This semester in movies taught me a lot of things – most importantly it taught me that no amount of gentrification can erase the racial tensions that divide Americans, and no film better captures that than Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing.” The movie unapologetically says all of the hidden (and usually racist) things that everyone tries to be too politically correct to say. The scene that resonated most with me was when the different groups in the community curse out the others, hurling all of the racially loaded insults at their disposal. This particular scene has so much power because it really drags out everything that people secretly think of one another. When you see it, it’s hard to say that you’ve never thought or said those things about people.

“Do the Right Thing’s” New York is the most accurate because it shows the melting pot of the city without sugar coating the realities of racism in America. The animosity between the races and the feud between the blacks and the police are still relevant hot-button issues today, so “Do the Right Thing” has a sad sense of timelessness.

Similar to “Do the Right Thing,” Lee’s other film, “The 25^th Hour,” also captures the essence of New York. In “The 25^th Hour” there is a scene similar to one in “Do the Right Thing” in which Monty soliloquizes in front of a bathroom mirror, cursing out all of the stereotypes of his neighborhood and raging against them. This scene bears a powerful resemblance to “Do the Right Thing’s” even though “The 25^th Hour” was made thirteen years later. This shows that even though things change, more things stay the same. There’s still anger and tension, and since “The 25^th Hour” tied in with the September 11^th attacks, anti-foreigner and anti-Muslim sentiments were high because of fear even though the film didn’t explicitly delve into that.

“Do the Right Thing” made a huge impact on me because I think it was the movie with the most accurate representation of New York without being too idealized or too sensationalized. Moreover, “Do the Right Thing” is also incredible relevant to today’s times and how sometimes deep seated prejudices don’t go away with time.