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Do the Right Thing

Part A: Summary
Do the Right Thing (1989) is a film directed, written, produced, and starring Spike Lee who plays
Mookie a neighborhood local who works for Bed- Stys favorite pizza joint, Sals Pizzeria. When one of
Sals most local customers comes in, and Mookies friend, Buggin Out arrives and notices that there are no
black celebrities on the restaurants Wall of Fame. He then proceeds to demand that Sal put up some brothers
in the restaurant since it is in a black neighborhood. Sal responds that he doesnt need to because it is his
restaurant. Buggin Out proceeds to orchestrate a boycott with the support of Radio Raheem and Smiley. Pino,
Sals son, ridicules his brother and father for their love of black people and tries to persuade his family to move
back to their own neighborhood. Later that night when the protestors collaborate to march into Sals and
demand a change, despite the fact that Sal has banned Radio Raheems music and Buggin Outs trouble. After
Sal becomes frustrated with the waiting orders and distracting noise of the three boycotters, Sal exclaims out
by calling Radio Raheem a nigger and destroying his radio with a bat. Once the severity of what happened
settled in, Raheem leapt across the counter tearing Sal from behind the counter and proceeding to choke him.
Sals sons, Buggin Out, Smiley, and other neighborhood locals proceeded to brawl with one another out of
built up anger and hatred. Once the brawl hit the streets and other people joined, police arrived and a tragedy
struck the neighborhood. Officers try to subdue the enraged Radio Raheem, but in the process murder him
using a choke hold in front of the entire neighborhood. Da Mayor, played by Ossie Davis, tries to get
everyone to calm down but as the anger boils, the neighborhood decides to blame Sal for the murder of Radio
Raheem. Once Mookie throws a trashcan at Sals window out of anger looting, rioting, beatings and the
burning of the pizzeria ensues. As more police and firefighters arrive rioters are sprayed with high pressure fire
hoses and beaten with night sticks. The next morning Mookie heads directly to Sals pizzeria to collect his
weeks pay which Sal gives to him despite the fact he feels as though the entire neighborhood especially
Mookie betrayed him. The two cautiously reconcile and carry on with their lives. The film ends with quotes by
Malcom X and Dr. King which helped to show Spike Lees direct message; the love and hate behind the racial
strife of all races, not just black and white. Even though it takes place on one street and one neighborhood, it
shows the love, hate, and unity in all of America and between everyone.

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Part B: Historiography behind the film

Race tensions in the US have been bubbling under the surface of our country forever. Occasionally
there are periods of time where there is a lot of built up anger and hatred that comes up in violence or civil
disobedience. Spike Lee released this film after the release of the song Fight the Power by Public Enemy
which helped to express the feelings blacks had about the racial tension and police brutality in parts of New
York, like Bed-Sty. Writer Kaleem Aftab tells reader in an article that Spike Lee found a lot of inspiration from
the recent relations between blacks and the NYPD. Events like the murder of Michael Griffith, who was killed
after a chase and beating by Italian- American men, or an incident at Brooklyn College where black and white
students fought over what would be played on the juke box, or the Tawana Brawley rape case. These were
some of the main historical and fictional aspects behind his film, which he was able to write in twelve days.
Kaleem writes, That is a call to everybody, not just African-Americans, to look at what is going on around
them', Spike contends, (Aftab). Spike also added the tension between the Koreans and the relationships with
the Puerto Ricans during the early 90s. The film alluded to infamous recent events that took place in New
York. Since the release there was major controversy and according to an article from history.com, critics,
including David Denby (then of New York magazine) speculated that the film would incite black audiences to
anger and violence, ("Do the Right Thing"). This feeling is similar to those of the non-supporters who
believed that there would be riots and more violence at the March on Washington, however there was none. In
fact that act of civil disobedience was peaceful and brought awareness to the issue at hand not just to African
Americans but to everyone, which is what Spike Lee aimed to do. In 2008 Lee responded to the statement
with, One of the big criticisms was that I had not provided an answer for racism in the movie, which is insane.
And whats even more insane is people like Joe Klein [who also wrote about the film for New York] and David
Denby felt that this film was going to cause riots. Young black males were going to emulate Mookie and throw
garbage cans through windows. Like, How dare you release this film in summertime: You know how they get
in the summertime, this is like playing with fire. I hold no grudges against them. But that was 20 years ago
and it speaks for itself.(Do the Right Thing). Lee realizes and had faith that this film would educate people,
not act as a match for young black men to conduct aggressive and militant like behavior, similar to the ideals
of Dr. King and leaders of the March on Washington.

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Part C: Cinematic Techniques and Significance on American Culture

Spike Lees film shows the tension between races in one block in the New York neighborhood
Bedford- Stuyvesant. The film shows the reason for everyones hatred and anger, and this achieved not only by
the actors body language and dialogue but the cinematographers camera techniques. Ernest R. Dickerson, a
frequent collaborator with Spike Lee, and Lee used a variety of techniques to convey their message and bring
awareness through film. During the scene when a neighbor scuffs Buggin Outs shoes, the camera is at a lower
angle to symbolize the neighbors action of taking the high road, if you notice he is also wearing a Larry
Bird jersey, but when Buggin Out and his friends are in the camera, it is angled from a higher perspective, and
one young man is wearing a Johnson jersey. According to an article by Adriana Carter, Lee and Dickerson used
a combination of low angle and canted shots to add effect. For example when Radio Raheem and Buggin out
arrive in Sals this method is used. The canted frame and low angle shot enhance the scene because it shows
the distortion between their relationship with Sal and to make them look intimidating and powerful, (Carter).
This was true for any shot during this scene and quick cuts also added to the tone and mood of the film. After a
heart to heart to heart between Mookie and Pino, the camera cuts to a close up and slow zoom of Mookie,
Pino, a cop, a Korean man , and a Puerto Rican man exclaiming racial, stereotypical, and derogatory slurs
towards each race. The mens faces were directly in the camera and it made you feel as if these crude words
were directed at you. This was a good representation of how different people of different backgrounds viewed
each other. According to a NPR radio interview featuring Natalie Hopkinson, an associate editor for
theRoot.com, she said, many sing the film's praises and say that its treatment of race and time-relevant crosscultural divisions cannot be overlooked, (What 'Do the Right"). This film was especially gifted in looking at
a variety of different people and looking at them from a variety of different walks of life and across races and
ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds. The murder scene of Radio Raheem is eerily similar to that of the murder
of Eric Garner and countless other young black men who have died at the hands of police brutality. Even
though it is 25 years later, this issue is amongst us and all around us. In an ABC interview with Rosie Perez,
she stated Over the years, its cultural significance is only growing. The film is now taught in school, and is
part of the National Film Registry, (Chang and Effron). This film helps bring awareness to this issue because

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this is yet another wave of racial strife and when there is another, it can be utilized again as a means of
education.

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Works Cited
Aftab, Kaleem. "The Inside Story of Do the Right Thing." Focus Features. N.p.,
27 June 2008. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. <http://www.focusfeatures.com/article/
the_inside_story_of__em_do_the_right_thing__em_>.
Carter, Adrianna. "Spike Lee's Aesthetic Techniques in Do the Right Thing."
Storify.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. <https://storify.com/
CherelleLaBelle/spike-lee-s-camera-techniques>.
Chang, Juju, and Lauren Effron. "How Spike Lee's Film 'Do The Right Thing' Still
Resonates, 25 Years Later." abcnews.go.com. ABC News, 10 Dec. 2014. Web. 25
Apr. 2015. <http://abcnews.go.com/US/
spike-lees-film-thing-resonates-25-years/story?id=27488220>.
"Do the Right Thing Released." History.com. A+E Networks, 2009. Web. 25 Apr.
2015. <http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/
do-the-right-thing-released>.
"What 'Do The Right Thing' Means 20 Years Later." NPR.org. NPR, 24 June 2009.
Web. 25 Apr. 2015. <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/
story.php?storyId=106099925>.