Hello, everyone! Today’s topic of discussion is the film Do the Right Thing, which was directed by Spike Lee. First, I would like to state that this film portrayed the racial tensions between the African Americans and Whites quite accurately. For example, in Sal’s pizzeria we observe that there only exist pictures of famous “white” people and not that of any renowned African Americans. It’s no surprise why Buggin’ Out (Giancarlo Esposito) was indeed ‘bugged’ by the lack of well-known African American portraits. Another instance that strongly supports my claim of racial tensions in Do the Right Thing was the specific scene, in which Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) is suffocated by the white police officers in front of everyone. I mean why did the white police officers have to end the life of Radio Raheem? The officers could have just detained him or held him back longer. The fact that the police officers brutally murdered Radio Raheem illustrates to us the aversion of these white cops toward blacks. Racial conflict is also evident when the white man in his fancy sports vehicle threatens the African Americans that it wouldn’t be a pretty sight if his car got drenched by their hoses. In this specific scene, the white man’s racial slurs tempt the African Americans on the street to hose his car and the white man infuriatingly demands to the police that they be arrested. The white man referring to the people as “Moe ‘n Joe Black” and the police officer stating “Get back to your car before they strip it clean” further emphasizes the racist mindsets of some white people in this film.
Essentially, the people in Spike Lee’s neighborhood in Bedford-Stuy were predominantly black, with the exception of Sal (Salvatore Fragione) and his sons, the Korean shop owners, the Puerto Ricans, and police officers. Also, in the reading “Mosaic City,” Pouzoulet asserts that Spike Lee’s vision of the Bed-Stuy neighborhood was “romanticized.” In other words, Lee depicted Bed-Stuy as a region without crime and drug usage, where teenagers just gathered on the stoops. According to Lee, the people in his ‘neighborhood’ were jobless individuals who filled the area around with their obnoxious sounds. The score in this film is crucial to the devolution of relations, as well. From the very beginning, we see the significance of music in this film when the woman dances to “Fight the Power” (and for such a long time, too!). The role of music is important because it signifies racial tensions. For example, when Radio Raheem enters Sal’s pizzeria with his boisterous boombox, Sal becomes highly irritated and demands the boombox to be shut off immediately. Thus, Radio Raheem seems to be somewhat angered when he’s compelled to turn off his music. The name of the song “Fight the Power” itself delineates to us the conflicts present in the film because in the end the owners of the pizzeria (whites) brawl with the people of the neighborhood (blacks). The African Americans are “fighting the power” (the whites) when they witness the death of one of their kind. Moreover, Radio Raheem’s ring of Love & Hate further exemplifies the racial issues in this film, since he shows appreciation to those of his ethnicity.
During the film, we are also exposed to close-up shots, in which Vito (Richard Edson), Mookie (Spike Lee), and the Hispanic individual are disparaging one another. This particular scene reveals to us the racial tensions that are present through out the film. While Sal is more tolerant toward African Americans than the other characters depicted, Vito possesses much contempt for them. The scene that shows Sal’s neutral behavior toward African Americans is when he let’s in the teenagers to come and eat at his pizzeria, even though it’s been closed. Vito, on the other hand, has to sympathy for the African Americans and is always ready to strike back with anger but is continuously stopped by his father.
Finally, I believe that Mookie’s reason for throwing the garbage can at Sal’s pizzeria had two aspects to it. The first aspect is that he may have wanted to cause a distraction so that the African Americans smoldering with fury would not cause injury to Sal and his sons. By throwing the garbage can, Mookie was able to avert the angered African Americans attention toward Sal and focus it on the pizzeria. After all, he worked for Sal for a while and had respect for him. The second aspect had to do with Mookie’s helpless state after he watched one of his own perished by the hands of white police officers. After Radio Raheem’s death, Mookie’s anger may have got the best of him and to display that anger he decided to throw the garbage can through the window to avenge the loss of a dear one. Overall, I think the movie did a good job in manifesting the racial issue between different ethnic groups, even though I wished no one had to pass away in this film.
