Hard to believe that all the chaos takes place in a single day.
In the film Do the Right Thing, directed by Spike Lee. Spike’s neighborhood consists of plethora of different people. We have the Italian store owner and his son, Mookie, Da Mayor, Mother Sister, Radio Raheem, and Buggin’ Out. There are blacks, whites, Asians, and Hispanics. The people of the area quarrel now and then, but the arguments are nothing major; they generally live in peace. But it’s the middle of summer. The heat is strong, and tensions are high.
Within the film, relations devolve when certain individuals allow their different backgrounds to justify as reason enough to cause arguments. In one of the earlier scenes of the movie, Buggin’ Out gets himself into a minor dispute with the Italian storeowner, Sal. Annoyed with the quality of the food he is given, Buggin’ Out decides to comment on the wall of Italian actors on the wall. The slightly muffled voices of an Italian-American couple increases in volume as the camera cuts to the wall of pictures. The couple is then heard cackling as pictures of Robert DeNiro and other distinguished Italians are shown in close-ups, and it’s as if the whole wall of Italians are the ones laughing, not the couple. And Buggin’ Out takes out his irritation by commenting on Sal’s choice of décor. This small spat escalates to an enormous conflict at the end of the film, and even results in Radio Raheem’s death.
The climax of the film takes place at night. Obnoxious and rowdy, the young people in the neighborhood barge into Sal’s restaurant right at closing time. Just as they’re getting comfortable Radio Raheem’s music is heard. Radio Raheem and Buggin’ Out walk in with Smiley close behind them. “We’ve got to fight the powers that be… Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant shit to me you see…” The crude lyrics and hard beats reflect the characters’ heated states of minds. The shots of the characters are tilted at an angle, and as an argument ensues between Sal and the two boys, the sounds from the scenes gain volume. Radio Raheem places his radio on the counter, and the troublemaking teens join in the argument as well. All the characters are yelling and for the first time in the movie, Sal loses his composure. He pulls out his bat, but instead of striking the young boys he smashes Radio –just- Raheem’s radio. All the characters are now silent as they watch Sal break the radio into pieces. A picture of a famous boxing match flashes as Radio Raheem pulls Sal over the counter and onto the floor. The fight spills out into the street and the whole neighborhood is involved now. The heat wave has gotten them all on edge. The police come to break up the fight, but all the commotion is too much for them. They end up being more aggressive than they should of. They end up killing Radio Raheem.
Da Mayor tried to assuage the angry residents, but it was no use. As the people stood there arguing, Mookie took a garbage can and threw it into the pizzeria’s window. So why did Mookie do it? Well, the first time I saw the movie last semester I was extremely confused. When he first picked up the can I thought he was actually going to calm the crowd down. Instead he riled them up even more, literally inviting them to destroy his place of work. All his life, Mookie’s always been coasting by, not really taking responsibility for the baby he helped made, not fully committing himself to his job, and never attempting to really make something of himself. He was tired of standing by while everyone took action around him. I think Mookie started the riot because he finally wanted to do something.
