R, 120 min.
Director/Writer: Spike Lee
Starring Spike Lee, Danny
Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn,
John Turturro, Paul Benjamin, Frankie Faison, Robin Harris, Joie Lee, Miguel
Sandoval, Rick Aiello, John Savage, Samuel L. Jackson, Rosie Perez, Roger
Guenveur Smith, Steve White, Martin Lawrence, Leonard Thomas, Christa Rivers,
Frank Vincent, Luis Ramos, Richard Habersham, Gwen McGee, Steve Park, Ginny
Yang
I’m sure I’ve written about
this before, but since it speaks to the vast misunderstanding a good deal of
people have about racism, I think it bears repeating. The first time I saw
Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” I didn’t like it. I couldn’t understand
Mookie’s choice in the end to throw the garbage can into the pizzeria and start
the riot that destroyed a family institution that for the most part only served
the community around it. I thought it was a betrayal of that community to allow
racism to get the upper hand on one ethnic group by another, no matter which
group it was. Mookie’s action seemed just as fueled by racism as Pino’s and the
cops’ action against Radio Raheem. Of course, Mookie really was doing the right
thing by letting the anger out before more people died.
I was pretty young when I
originally saw the movie, and there were two things I got wrong. First, I
didn’t understand that Spike Lee was crafting a stylized piece. This is not a
realistic portrayal of a community or the racism found within it. It’s
realistic in terms of what is bubbling beneath everyone’s unspoken and hidden
beliefs, but the outer world of “Do the Right Thing” is highly stylized. Lee
uses tilted camera angles, low angle shots, exaggerated colors, tinted and
studio style lighting, even much of the set looks like a set that you might see
on a show taped in a studio. Many of the characters are approached more as
caricatures. Sam Jackson’s DJ acts in the same capacity as a Greek chorus,
commenting and sometimes guiding the characters to their fates.
The second thing I got wrong
was the notion that racism is a simple black & white issue, and I don’t
mean black & white skin. I mean as a nineteen-year-old WASP from one of the least ethnically diverse states in the country I thought you were
either racist or you weren’t. But, racism doesn’t boil down quite that easy,
and that’s one of the main messages Lee is trying to get across in his film. In
some ways, the racism on display in this film is almost tribal. Nobody really
means anything against anyone else, but if anything goes against the tribe it
is met with suspicion and aggression.
Take the character of
Buggin’ Out for example. His insistence that there should be some pictures of
black people on Sal’s pizzeria wall is an earnest request, but his suggestion
is shut down harshly by Sal, and Buggin’s inflexion—because it has to do with
his tribe—is confrontational. Despite the fact that Sal’s wishes are
alienating, when Buggin’ approaches the black community about his boycott of
Sal’s, he’s met with equal derision from his peers as he was by Sal because
they recognize that his desire is not beneficial to the tribe if it causes a
problem with Sal. As Buggin’ is further alienated, his opposition to the
popular stance becomes greater to the point that he becomes militant about it.
It’s only once he reaches this point that he can finally convert Radio Raheem
as a follower to his cause. Then it is the extreme action of Raheem’s death
that ignites the popular furor.
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