The music finally stopped and the movie began, but rather than ending my irritation, my irritation only grew as I continued to watch the film.

The film showed a hot, oppressing day playing out in the Bronx.  As I watched this film, I grew increasingly upset with how awful some of the characters were.  Everyone seemed to have a stereotype of a person of another race and ethnicity and to me, it seemed that everyone was just making things harder for themselves.  For example, when the man with the fancy car was driving through the street, the kids playing with the fire hydrant hosed his car, even though he had yelled at them not to. This man could have asked A LOT nicer, but I don’t think he deserved to get his car hosed.  In the end, the kids only reinforced the racist attitude this man had about blacks, and what good is that?  The only thing such actions could accomplish is increased tensions between people.

This view of New York was more serious and more foreign to me than “Mad Hot Ballroom”.  Even though I felt that I recognized the Bronx neighborhood, where there is the pizzeria and the grocery store everyone goes to, I didn’t recognize the racist actions of people.  I couldn’t make connections, as I could with “Mad Hot Ballroom”.

It’s interesting because both movies explore ethnicities and races so differently.   “Do the Right Thing” shows how people in a neighborhood- the Koreans, blacks, whites, and Hispanics, grow increasingly frustrated with one another.  They all have problems with each other, such as Buggin Out freaking out about the fact that Sal did not have any pictures of black people on his wall.  “Mad Hot Ballroom” shows how ballroom dancing changed the behavior of minority kids who were underprivileged and may not ever have had the chance to get dance lessons.  As one of the teachers mentions, the Hispanic kids also came from low-income families and did not always have the opportunity to be around their parents all the time.  This could have led them down bad roads, if it were not for the ballroom dancing.  It was inspiring to see how far the kids came in the competition and made me want to become a teacher just so I could change people’s lives that way.