Do the Right Thing Directed by Spike Lee Starring Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Spike Lee, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, John Savage, Rosie Perez USA, 1989 Rated R (profanity, some violence, brief nudity)
Do the Right Thing, Spike Lee's directorial breakthrough, is not a film about taking sides but about taking a stand. The film was very controversial when it was released a decade ago, in 1989, but it rings so true in a world that claims it is free of racism, but, actually, is still sick with it. Two opposing quotations, one by Martin Luther King, Jr. and one by Malcolm X, close the film they discuss the morality of racial violence, leaving us neither north nor south, but in a state of thought, hopefully. The film takes place in Brooklyn, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Sal's (Danny Aiello) Pizzeria has been here for years, the people of this neighborhood grew up on his pizza. Sal is one of the few Caucasian people who live in this neighborhood. His sons have lived here all their lives and help him run the place: Vito (Richard Edson) is the little brother, meek and friendly with the predominantly black neighborhood; Pino (John Turturro) is full of hatred (in private) for the blacks, even though, as employee Mookie (Spike Lee) points out, his favorite basketball player, actor, and singer are all black. To this observation, Pino responds, "Well, they're not really black. I mean, they're more than black… to me."
This is the world Spike Lee plunges us into- the streets of this little neighborhood on the very hottest day of the year. Temperatures have risen to 98°, and everyone is being scorched by the sun. Lee, who wrote, produced, starred, and directed this film so exceptionally, revolves the story around Sal's Pizzeria and peppers it with memorable, interesting characters. Da Mayor (Ossie Davis) is an elderly man, the neighborhood bum and drunk. On this hellishly-hot day, he tries to reach out to Mother Sister (Ruby Dee, Davis' real-life wife), a woman who is always cold toward him.
Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito) is a friend of Mookie's who questions Sal as to why only Italian celebrities are on his restaurant wall and there are no blacks. There's Frank Sinatra, Sophia Loren, Al Pacino- but no Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Aretha Franklin. He demands that Sal put some black people's pictures on the wall; after all, this is a black neighborhood and majority of the people who eat at the pizzeria are not Italian, but are black. When Sal refuses, he plans to boycott the pizzeria and goes on a quest to find those who will join him.
Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) is a stoic young man whose only valued possession seems to be his radio, which he carries with him everywhere so that it seems to be a part of his body. He plays Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" anthem of racial liberation continually, which drives Sal insane.
Clifton (John Savage) is a character who only appears briefly in the film, but is the target of neighborhood jeers because he is a white man living on this street. Rosie Perez made her debut here as Mookie's enraged girlfriend, and Samuel L. Jackson is the DJ at a local radio station WE-LOVE.
The entire film is filled with racial tension. There is Buggin' Out and Radio Raheem's anger and avoidance of Sal's Pizzeria, and there is also the prejudice that is aimed at the owners of a Korean grocery store. The blacks aren't very happy about the Koreans; they make fun of how they speak and badger them constantly. At the huge, climactic end, fury breaks loose at Sal and his Italian family. Mookie, one of the main characters, is a passive guy for most of the movie, and struggles to keep his girlfriend and baby son happy. He doesn't care much about racial violence or issues, he just goes about his pizza delivering job and, basically, doesn't really care.
In this neighborhood, racial bigotry is present and evident, but not realized. Throughout the duration of this scorching day, racial tensions mount and pile up, until, in the much-discussed conclusion, all racial hell breaks loose. Spike Lee doesn't tell you that acting against racism violently is wrong, but he doesn't tell you it's right either. He doesn't tell you the blacks are right and the Caucasians are wrong, or vise versa. He doesn't even tell you to figure out who's right and who's wrong, but hopefully what people will take away from this film is that figuring things like that out and coming to conclusions and putting the blame on a race is wrong to begin with and just plants more seeds for wrath to grow.
Do the Right Thing is one of the most visually beautiful and colorful movies I've seen in a long time. The neighborhood is like a wonderful work of graffiti art; so radiant with bright colors- of walls, houses, clothes (costumes by the wonderful Ruth Myers), and skin. Ernest Dickerson does one of the most breathtaking cinematography jobs I've seen. Not only is the lighting perfect, many of the angles are slanted, showing a one-sided, racially confused world. Throughout the film, the sweat and the heat are all filmed so masterfully and flawlessly. In the film, an abrupt change of pace, from positive to negative, from pleasant to melancholy, brings about the now famous sequence of racial violence. It is so unexpected, so unthinkable, yet, it fits. Spike Lee doesn't tell us, he shows us, and we see. We see many ethnic worlds colliding- the world of the Hispanics, the world of the Koreans, the world of the whites, and the world of the blacks. It's a shocking sequence.
I haven't seen a film so powerful in its tackling of this ever- relevant racial subject, and I doubt I will ever see one like it in a long time. The movie doesn't fool around with the topic at hand, it lays down the facts. The ending isn't some hand-in-hand ring-around-the-roses between the blacks and whites, because that isn't where America is at at this point. The movie is sharp and provocative, but funny, witty, and wonderfully entertaining. There are movies that are simply for entertainment, and then there are movies that are simply made to tell a message. Then there's Do the Right Thing.
By Andrew Chan
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