MovieChat Forums > Do the Right Thing (1989) Discussion > Spike Lee's interviews make me like this...

Spike Lee's interviews make me like this film less.

posted 10 years ago by Theblacktionstar
11 replies | jump to latest

Okay, so I just want to say this is one of my all time favourite films.

I've seen only a about a dozen films I would grade a 10/10, and upon watching the film, it felt like this would be one. It stands for everything i believe in filmmaking. It does not tell you what to think, it is not a lecture, yet it has a meaning, but one that is ambiguous to each viewer. Beyond that, the film is funny, it is shot and edited with a lot of energy, and has many memorable scenes.

But this is the reason why I it gets knocked down a point.

The poster of the film shows Mookie with his arms crossed and the title of the film is "Do The Right Thing". To me, the protagonist was such just an audience avatar who made very little changes to the world until the ending where he destroy's Sal's. Spike Lee has said in interviews that only white people would question his action, which makes me assume that the title refers to him. You may say that his statement is punctum and not studium and therefore should not affect my personal enjoyment of the film. But the fact that the title of the film is "Do The Right Thing" and it refers to an action by a character, I do think that this is the studium.

To me, the only person who does the right thing is Da Mayor. He saves the boy in the beginning, and later tries to break up the argument at the end. Yet Mookie's solution is to burn down the establishment in the neighbourhood that does not belong. His ideal is basically the same as Hitler's. Hitler thought that by creating an all "aryan" nation, everyone would look the same so there would be no racism. What the riot causes is the moving of Sal and his family to Bensonhurst where they "belong". This is completely wrong thinking, because it says that New York should be divided into neighbourhoods where people of the same race interact.

The other argument is that they didn't do the same thing to korean shop owners. However, the shop owners are just as racist as Sal was, who only used the word *beep* after being called a guinea which is an even more offensive word.

So to me, if Spike Lee thinks that Da Mayor didn't do the right thing and Mookie did, he is misunderstanding his own great film. Or rather, I'm misunderstanding a lesser film.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] kmags84 10 years ago

Who did he hurt? The Music was loud, that's it. If you think he was a "Thug" I can say without a doubt that you have never met a real criminal a day in your life.

[–] friendoffilm 10 years ago

Not that Radio Raheem deserved to be killed by the NYPD cop, but the fact that Radio Raheem tried to strangle Sal, the Pizzeria owner, to death, does make him a thug, and a criminal, to boot. What the NYPD police should've done was to arrest Radio Raheem, and had him tried for, charged with, and sent to the can for attempted murder. That's my opinion.

[–] Edward_de_Vere 9 years ago

If you think he was a "Thug"

Sure, the poor, misunderstood boy just tried to choke a man to death. Of course he's not a thug.

[–] kmags84 9 years ago

That Baseball Bat was no biggie. That's okay though. "Doing the right thing" is played upon throughout the entire film. Sal wasn't so innocent. He wasn't a Bad Guy, but he could've handled his situations better. So could've Raheem, the Cops, Mookie etc etc... This film shows people's true feelings because they only get mad at what the deem is unexcused... Biased Opinions

[–] Edward_de_Vere 9 years ago

Trying to choke someone to death over a smashed radio is a normal response? It's only a normal response for a street thug, especially when the smashed radio was a response to deliberate harassment and trespassing.

The Sal vs. Raheem confrontation was the equivalent of this: if you drove donuts on your neighbor's lawn, over and over again, after being told to stay off the property, your neighbor wouldn't be justified in killing you. He would be morally justified if he decided to throw a rock through your windshield or slash your tires in retaliation, however. Raheem was the equivalent of the guy who provokes his neighbor by driving donuts through the yard day after day, and Sal was the fed-up property owner.

[–] kmags84 9 years ago

And a baseball bat to a radio didn't provoke anyone either, correct? Sal easily could've handled the situation much better. As could've pretty much everyone else through the film. People justify what's wrong and what's right in this film based off of racial bias. Black and White. Why not just throw up a pick of a few Black People on the wall? They've only put food on your table and money in your pocket for years. Pretty much every single character carries their share of the blame. Simple and Plain

[–] Edward_de_Vere 9 years ago

Again, who initiated the confrontation? Sal was minding his own business until Raheem came in and started harassing him.

In the example I gave, if you start doing donuts on your neighbor's lawn, he retaliates by breaking your windshield, you retaliate by attempting to murder him, and then you wind up being killed by a cop, I'd have no sympathy for you because you brought that situation on yourself. It has nothing to do with race, it has to do with behavior. Raheem has only himself to blame for his death, and the (fictional) world is a better place with one fewer trouble-maker.

[–] ilike_panama 9 years ago

I don´t know... maybe through Spike Lee´s eyes "doing the right thing" means "don't take revenge on people but their belongings"?

(sorry, if my English is not good, i´m not a native speaker)

erika from panama

[–] kmags84 9 years ago

Life is more important than ANY amount of money. Point... Blank... Period

[–] liamprieto88 9 years ago

That is true, but what did the community prove by destroying Sals? He didn't kill Raheem, Raheem tried to kill him... Over a radio. Shouldnt they have burned down a police station if they were so upset about Raheem?