Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989)
March 31st, 2011 § 4 Comments
I fear that the word “badass” is somehow going to have a serious impact in my life thanks to the films we’ve been watching as of late in Film Studies class. A couple more movies along the same lines and I might even have to add a nickname in the middle of my real name and call myself Yasas “Badass” Ratnayake; not because I’m badass, but because I’m compelled to use that word way too often thanks to films like Shaft and Do the Right Thing; the movie I’m reviewing right now. The former was overtly badass, and mashed pigheaded goons and cruised on raw masculinity on its way to “badassery” (think Chuck Norris), but the latter was the kind of badass that was subtle, intellectually intimidating, and viscerally emotional (think Malcolm X, or Chuck Norris) in a way that kept you rocking in its impact like the eerie ringing in your ears that would persist for days after being in the front row of a rock concert. If I had to choose between which badass I’d choose, Do the Right Thing would get my vote before two shakes of a lamb’s tail; and not even Chuck Norris could stop that without having to kill me with the bristles of his invincible beard.
He will kick you in the face AND your brain.
Do the Right Thing is a 1989 movie by Spike Lee that tells the story of a Pizza shop, a heat wave, three Italians, a black neighborhood in Brooklyn, a pizza delivery guy, a big guy with a big boombox, a virtuous drunkard, a mentally handicapped civil rights movement devotee named Smiley, an Asian grocery store, a radio love doctor, a wall of fame, and a riot. The story would be clearer to those who watch it, because accurately summarizing such a complex, yet emotionally engaging film such as this would take more than the desired space needed for a film review. For those who have watched 2005’s Academy Award winning ‘Crash’ and had to put all that information onto a 5-6 paragraph article; you would know what I’m going through right now. Do the Right Thing is a visually arresting composition that challenges the viewer to critically analyze many complex social values, norms, and mores and question: what IS the right thing to do?
As Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader says Do the Right Thing is “A powerful and persuasive look at an ethnic community and what makes it tick–funky, entertaining, packed with insight, and political in the best, most responsible sense”. The main story portrays the inconsequential goings on of a hot summer day in Brooklyn manifesting into an ugly race riot. The movie revolves around Mookie, a scrawny pizza delivery guy (played by Spike Lee), who works for the only white establishment, a well known Pizzeria called Sal’s, in a predominantly black neighborhood. Even the most minor characters in the movie carry a great amount of depth and each person in the movie tells his or her own story to give the film a rich, bittersweet texture much like a helping of good tiramisu. Do the Right Thing weaves in good measures of comedy, historical allusions, political ideals, profanity, modernist movie dynamics, and frequent repetitions of Public Enemy’s hit “Fight the Power” (thank you for that, Radio Raheem) to create a multicolored patchwork that is complex, yet beautiful to behold. I wouldn’t know how to fit in a brief, yet accurate summary of the movie into a single sentence without missing out on many important parts, so I won’t try. Instead, if there is anyone who’s reading this blog who isn’t in my Film class (which I highly doubt; but hey, thanks for stopping by!) and you haven’t watched Do the Right Thing, I highly recommend that you grab your popcorn, soda, Black Panther beret and WATCH IT!
John Turturro telling Spike that he should be delivering them pizzas.
Watching it with a focus in trying to decipher references to a deeper message than what is communicated on the surface, I believe the way the movie ended threw the cat out of the bag and left the meaning to be inferred with the subjective lens the viewer saw and understood it with. Where did the cat go? Is it in the basement? Or is on a tree, trying to catch a pigeon of some kind? One could say, especially if he or she is more of the Malcolm X type, that Mookie DID do the right thing and justified Radio Raheem’s death by inciting the riot, which I personally thought was something that Raheem brought about himself. I guess my opinion is shaped by the fact that Martin Luther King’s writing stirred a lot of meaning in me thanks to my First Year Seminar, which was dedicated to study the civil rights movement. But I think that this is exactly the point that Spike Lee is trying to make with the movie.
Ultimately, the viewer must face the question and conclude what the right choice was; based on everything he or she saw in the film. The viewer was given insight into Sal and his two sons, and also given an insight into the rest of the community that crowded that street and ultimately turned Sal’s Famous Pizzeria into a heap of worthless ember that’s burnt to the crust. The fact that Smiley pins the picture of MLK and Malcolm X in a friendly moment (they were known to be divided in their belief of how to win civil rights) on what was once the wall of fame at Sal’s, might symbolize the ambiguous ending where the viewer is called to identify whether the right thing was accomplished in the end of the film or not. What was the right thing to do? Was MLK right? Was Malcolm X right?
Personally, I’m with the Sonny the Korean guy. He says “I no white! I black! You, me, same! We same!” Although this might have been interpreted incorrectly by the rioters, I think it stood for the real message that Lee tried to convey. Like the words of all great people in history whose messages have been distorted, modified, and ignored, the Korean guy too, was dismissed by the mob as probably being some kooky Asian dude with schizophrenic tendencies, although he WAS pointing to an essential truth that transcends race. All in all, I personally thought that no one really did the right thing in the end of the film. I suppose that’s why the guy who sincerely wants everyone to do the right thing and does it by example is good ol’ Mayor, the drunkard. Who wouldn’t be drunk when he or she understands the truth is so simple to see, yet everyone’s too foolish to realize it? Let’s just leave that possibility to be inferred by the intellectual badasses.
And for those who watched and enjoyed the movie, here’s something to check out. It’s pretty badass.
I’m a little confused. Are you saying Radio Raheem’s death was his own fault or that he started the riot and not Mookie (this sentence: that Mookie DID do the right thing. . . ) or am I just completely missing the point here by over-thinking it? If it’s the first, then I disagree with you; in confronting Sal he had to be prepared for the consequences, but that doesn’t make his death predictable or justified or even entirely his own fault for that was the due to the actions of the police officer. If it’s that Radio Raheem started the riot, well, yes, I think he did. I found it interesting that Mookie was shown standing with Sal and his sons, almost in solidarity with them simply by his position, and then he goes off to get the garbage can. At this point, he clearly takes sides in opposition of Sal. At the same time, he doesn’t seem to want to get more involved than that, though, because doesn’t he just go sit on the curb? He instigates the destruction of the pizzeria, but then moved away as if he didn’t really want to be a part of it.
I meant that Radio Raheem brought about his own fate by himself in an absolute sense. If he didn’t start the commotion by ticking Sal off, and actually came to a consensus with Sal, instead of provoking the man to pulverize his boombox, then there wouldn’t have been a fight, there wouldn’t have been a riot, there wouldn’t have been a death. It’s not his FAULT by any means. I’m just making an observation by tracing back the cause of the effect that ultimately led to the climax of the movie. I guess I should reword that part!
Thanks for the input. 
The moral ambiguity of the film was refreshing. Nothing was clear cut like The Searchers. It really made me think. Did any of them do the right thing?
What a good movie….
The ringing in the ears metaphor was sweet. This film certainly had the same resounance. I’d hate to just rehash your article, so I guess I’ll have to say I just agree with everything you said. I think it was a question of did the characters actually do the right thing, but I think that most of the decisions were made by their circumstances rather than their conscious, unbiased decisions. Take for example the white cop who chokes Radio to death. You have a large man wearing brass knuckles (defined as lethal weapons by law) and he is refusing to submit to handcuffs. The cop crossed his boundaries in his actions, but was he entirely evil in his actions or was his hand forced by the cirumstance?