Do the Right Thing directed by Spike Lee
In the 1989 film, Do the Right Thing directed by Spike Lee, it covers some very important topics about identity, power, and social injustices. The film takes place in Brooklyn, New York, where the main character Mookie (Spike Lee himself) works at an in town Italian owned pizza shop. Since the demographic of the town is mostly African American people, a character named Buggin’ Out questions why African American’s aren’t being represented on the Italian owned pizzeria wall full of Italian actors. This raises some racial tension between the shop’s customers and the owners. In the end of the film, a brawl breaks out between a character called Radio Raheem, who joined Buggin’ Out in a protest against the pizzeria, and the Italian owners. Radio Raheem was then tragically murdered by the police who were breaking up the fight.
To begin with, an example of a social injustice that was present in this film was the tragic death of Radio Raheem. When the cops showed up during the fight, the cops strangled Radio Raheem when they were holding him back and sadly passed away. This showed police brutality due to the fact that they held extreme force and showed violence when it was uncalled for. This topic is especially relevant in today’s society and addresses an important issue.
Along with the idea of social injustices being present in this film, so is the idea of power and identity. There is a lot of tension between races, especially between the Italians and the African Americans. In one scene, each race was throwing out explicit racial slurs to one another. I also think the idea of power is present within this film through the police and the Italian pizzeria owners. The white police held power and put fear into the African American neighborhood, which exemplified the idea of white supremacy. The Italians in this film also showed power by refusing service to anyone they wanted and feeling superior over the African American people. This idea of power also resembled the idea of the ‘One’ and the ‘Other,’ where the one would be considered the white police because of the power they held over the city and the pizzeria Italians because they felt superior over the other races. The other would be considered the African American residents that lived in Brooklyn because they were powerless against the police and were inferior in the eyes of the Italians. One very important scene that was present in the film was Radio Raheem explaining how there is conflict in society about love verses hate and, in the end, love will always beat hate. I think one of the biggest messages Spike Lee is trying to convey is that in order for society to make peace, the hatred must be overcome by love. This film was to send the message to stop the racism, the hatred, and discrimination, and to overpower it with love.
Figure 1. This photo represents a scene in the film “Do the Right Thing” directed by Spike Lee, where Radio Raheem talks about the idea of love verse hate.
Figure 2. Pictured shown represents the cover of the film, “Do the Right Thing” that was directed by Spike Lee.