Do the Right Thing Film Analysis free essay sample

â€Å"Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. †(Martin Luther King Jr. ). Violence and racism are both important motifs in, Do the Right Thing (Lee, 1989). They are prominent in almost every scene of the film and lead to the climax when Radio Raheem is killed by the police. Spike Lee used many different directorial techniques in his movie. Heat and music were an example of this and were prominent throughout the movie. They were clever ways that Lee got across his ideas, they brought the audience into the movie. They helped immerse you in the movie and made you feel as if you were feeling the heat. I had never seen a Lee movie before and was not let down by Do the Right Thing. It was a film that really grabbed your attention and kept your attention because of the strong characters and controversial main ideas. Mookie, The Mayor, and Sal are just a few characters that were important to the central theme of the story. They all represented a different voice of reason when it came to problems in the neighborhood, but one thing remained the same. Violence and racial intolerance are not the answer to problems in black America, the only way to survive as a community is to come together and get educated on the subject. Racism is a very serious topic that still causes problems throughout the entire world. As much as you think racism is confined to the uneducated it is much the opposite. I am an avid soccer fan that watches game after game and one common problem throughout world soccer is racism. Well off British fans are just one example due to their chanting of racist slurs during soccer matches, they even throw banana peels on the field! This is the harsh reality that racism is still alive in the world. A good way to spread the word and get across the point that racism is still alive and needs to be stopped is a movie. Spike Lee did a fine job in his movie Do the Right Thing. He depicted life in an inner city Brooklyn neighborhood, with people of many different races and cultures. His in your face style did not let you dismiss the problems that these people had and as the film roles on these cultures clash and things begin to boil over. The music that Radio Raheem blared from his over-sized boom box was one simple way Spike Lee brought you into the film. His disregard for others opinions showed how young black men in these times were uneducated. â€Å"Fight the power! † played over and over again until Sal had enough and sparked a neighborhood riot. Before Sal repeatedly beat the boom box with a baseball bat he shouted, â€Å"Turn that Nigger music off! †. His poor choice of words, although in the heat of the moment, did nothing but anger the people around him even more. I think Lee used this to show how people react when a clash begins between white and black people, they disregard all morals in order to get a leg up on the other. This was a very important scene in the movie because it showed how racism can drive people apart. Only education and equality can bring a community together and stop all the madness. Violence is another aspect of the movie that showed how far off a group of people can really be. The riot that occurred in the movie was sparked by Raheem’s death but was really for all the wrong reasons. It all started when Buggin’ out bickers with Sal about putting a black man on his wall of fame. Buggin’ out is so caught up in his pro-black attitude that he causes problems for no reason. Sal has the right to say no and does, Sal tells him that it is his pizzeria and he puts who he wants on the wall. Sal goes on to say that Buggin’ out can put whoever he wants on his walls when he owns a pizzeria, but that does nothing to calm Buggin’ out down. Buggin’ out then has to start a boycott of Sal’s pizza which ultimately leads to Radio Raheems death. This is the sort of misinformed protest that leads to actions that do not need to happen. Violence is not the answer to your problems and that is one important thing you learn from Do the Right Thing. The only thing that the people gained from exerting violence and burning down Sal’s pizzeria was self-satisfaction. They thought they were being the big man when really they just burnt down one of their main food sources in the neighborhood. The people of this Brooklyn neighborhood needed to come together when trouble was afoot, but failed to do so. They learned their lesson that violence is not the answer, the only way they can lead civil lives is by eliminating violence and getting educated on their racial views. Do the Right Thing was an eye opening movie that brought across many controversial topics that are important to address. Spike Lee did a good job incorporating so many different ideas into the movie, each character represented something important and not one person was a waste to the movie. The in your face attitude of Lee helped showcase his ideas in the film, he simply would not let you look the other way. Heat was one way he brought you into the movie, it was included in almost every scene of the film. Every conversation had at-least one part that complained about the heat, everyone was hot all the time. Senor Love would say it every day on his radio show, â€Å"The forecast for today is, HOT! †. I think the heat added to the tension between the characters because heat can make you uneasy and lead to confrontations that usually do not happen. Heat and music, as well as violence and racial intolerance, were the main ideas I focused on in the film. These aspects were how Lee got his point across to me and helped me understand his viewpoints in the movie. To put it as simply as possible, oppression needs to be eliminated from these types of neighborhoods and the only way to do that is to come together and get educated.