Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989) - Justified Violence?

[jkatz]

Spike Lee’s 1989 film ‘Do the Right Thing” takes place in Brooklyn, New York on the hottest day of the year. The most prevalent theme of the film is the racial conflicts in a multi-cultural neighborhood. Beginning with Buggin’ Out demanding Sal hang pictures of black men in his Italian pizzeria.

Some things to note in this film are Radio Raheem and the reoccurrence of the song “Fight the Power’ by Public Enemy. The literal heat of the day is notable; I think heat is a parallel to violence. Violence is very obvious. Races, genders, and just people in general all have their difference but how far are people willing to go to make a statement about whom they are and the group they belong to? Is the violence in this film justified? Is violence the only answer to violence?

[whughes]

Violence is definitely a key element in this film. The film takes place during one of the hottest days of the year in Brooklyn, New York. Typically, when the weather is extremely hot it can bring peoples energy down. Plus, it can stress them out. It also adds frustration into the picture because there is no way to cool yourself off both mentally and physically. Eventually this leads to a case of violence. To be honest I don’t know if violence will ever be justified. There is always going to be other person who will bring about negative connotations to spoil others by making racist comments. The violence may tone down a little bit but there is always going to be someone to make a comment and stir controversy. In this film it seems like violence is one of their favorite ways to deal with a situation. I don’t know if it’s the added stress of the heat or maybe violence has been in their lives for so long that they don’t know anything else.

[kflagg]

I agree that this is a film shrouded in violence. There are many indications of impending violence during the first thirty minutes of the movie. In the opening credits we see Rosie Perez shadowboxing to Public Enemy's Fight the Power. In a fit of rage Sal threatens Buggin Out with a baseball after litters the floor of his pizzeria. In a conversation between Mookie and Pino, Mookie encourages Vito to stand up to his brother Pino by "kicking his ass".
When Vito protests, Mookie tells him that after he clocks him, "it'll be over after that one time". After a while Pino gives in and asks him if it'll do some good, to which Mookie replies, "of course".
While some critics accused this film of encouraging racial violence, I don't see that at all. By the end of movie no one profited from violence. Radio Raheem is kiilled and Sal's pizzeria is wrecked. This movie is a strong indictment of violence.

[jkatz]

I agree that no one benefits from the violence all in all. Yet there are some racial suggestions to be noted. For one the over all conflict of there not being black people in Sal's. I'm sure you wouldn't find black people on the wall of a Japanese restaurant either so that whole protest bit was kind of dumb and pointless to me. Sal makes a good point, if Buggin' Out had a restaurant he could put whatever pictures he likes on the wall. Also, no one goes after the Korean place, they are about to but this guy barely speaks English. Oh he doesn’t speak English I don’t want to fuckin deal with him. Is that not racist? Then Pino uses ‘nigger’ extensively, even after Mookie makes the point that all of Pino’s favorite people are black. But to Pino they aren’t really black, Michael Jackson isn’t really black. Can I just say that Pino is a dick and I hate him? He shows no redeeming qualities and if I were to blame anyone for the destruction of Sal’s it would be him.

[jkatz]

I ment Prince not Michael Jackson, my apologies.

[sgimenez]

I agree with you, jkatz, that I completely have no respect for the character of Pino. But alas, it's only a movie, and it's the idea that someone as ignorant as he is can piss me off that much.

On another note, I'd like to add as a side note on the topic of the boombox Radio once owned. In an effort to add more thought, the other 'redeeming' quality of the boombox was the volume, which had just as much importance to Radio as the song did. The song played loudly, blasting through the stereo like a bomb. But what was the message? My idea: the volume itself is an idea that the song's message, about racism and overcoming it, cannot be muted. It is a lasting message, and that simply turning it down won't make it go away.