I liked that Spike Lee’s movie Do The Right Thing didn’t depict stereotypes such as the “unemployed, murderous, and drug-dealing black youth,” as Pouzoulet describes. Spike’s neighborhood seems to be divided into three groups: the non-blacks (Sal and his sons, and the Korean family), the older black generation, and the younger one. The black community dislikes the non-blacks because they are the only ones holding business in this black neighborhood. But I believe that the film does not defend the blacks or makes excuses for them not owning anything. There is a scene where the “corner men” are complaining about how the Koreans have been in the country one year but they already settled down and owned a successful business. The men themselves just sit there in the same spot every day, not doing anything for not having anything. Then they give the excuse, “It got to be because we’re black.” I believe that the film looks down upon this phrase and considers it as a feeble excuse, for Sweet Dick Willie speaks against the two other men who are complaining. It is clear that the Koreans and the blacks both dislike each other, and the presence of non-blacks in this neighborhood brings up tension.
Sal’s pizzeria, on the other hand, has been around in the neighborhood for a long time and Sal talks about how the children of the neighborhood have all grown up on his pizza. There seems to be no complaints about the pizzeria until Buggin’ Out makes a scene about how there are no “Brothers” on the wall and Radiohead Raheem walks in with blasting music. There had been no problems until this younger, rebellious generation started to come into Sal’s pizzeria. The second group of people in this film, the older blacks, is more complacent and accommodative. Examples of this older generation are Mother Sister, Da Mayor, and the corner men. They are different from the younger generation in that the younger blacks in this neighborhood are more rebellious and “allied with change.” The older ones, such as the corner men, think, but do not act; they are “shorter on deeds than words.” The youth are the opposite; they are ready to bring on change, but lack knowledge and wisdom. For example, Buggin’ Out is eager to start a boycott against Sal’s, but for a frankly stupid and meaningless cause. The rebellious nature of the black youth is shown through music in Radiohead Raheem’s “Fight the Power.” Johnson describes such rap music as the representative of resistance and mediation. The youth also seem to have more power, as shown through Radiohead once again, in the way that the camera films him. The camera sweeps up his large body and ends at a close up of his face, shot from the bottom. Radiohead is “physically powerful and aurally threatening,” as shown through his large figure and loud music.
I believe that Mookie throws the garbage can in the end because he wanted to save Sal and his sons. Although Mookie was never a diligent worker for Sal, he shows that he cared for him in the last scene. I think that was the confirmation that the reason Mookie started the violence was for the best of Sal. Mookie’s action seems contradictory to the anti-violence quotes that Spike Lee inserts at the end of the film, but the violence seemed inevitable, with the direction that the film was moving in. And the violence shown in the film expressed how destructive and pointless it is.
