Overall impression
It was my first time to see Spike Lee’s film “Do the right thing” in class. I could not help but notice that this 21 year old movie could carry overwhelmingly true and vivid social aspects. Some of the scenes in this movie which lead up to the inevitable chaos of the film are the problems that we still can watch on TV and have to face today.
The first example I would like to give is the scene of the movie, that Mookie (Spike Lee is the director of the film) counting his money in Sal’s face. This is one of the most impressive part that I see Mookie when he is counting his money. This comes up several times or so, when he is working, he insists that Sal pays him his money for sure because he deserves it, and he also uses it as an excuse to neglect his responsibilities (for example, his girlfriend, and his son), and justifies this negligence because he is making money. Sal, on the other hand, believes he can make all of his problems disappear by throwing money at him, like what he does with Da Mayor, and Smiley, he gives them a couple of bucks to make them go away. In fact, many people today are driven by the almighty dollar. It drives people to commit crime, and ultimately destroy themselves. Sal’s character represents to me that simply throwing money at a problem will make it go away; just like a modern day example that can be seen in the society system.
Another interesting point that I noted was the incessant battle between Love and Hate. Radio Raheem describes this when he explains his knuckle “love and hate” rings. Speaking of “hate” part, I see a quarrel between the two brothers of Sal’s pizza about trusting black people. Pino, the person wearing white, tells his brother Vito that they are not to be trusted, and attempts to make his brother, who is wearing black, to submit to his beliefs, but the battle continues. During the riot sequence of the movie, when Mookie tosses a trash can through Sal’s window, he yells “hate”, and at that point, hatred has ultimately won. At this point, the title of the movie comes to my mind, and I ask myself, is anyone really doing the right thing? I am not sure about which answer is right and this question is still lasting now.
Character roles
It is one of the successes of the film that while it presents a variety of interesting characters ,however, none of them are heroes or villains; almost all the people and incidents in the film have a symbolic value. I saw some critics on the blogs that some people who have complained that the director has been unrealistic in failing to represent inner-city crime, drug use, and etc.. Nevertheless, I think the director wants to present a simple and popular way to suit for most people. The main point of the film is a epitome of the black community in general. Buggin' Out, Smiley, and Radio Raheem are its militant group. Although they do not have bad intentions, they are an annoyance as viewed in this community because of their behaviours.
Supporting roles
Da Mayor, the block's kindly, philosophical, and alcoholic elder man is representing the older generation. And he gives Mookie an advice that he "always do the right thing"; and Mother Sister, who observes other people's daily life. However, she does not like Da Mayor at all because of his behaviour. There are also three guys of the group who sit around all day doing nothing but commenting on everything, acting as a kind of chorus throughout the film; a roving quartet of teens; the married Korean grocers, whose black English are limited and the pronunciations are a little bit poor; and Mister Senor Love Daddy, the DJ at local radio studio, who provides another way of expressing commentary as his voice accompanies his neighbors on their Saturday rounds. These interesting roles make the film more vivid. Also, it is a strong comparison between the roles during the film.
Music
There are many injustices in our society that outrage, and could even justify violence, but is it really the right thing to do? The beginning of the film starts with a song “Fight the Power”, with people dancing and mimicking a fight sequence. This shows that many people have the rage, but at the end of the sequence, the quotes from Malcolm X leave the question to ask about rage is really the right path to follow. And also, will it help solve the problem at all? This is the question that I asked myself, and I feel that Spike Lee’s movie did achieved this wonderfully.
Confrontation and confliction
This movie shows a society in crisis; that both immediate and historical in nature. It is significant that what eventually brings the conflict to the main point of the film is the unimportant absence of black faces on Sal's wall. In my opinion, it's trivial because in America this melting pot, everyone has his own right as long as people do not interfere with others. On the other hand, to Buggin' Out, however, Sal's wall represents a historical distortion. And that makes him feel black people's contributions to the society are no meaning. Seen from this point of view, Sal's wall is symbolic: one more example of blacks being forced to view themselves through the glass where they are absent or stereotyped. The director's structure also reflects the disjunction between the historical and the immediate moment. Therefore, the apparently minor incidents in the director's script have led to the concluding violent situation.
Between black and white
Mookie, a young black man in a dead end job who can't begin to support his infant son, and apparently does not care. He's also intelligent, easy-going, and the black character who comes closest to bridging the gap between black and white which is why his throwing the garbage can through Sal's window has been perceived by the director Lee's assertion that the ensuing riot is the right thing. This fusion of Lee with the character he plays lifts Mookie to the status of a hero or role model. However, he clearly is not intended to be because his attitudes are no more responsible in the morning next day after the violence.
Danny Aiello's Sal is nearly as sympathetic as Lee's Mookie. During the process of the movie, Mookie has worked for Sal loyally, and they both are basically well meaning . However, it is very pity that Sal and Mookie's cannot understand with each other is so tragic because of racism. Like all the characters in the film, they have differing interpretations of how to do the right thing. But the circumstances that point out these differences are only culminate in the killing of Radio Raheem and the riot. And those have become an endless issue for the time being.
Conclusion
At the beginning of the scenes, I feel the main color of the film: red. I can see the big red wall in the background that gets darker and lighter from time to time. There is also a woman wearing a red dress. Then it changes to shots of the woman in a blue or a purple dress, her color attracts the audiences’ attentions in from of the red wall. I also see the colors black and white when the red disappears in a short while. These are the main colors within the film. The director Spike Lee uses different tones of red, yellow and orange these warm colors to show audiences the environmental backgrounds as well as the character’s emotions. I think very few directors choose to use colors in such a strong way and be able to blend them in as part of the plot. In short, I think the film is worth seeing.
It was my first time to see Spike Lee’s film “Do the right thing” in class. I could not help but notice that this 21 year old movie could carry overwhelmingly true and vivid social aspects. Some of the scenes in this movie which lead up to the inevitable chaos of the film are the problems that we still can watch on TV and have to face today.
The first example I would like to give is the scene of the movie, that Mookie (Spike Lee is the director of the film) counting his money in Sal’s face. This is one of the most impressive part that I see Mookie when he is counting his money. This comes up several times or so, when he is working, he insists that Sal pays him his money for sure because he deserves it, and he also uses it as an excuse to neglect his responsibilities (for example, his girlfriend, and his son), and justifies this negligence because he is making money. Sal, on the other hand, believes he can make all of his problems disappear by throwing money at him, like what he does with Da Mayor, and Smiley, he gives them a couple of bucks to make them go away. In fact, many people today are driven by the almighty dollar. It drives people to commit crime, and ultimately destroy themselves. Sal’s character represents to me that simply throwing money at a problem will make it go away; just like a modern day example that can be seen in the society system.
Another interesting point that I noted was the incessant battle between Love and Hate. Radio Raheem describes this when he explains his knuckle “love and hate” rings. Speaking of “hate” part, I see a quarrel between the two brothers of Sal’s pizza about trusting black people. Pino, the person wearing white, tells his brother Vito that they are not to be trusted, and attempts to make his brother, who is wearing black, to submit to his beliefs, but the battle continues. During the riot sequence of the movie, when Mookie tosses a trash can through Sal’s window, he yells “hate”, and at that point, hatred has ultimately won. At this point, the title of the movie comes to my mind, and I ask myself, is anyone really doing the right thing? I am not sure about which answer is right and this question is still lasting now.Character roles
It is one of the successes of the film that while it presents a variety of interesting characters ,however, none of them are heroes or villains; almost all the people and incidents in the film have a symbolic value. I saw some critics on the blogs that some people who have complained that the director has been unrealistic in failing to represent inner-city crime, drug use, and etc.. Nevertheless, I think the director wants to present a simple and popular way to suit for most people. The main point of the film is a epitome of the black community in general. Buggin' Out, Smiley, and Radio Raheem are its militant group. Although they do not have bad intentions, they are an annoyance as viewed in this community because of their behaviours.
Supporting roles
Da Mayor, the block's kindly, philosophical, and alcoholic elder man is representing the older generation. And he gives Mookie an advice that he "always do the right thing"; and Mother Sister, who observes other people's daily life. However, she does not like Da Mayor at all because of his behaviour. There are also three guys of the group who sit around all day doing nothing but commenting on everything, acting as a kind of chorus throughout the film; a roving quartet of teens; the married Korean grocers, whose black English are limited and the pronunciations are a little bit poor; and Mister Senor Love Daddy, the DJ at local radio studio, who provides another way of expressing commentary as his voice accompanies his neighbors on their Saturday rounds. These interesting roles make the film more vivid. Also, it is a strong comparison between the roles during the film.
Music
There are many injustices in our society that outrage, and could even justify violence, but is it really the right thing to do? The beginning of the film starts with a song “Fight the Power”, with people dancing and mimicking a fight sequence. This shows that many people have the rage, but at the end of the sequence, the quotes from Malcolm X leave the question to ask about rage is really the right path to follow. And also, will it help solve the problem at all? This is the question that I asked myself, and I feel that Spike Lee’s movie did achieved this wonderfully.
Confrontation and confliction
This movie shows a society in crisis; that both immediate and historical in nature. It is significant that what eventually brings the conflict to the main point of the film is the unimportant absence of black faces on Sal's wall. In my opinion, it's trivial because in America this melting pot, everyone has his own right as long as people do not interfere with others. On the other hand, to Buggin' Out, however, Sal's wall represents a historical distortion. And that makes him feel black people's contributions to the society are no meaning. Seen from this point of view, Sal's wall is symbolic: one more example of blacks being forced to view themselves through the glass where they are absent or stereotyped. The director's structure also reflects the disjunction between the historical and the immediate moment. Therefore, the apparently minor incidents in the director's script have led to the concluding violent situation.Between black and white
Mookie, a young black man in a dead end job who can't begin to support his infant son, and apparently does not care. He's also intelligent, easy-going, and the black character who comes closest to bridging the gap between black and white which is why his throwing the garbage can through Sal's window has been perceived by the director Lee's assertion that the ensuing riot is the right thing. This fusion of Lee with the character he plays lifts Mookie to the status of a hero or role model. However, he clearly is not intended to be because his attitudes are no more responsible in the morning next day after the violence.
Danny Aiello's Sal is nearly as sympathetic as Lee's Mookie. During the process of the movie, Mookie has worked for Sal loyally, and they both are basically well meaning . However, it is very pity that Sal and Mookie's cannot understand with each other is so tragic because of racism. Like all the characters in the film, they have differing interpretations of how to do the right thing. But the circumstances that point out these differences are only culminate in the killing of Radio Raheem and the riot. And those have become an endless issue for the time being.
Conclusion
At the beginning of the scenes, I feel the main color of the film: red. I can see the big red wall in the background that gets darker and lighter from time to time. There is also a woman wearing a red dress. Then it changes to shots of the woman in a blue or a purple dress, her color attracts the audiences’ attentions in from of the red wall. I also see the colors black and white when the red disappears in a short while. These are the main colors within the film. The director Spike Lee uses different tones of red, yellow and orange these warm colors to show audiences the environmental backgrounds as well as the character’s emotions. I think very few directors choose to use colors in such a strong way and be able to blend them in as part of the plot. In short, I think the film is worth seeing.
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