In the end of his essay, McKelly writes, “Do the Right Thing’s elucidation of the culture of ambiguity, and the internally dialogic subject which negotiates that culture, represents an elegant erasure of the logic of ‘two-ness’ in all of its ideological formations.” I absolutely agree that its ambiguity and blurring of lines make Do the Right Thing such an effective dialogue on race. While the film does not omit the stereotypical in its presentations of race across the various racial groups in the film, Lee’s commentary on race is masterful beacuse of the idiosyncrasies woven throughout. There is Sal who is proud of his pizzeria’s role in the neighborhood, but eventually becomes a part of the catalyst for the violence. There’s Mookie who throughout the film serves as a sort of liaison between the black neighborhood and white business owners. There are racist depictions and relations of and between all– at one point, blacks,  white, Puerto Rican, and Korean representatives turn towards the camera and spew racist lines against each other. Lee seems to show that no one group is neither the source of the problem nor innocent. There is a common denominator between these people who in their own ways  (though to different degrees) have all experienced judgement.

Perhaps it’s my personal connection to it (my grandparents were those Korean grocers in inner city D.C.), but the depiction of the Korean grocer’s seemed particularly significant. Throughout the film, the Korean grocer is mocked and disdained. The resentment and perception that is presented by the three men under the umbrella who see them capitalizing on the community’s money without contributing anything back to the community was/is a very real tension between these two groups. But the end struck me as the Korean makes the proclamation: “I no white! I black! You, me, same!” Well, perhaps the execution was a little shaky, but Sonny’s sentiments seem evocative of what Lee is showing in his film– beyond all the exterior noise and their many flaws, they are all people.

After the Reaganism era which films focus more on individual problems, the late 1980s’ films express a more ideological critique and manifest more possibility of altering the film experience. The films put the spotlight on more collective issues such as social and economical problems. Do the Right Thing has its avant-garde aspect as the characters would break the Fourth Wall and the cinematic illusion and talk directly to the camera. The film presents its core concept in the opening song with the repeating lyrics “Fight the Power” and it not only shows the racial stereotypes and tensions, but also the racial politics at the time. And the quotations by Malcolm X. and Martin Luther King in the end inspire contemplation about violence and humanity in the society.

— Yuanjing Shi

Do The Right Thing should be considered as a pivotal movie for black cinema as Guerrero explains about it : “appearing with so much promise and power at,the cusp of the new decade, is important and simultaneously paradoxical because of the multivalent issues it raises about the future of black cinema production. First, there can be no doubt that the popular reception and box-office power of Do The Right Thing opened the door for the new rush of black films to come in the 1990’s.” The movie came about at a crucial time and opened the doors of mainstream cinema to black actors and actresses in a way that movie in the 1980’s did not do.

James C. McKelly’s aricle contained interesting arguments about racial divides and how Do The Right Thing shows these issues off in a very direct manner; particularly in the scene boasting racial slurs pertaining to all races present in the film.

I commend Do The Right Thing for its ability to depict the different ethnicities in conflict as either good or bad. Ed Guerrero describes the industry of this time as “… the construction of whiteness as good, (Guerrero, 118).” He talks about how Hollywood had reverted to representing less black communities, regardless if community activists were trying to push for a continuation of solid representation. In Do the Right Thing, each character represents a “type” and they often tap into stereotypes throughout society. They depict the black community but also the Korean, Italian, and Hispanic family in order to show the flawed dynamics. It wasn’t until the scene where the pizzeria is burned down that the broad amount of characters and messages Spike Lee was trying to say came together. The burning, along with the fights between the different ethnicities, represented the chaos and fighting between different parties. The film was a stepping-stone because, unlike the films of often-white representation and whiteness as “good,” these characters were flawed in different ways and good in other ways. It makes the issue more complex and allows the audience to examine it from different perspectives, while not holding a specific group above another. I appreciated the film for speaking against the issues, in particular police brutality, but for not depicting the groups as multi-layered.

The film’s allusion and symbolism rushed at me all at once at the scene when Sal’s Pizzeria was burnt down – most likely Spike Lee’s intention. The transformation from an uneasily peaceful town to a fiery catastrophe led me to rewatch and rethink the narrative in my minds eye as I watched the destruction in horror. On this note, I would like to touch on the importance of the opening credits in mood-setting and suggesting the context and themes addressed in the film. The music – “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy, does a masterful job in aurally conveying what the film represents, with a mix of various influences of black music – jazz, breakbeats, gangster rap – all of which are genres that differ in tone, tempo and mood. This alludes to the theme of anxiety black people have with regards to the pluralistic opinions expressed with regard to personal and political racial liberation. The choice of character featured in the opening credits is rather interesting – Tina is not a character that shows up a lot throughout the film. Also, most of whatever she says to Mookie falls on deaf ears, and she is not compelled to make a big decision that determines the course of the story. In the opening credits she is seen dancing and shuffling aggressively, even performing moves that resembled punches while wearing boxing gloves. Her clothing also shuffles between a formal dress and a revealing set of exercise gear (a pair of minishorts and a crop top). This does not just add to the theme of anxiety and “fundamental two-ness” (McKelly), but possibly alludes to her personal struggles being doubly discriminated as a black woman – constantly having to make decisions about daily affairs as well, especially in terms of managing her sexuality and preparing her body for consumption by the black male.

When watching the climax of Do the Right Thing I could not help but draw the obvious parallels between the police brutality followed by riots occurring in the film and those that are becoming more and more common every day. This goes to show that despite being made in the post Reagan years and being a product of its time period, Spike Lee’s film is just as poignant today as it ever way. I feel that in the way that films of this era often focus on social issues in the way that this film as well as Platoon do, more and more present day films are beginning to focus on critical analysis of cultural elements. Just look at Spotlight winning best picture. It focuses on the Catholic Church scandal in a way similar to the way Platoon criticizes the US army during the Vietnam War. Fascinating how history repeats itself.

After watching Do the Right Thing, I found myself wondering: who was I supposed to be rooting for the whole time? From the start the movie seems to follow a number of main characters: Sal and his sons, Mooky, Da Mayor, Buggin’ Out, Radio Raheem , and four groups of racially specific individuals (the black youths, the Hispanics, the Korean family, and the older black men). While it may seem that Mooky is the true main character of the movie, since we seem to follow his progression and character arc the most, I’m not sure he’s worth rooting for, I’m not sure anyone is. This movie arrived at a crucial point in history where the black community started to fight for more representation, especially in the film community. In his article Guerrero discusses the common archetype of movie leading up to Do the Right Thing. Movies at the time began focusing around a central white protagonist, often a vigilante such as in Dirty Harry or Rambo, or heroic tales with subtle racist undertones such as Rocky. Guererro argues that black cinema needed to “recuperate” after the poor representation of the black community. I had always heard how important Do the Right Thing was in terms of black independent cinema and that it was the start to a movement that was very empowering for the black cinematic community but honestly I think that Do the Right Thing poorly represented every race it portrayed. While some may argue that the stereotypical depictions of each race (the hot-blooded Italians owning a pizza parlor, the black youth carrying around a boombox listening to rap all day, the Hispanics sitting around listening to Latin music all day, and the Korean family owning a Bodega on the corner) are meant to satirize the extreme views that society has of each of the aforementioned races, I feel that they were never redeemed in the narrative arc. What one would expect is each of these races to overcome the stereotypes they were given (or at least one of the races) but there are essentially no redeeming characters, even sweet Mother Sister becomes part of the carnage of the ending scene. So who should we root for? My vote goes to Da Mayor. He is the only character in the movie who seems to stick to his scruples throughout the entirety of the film and never once acts aggressively or offensively towards anyone. What is Spike Lee trying to say by doing this? I honestly don’t know and it is a question I am very curious to hear others’ answers for, because at the moment I’m not sure what the message and takeaway of this film are.

The film directed by Spike Lee came at a crucial time in Hollywood and opened the doors to many other African Americans in the industry as actors or directors.  The readings discussed how the big blockbuster movies of the 80’s such as Star Wars failed to include any portrayal of African American life.  Studios were afraid they would lose money because a movie would become a “black movie” if too many characters were African American.

The film itself brought about a lot of interesting topics of racial and socio-economic issues that were not brought about in many other films preceding it.  It was focused on the fact that all races were guilty of having stereotypes towards one another and hatred for others success.  Spike Lee was able to show that there are radicals of each group.  Such as the Italian brother and the two African Americans who came into the pizza shop at the end to boycott it.  There were also characters that were there as peacemakers such as Sal and the old man.  Spike Lee’s main point was that no one is innocent.  Even the main character Mookie who is the one is supposed to do the right thing, it not portrayed as a “good” character.  He is trying to maintain his African American identity as well as be welcoming to other races.  He doesn’t want to cause any trouble or any trouble to take place.  However, he is the one to start the rioting of Sal’s pizzeria.  He is also at the end of the film there to collect his money.  This shows that he is not the one to do the right thing for all races.  He is not the hero of the story, he is there for his own benefit to live on his own with his own identity.

Shawn Green