Peopling of New York City, Spring 2012

From the films I have seen until now, ghettoes and violence have deeply imprinted in my mind. Is that the New York City people are coming for? Perhaps we can get a satisfied answer from the Korean grocery store owners. Is coming to New York City mean to yell out “We, black” in front of a group of irritated African and Latino Americans? Perhaps that was the way they survive.

Bedford-Stuyvesant is another underprivileged neighborhood like Harlem and West Side. Its residents are among the most underprivileged New Yorkers. Except for Sal, Vito, Pino, Smiley, Clifton, polices, the car driver and the Korean family, all other characters were African and Latino Americans. The teens in Do The Right Thing always loitered away their time (except for Mookie, who has a job but didn’t seem to do it well). I don’t know whether this depiction was exaggerated or not, but it has never surprised me about what happened at the end of the film. Of course, there were good people in the film such as Da Mayor and Mother Sister. During the conflict, Da Mayor and Mother Sister tried to appease the heated situation. They dragged Sal and his two sons aside so the angry mob wouldn’t hurt them. They also tried to dissuade the mob from destroying the Korean grocery store. Radio Raheem was the ultimate victim in this film. It was true that his “boom box” was very annoying, but it shouldn’t cost his life. He didn’t do anything bad except for beating Sal when Sal broke his radio. He symbolized the victimized African Americans, which was greatly controversial at that time. Buggin Out seemed to start every quarrel and conflict. Yet, his quarrels symbolized the African Americans’ efforts in fighting for equality. Sal was a kind-hearted man. He understood the difficulties among the underprivileged residents in the neighborhood. He didn’t discriminate against them but sympathized with them. As he said, “I saw them growing up eating my pizza.” He had passion for the neighborhood. His sons couldn’t understand him, because it was a feeling deeply founded in his heart. When his pizzeria was destroyed, he was very disappointed not only for his business loss, but also for the loss of his passion for the neighborhood. The “corner men” have commented African Americans’ dissatisfactions, but their comments weren’t always neutral and impartial. Mookie was an interesting character. He wanted to work peacefully in the pizzeria, but he also felt obligated to help his people. The residents of the neighborhood in this film were being discriminated against but also discriminated against others. Because of their difficult situations, they were extremely jealous of the people who were better than they were. They didn’t want to provoke violence, but they had to seek revenge if they were treated unjustly.

According to Victoria Johnson, jazz music has played an important role in the film. For example, Radio Raheem’s radio always played “Fight the Power,” which represented African Americans’ call for justice. In addition, there were many rap and hip-hop music that had significant effects in the film. As Johnson pointed out, during the climax, there was no music in the sound track, only some sound effects. This has shown the importance and cruelty of the conflict. The music in Do The Right Thing was not enjoyable, but they fitted the environment of Bedford-Stuyvesant—people in there were struggling in the marginalized society that others wouldn’t understand.

Finally, to answer the last question, Mookie had two reasons to throw the garbage can at the pizzeria. First, he had to avenge Radio Raheem, because Sal had some responsibility for his death. Second, he wanted to save Sal and his sons’ lives. We could see that Mookie had thought for a long time before he grabbed the garbage can and threw it at the window of the pizzeria. If he didn’t do so, the mob might attack Sal and his sons. Mookie’s actions spared their lives. Of course, his action might not be well justified (he could have used other method to pacify the conflict), but it convinced the viewers about his “good” intention, whether it was for Sal or for his own people.

Do The Right Thing is a highly politicalized film. As Catherine Pouzoulet pointed out, to understand this film, we must first understand the historical context of this film. While I didn’t discuss the historical background of this film, we should keep in mind that this film shouldn’t only “viewed,” but also to be understood as a part of history.

At times it seems like it’s almost impossible to keep all of the characters in Do The Right Thing straight—new ones are popping up around every corner of the neighborhood.  Mookie, Tina, Sal, Pino, Vito, Radio Raheem, Buggin’ Out, Da Mayor—the list goes on and on.  And for every character, there are just as many relationships that fall apart throughout the movie.  It all starts when Buggin’ Out feels like Sal is overcharging him for extra cheese on his pizza and decides that Sal should have pictures of African Americans hanging on the wall instead of Italian Americans.  It’s definitely not a coincidence that the racial conflicts within the neighborhood come to a head during the hottest days of the summer—in fact, the heat is probably what causes Buggin’ Out to bug out in the first place, since like Sal says, he’s in the pizzeria every day and knows what cheese costs by now.  Playing the Steel Pulse song “Can’t Stand It” during the fire hydrant scene gave the heat two meanings.  The first, obviously, is the abnormally high temperature.  The second is the heat caused by the growing racial tensions, represented in that scene by the jerk in the nice car getting sprayed by the fire hydrant and the aftermath with the police.

Now, as for the garbage can—honestly, the first time I saw Do The Right Thing for my Arts in NY seminar last semester, I thought Mookie turned against Sal by throwing the garbage can.  I was so annoyed with every character in the movie by the end and I just hated the whole thing.  It actually hadn’t even crossed my mind that Mookie had thrown the garbage can to deflect the violence from Sal until we discussed the movie in class.  That makes a lot more sense to me personally, since I had such a hard time believing that Mookie would get caught up in the riot and turn against Sal.  So I choose to believe that Mookie threw the can to protect Sal.  (Taking this stance on the ending also makes me dislike the movie slightly less)

Finally, I just have to say that it was SO WEIRD for me to see Giancarlo Esposito as the almost cartoonishly weird Buggin’ Out, since I know him best for playing the cold-blooded killer/meth kingpin Gus Fring on my favorite TV show Breaking Bad!

Do the Right Thing takes Spike Lee’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood and transforms it into an onscreen spectacle. On this screen, Lee presents racial issues to which the neighborhood must solve. This neighborhood features a well-rounded community in the sense that all aspects of a typical Bed-Stuy neighborhood are shown. We have the elder generation, Da Mayor (Ossie Davis) and Mother Sister (Ruby Dee). Da Mayor’s philosophical outlook alongside Mother Sister’s eye on everyone creates a ‘grandparent’ like feel to them. They bicker like an old couple but sweetly romance each other in the end. Aside from our elders, we have a ‘chorus,’ who are essential to the movie, but perhaps not so much if we were to consider the neighborhood by itself. The ‘chorus’ is made up of Sweet Willy (Robert Harris) and his two friends who not only comment on the action, but show the flaws of themselves. While the Koreans (Steve Park and Ginny        Yang), who have been in Bed-Stuy for less than a year have their own shop, one of the trio members complain not being able to open their own shop because he  is black. The other member refers to one day opening a shop, but Sweet Willy exposes their flaws and explains they also got off the boat like the Koreans. Additionally we have Mister Love Daddy (Sam Jackson) who is the DJ and much like the trio, he is part of this ‘chorus’ that provides commentary.  A lot of the action surrounds Mookie, (Spike Lee) and his boss Sal (Danny Aiello) who owns the pizzeria. The only other two prominent Italians (aside from the cops) are Sal’s sons, Vito (Richard Edson) and Pino (John Turturro) who have different takes on Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) and Buggin’ Out (Giancarlo Esposito) throughout the movie.

The social interaction between a majority of the characters become increasingly hostile throughout the play. With the exception of the elders and Mookie, the end result is a war due to cultural differences and misunderstanding. Smiley (Roger Smith), Radio Raheem and Buggin’ Out all have conflicts with Sal and Pino. If it’s not a music issue as caused by Radio Raheem, then it’s a feud between Sal and a customer, and in some cases, it just boils down to pure racism as expressed by Pino. The social fabric within the community loosens for a variety of these reasons, including jealousy as seen when the Koreans were able to succeed in a short time period compared to the residents of Bed-Stuy.

As for Mookie, I had mixed feelings about his actions. At first, I wondered if him throwing the garbage can at the window of Sal’s pizzeria was a tribute to his fallen friend, Raheem. It seemed reasonable that this was the case considering he yelled, “Hate,” before throwing the garbage can because it marked the anecdote provided by Raheem’s story, love versus hate.  However, after another consideration, I felt Mookie did the right thing. Perhaps the only reason he yelled “Hate” was to make it seem like he was on the crowd’s side. By shifting the attention off Sal and his sons, it gave them a chance to escape the wrath of the crowd.

The conflicts which happen parallels the visual aesthetics incorporated into the film. The most notable is in the scene that occurs at 1:24:40. Both brothers are somewhat hostile, with Pino wearing a white vest and Vito wearing a black vest; each symbolizing their mentality. While Pino is comfortable with his other white people back home and looks down upon the community he works in, Vito befriends Mookie. The two brothers have a little skirmish, perhaps representing a soon to be brawl between the Italians and Bed-Stuy community.

Musically, the film expresses an important idea. The beginning of the film starts off with Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” and continues to associate the message of the song in a negative way by intertwining it with the intimidating Radio Raheem. The death of Raheem proves that fighting does not work.  More so, it does not work in the violent way that Raheem uses it, but it is successful in the way Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Junior use it as we are reminded at the end: “Violence ends by defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers.”

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.

Though the viewer can pick out several obvious exceptions – the Korean grocery storeowners and Sal and his two sons among these – Bedford-Stuyvesant (Bed-Stuy: Do or Die!), as depicted in Spike Lee’s film Do The Right Thing, is clearly a predominantly black neighborhood. And though the African American community does make up the majority of the population in this small homogenous neighborhood, it does not stop racial and ethnic tensions between this majority and the racist non-black minority from soaring through the roof right along with the rising temperatures on the single day during which the film plays out.

Sal’s oldest son, Pino, never ceases to vocalize his distaste for the Bed-Stuy neighborhood and for its black inhabitants – from the first moment he appears on screen with his father and brother to open the pizzeria to the very last, when the pizzeria is nothing more than a scorched foundation. The seeds of hate are sown, but the actual conflict between black and white does not start until after an angry Buggin’ Out – sitting beneath a towering wall filled with photographs of Italian American celebrities – complains that there are no “brothers” on the pizzeria’s “Wall of Fame” and gets himself kicked out for disturbing the peace. Buggin’ Out vows to boycott the pizzeria as he bounds off to find support for his cause. From this moment on, things go downhill.

The imposing figure of Radio Raheem – introduced in each of his scenes by a close up of his boom box and Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” blasting at full volume – escalates the tension by strutting into the pizzeria and attempting to order a slice of pizza while Sal yells at him to turn the music off. The film employs shot-reverse-shot during this exchange – showing a close up of Radio Raheem’s calm expressionless face as he orders his slice of pizza, then switching to a red-faced Sal yelling at him to turn the music off, and back again – and though this technic makes the incident seem a little absurd, the viewer can sense the tension increase ten-fold when Radio Raheem finally shuts the boom box off and silence falls over the pizzeria.

These two scenes make conflict during any future encounters between Buggin’ Out, Radio Raheem, and Sal and his sons an absolute certainty in the viewer’s mind. And this prediction is brought to fruition when the two young black men return later in the evening to protest against Sal’s treatment of them and the exasperated pizzeria owner – after another shot-reverse-shot exchange of loud words with them – finally smashes Radio Raheem’s boom box with a baseball bat. Once again, the music is silenced, and all hell breaks loose. A fight breaks out between the Italian family and their black patrons, and when the cops arrive – also wound up after a previous incident with a bunch of young black boys who opened a fire hydrant and soaked a white man in his car – they only make the situation worse.

Radio Raheem is strangled to death by a white police officer, who immediately flees the scene after he realizes what he has done, and the other cops follow suit. Sal and his two sons being the only ones left, the rage of the mob that has formed in the heat of the conflict is focused on them. I believe that Mookie, who does feel ties to his black community but who may also have some positive feelings toward Sal and his sons – or toward Sal’s youngest son, Vito, at least – realizes in this moment that he must do something to prevent the mob from retaliating for one death with another. That is why he throws the trashcan through the window of the pizzeria – he does it to divert the hatred from the people toward the store.

     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.

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.

How Spike Lee can turn a block in Brooklyn and create such a powerful story is beyond me. Lee’s Bedford-Stuyvesant may be primarily a black neighborhood however, there is so much more to it. You have the Korean couple that at one point of the film argue that they are indeed black. Puerto Rican characters reveal themselves as the film progresses. The despotic white cops and of course the Italians: Sal and his two sons. These pieces form Lee’s neighborhood but more importantly, they are the players he uses to make everyone face the difficult question: when, if ever, is rage and hate right?

Setting, editing and music play big roles as Lee shows the devolution of Sal’s relationship with the neighborhood. Of all different settings why would Lee pick a hot summer day? The environment parallels the plot of the story. The intense heat leads to aggravation and frustration, which in turn reflects the chaotic events that ensue. I don’t think a crisp autumn or a rainy spring day would amplify the plot the way a hot summer day did.

Moreover, the use of cuts as well as shot reverse shot really help show the racial tensions between certain characters. After Mookie talks to Pino about his favorite people the scene culminates with a race rant. This is a series of shots where the camera cuts and then zooms in on a character that says a multitude of racial slurs and stereotypes about the previous character. Through the editing the rant becomes this powerful cycle of hate, which ends with Señor Love Daddy (aka Mace Windu) saying “Time out! Time out! You need to cool that shit out and that’s the double truth Ruth!” (Who’s Ruth? o_O).

Finally, music plays a key role from the moment the film began with that never ending 4 minute opening sequence to “Fight the Power.” Music helps reflect what is going on the film from Radio Raheem’s boom box to Love Daddy’s radio show. I don’t think the film would be as powerful as it was if Radio Raheem was Mute Raheem. Imagine if Brother and Radio Raheem switched places! That would be so weird.

Even though President Obama will never read this blog post I must commend him. Taking a girl to a movie like Do The Right Thing and then talk about the meaning behind it after, very classy date indeed. But really, why does Mookie throw the garbage can? After all he was Sal’s friend, wasn’t he? Sal even saw Mookie as a son…that’s an incredible rude thing to do to a father figure.

Do The Right Thing deals with the notion of racial tensions and what’s the right thing to do in these complex racial conflicts. Another immensely powerful scene that exemplifies this motif is when Radio Raheem explains his knuckle rings, “LOVE” and “HATE.” As Raheem shows there is a constant battle between these two forces. Moreover, as Mookie throws the garbage can he screams the word ‘hate’. Like many of my other classmates, I believe Mookie threw the can to divert the crowd’s attention away from hurting Sal and his sons, and instead attack the pizza place. It’s as if he was throwing everyone’s hate into the restaurant.

But I don’t think why Mookie threw the can is the key question here but rather, did Mookie do the right thing? Mookie’s face tells it all. Before he went to get the garbage can his face didn’t show hate or anger, but frustration and helplessness. In that frustration he turned to the garbage can. Then after the chaos develops, when he’s sitting on the curb with his sister his face screams “oh my god…” He is stunned and overwhelmed by the chaotic forces he unleashed. Thus, what I think Spike Lee wants us to leave his film thinking is “if only…” If only Sal didn’t have such a quick temper. If only Radio Raheem respected Sal’s wishes and turned down his radio in the restaurant. If only…

Spike’s neighborhood is mostly a black neighborhood, with the exception of the Korean storeowners and Sal and his two sons, who have their pizzeria in the area but do not live there. The neighborhood is full of people of different ethnicities coexisting rather peacefully even though they have their differences. There is ethnic tension between the different groups and it becomes evident when each of the different races talk about how they really feel by using stereotypes. I think it’s interesting how the camera is focused directly on the faces of these people and how they’re speaking right into the camera. The camera’s angle makes the way these people feel about their ethnic differences much more effective and powerful.

The conflict begins with Radio Raheem entering the pizzeria blasting his boombox and disrupting the atmosphere of Sal’s place. Sal asks him to turn off the music but Raheem refuses. The song playing on Raheem’s boombox is “Fight the Power,” and this song is Radio Raheem’s motto and he tries to abide by it especially when he refuses to turn off the music because in a sense, he is fighting the power. This causes tension between the two and becomes the starting point of the feud. Also, it is an extremely hot day, which fuels people’s angers and causes them to become more irritated over small things. Radio Raheem is shown from the bottom-up in this scene, making him seem more intimidating and powerful. Towards the end of the movie, Radio Raheem is killed by the cops; the angry crowd turn against Sal and destroy his famous pizzeria. I find it ironic how the film is titled Do the Right Thing yet nobody really does the right thing. Radio Raheem and Buggin’ Out cause tension and problems by trying to boycott the pizzeria and confronting Sal. Sal gets angry and  breaks Raheem’s boombox, which further angers Raheem and causes him to attack Sal. Nobody tries to stop the fight and they all end up turning against Sal and his sons.

I believe that Mookie throws the garbage can through the window of Sal’s pizzeria to direct the crowd’s anger towards the pizzeria and away from Sal. The crowd is angry after Radio Raheem’s death and they blame Sal for his death. The crowd confronts Mookie, who decides to throw a garbage can through the window of the pizzeria. Mookie understands the crowd’s anger but still can’t see his boss get hurt. Because he does not want Sal to get hurt, he deliberately throws the garbage can. He would rather the crowd destroy the store than hurt Sal. Indirectly, Mookie throws the garbage can to save Sal’s life and prevent him from becoming the crowd’s target. In a way, Mookie was loyal to his boss, Sal but yet still loyal to his friends who wanted to avenge Radio Raheem’s death.

Spike Lee’s neighborhood in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn drowns not only in a heat wave (represented by the red and orange color scheme of the film) but in a complexity of racial tensions as well. The predominantly black neighborhood manages to let in Italian Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Koreans but not with the most welcoming nature. One of the many ways that racial barrier is depicted within the film is by the ownership of Sal’s Famous pizzeria by a white Italian American. Salvatore “Sal” Frangione (Danny Aiello) and his two sons, Pino (John Turturro) and Vito (Richard Edson) don’t actually live in the neighborhood. By simply owning a pizza shop in Bed-Stuy, the financial stability of the whites is visible. This stability is contrasted by the struggles of blacks like Mookie (Spike Lee) who works under Sal and tries to support his family. Although less dominant throughout the film, the Korean shop owners are too considered outsiders. This is evident when the angry black mob turns to destroy their shop at the end of the film, and the shop owner struggles to explain that he is a part of them, “I no White! I Black! You, me, same! We same!”. The Puerto Ricans are another group of people who stand in contrast to the dominant race of the neighborhood. The tensions between these two groups are highlighted when Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) and the Puerto Ricans play their radios loudly at each other. Radio Raheem is a dominant and symbolic character in the film. He wears two brass-fingered rings of “love” and “hate” on each hand, and carries a boombox playing Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power”. His rings and blasting music represent the struggle between the races and foreshadow the end of the film when the blacks do fight the power and stand up for themselves. Buggin’ Out (Giancarlo Esposito), is the neighborhood member who sparks the conflict between Sal by demanding that his pizzeria’s Wall of Fame have black people as well since it serves the black neighborhood. Buggin’ Out’s demand and Sal’s refusal once again portray the racial issues that exist in the neighborhood and the inability of the two races to ignore the fact that they’re of different skin colors.

The racial relations of the neighborhood are obviously negative. Sal’s older son Pino hates the neighborhood and its black population, and tries to make Mookie’s life miserable. There is a specific scene in the film where Mookie and Pino begin arguing over which race is better. A powerful scene follows this argument where all the characters throw out racist comments right into the camera. Eye-level and close-up shots of the characters give a sense of transparency, as the people directly and bluntly spew out their racial remarks towards the audience. The relations of the neighborhood only go from bad to worse. Daily arguments elevate and a fight breaks out between Sal and his sons against Radio Raheem, Buggin’ Out and the neighborhood others. The choice of musical decline is interesting here. Throughout the film, some sort of music and sounds are used to keep a general flow. The local radio disc jockey, “Mister Señor Love Daddy” (Samuel L. Jackson) plays music and talks about the neighborhood. The “Corner Men” (Robin Harris, Paul Benjamin, Frankie Faison), discuss neighborhood events in particular. Radio Raheem and the Puerto Ricans blast their music. All of this loudness is suddenly forced to die down once one enters Sal’s pizzeria because we’re inside where Sal doesn’t allow for the boombox to be blasted. When Radio Raheem refuses to turn down his boombox (perhaps a form of “Fight(ing) the Power”), Sal breaks the boombox and a fight ensues. The refusal of playing music and the forceful act of cutting out the music gives way to the racial war that had been suppressed for so long.

Mookie is in the middle of owing loyalty to his boss vs. his brothers. Sal had after all given him a job, whereas Buggin’ Out and Radio Raheem were his friends, “brothers”. Mookie could’ve thrown the garbage can to simply take vengeance for the death of Radio Raheem, which is justified especially because he’s not hurting Sal or his sons directly. This lets us see why he might’ve chose to throw the garbage can at the pizzeria, because he diverts the attention of the mob from Sal and his sons to the destruction of the pizzeria itself.