Do The Right Thing is a fascinating film about the subtle but impactful effect racism has on environments, even if they have almost no white people present. Much of the film just depicts various characters getting into little encounters that address the themes and seem designed for ample discussion in a film class. They also serve to create a sense of mundanity. Despite this, every character is sufficiently fleshed out, sometimes with scenes clearly dedicated to both showing us who they are and communicating the street smart and high energy tone of the film. This is suggested in the first scene after the opening credits where Samuel L. Jackson as Mister Señor Love Daddy speaks of the blazing heat, which of course is known to agitate, while having a very collected and well spoken voice, as if saying that’s the proper way to be acting. This is immediately contrasted with Roger Guenveur Smith as Smiley, who has a somber tone discussing the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X as if the two had died recently. He is also anything but well spoken, having a strong stutter that often is irritating to the other characters.
Any scene you pick says something about the culture of the times, which often features a near-eternal human struggle of the stress of community and heritage in all its shapes and forms, especially by even subtle influences like media. “Fight the Power” introduces the film like it’s a rallying cry. Many of the characters live by this principle, trying to fight perceived injustices, even if they’re obviously not fighting those with significant power over them. Numerous scenes deal with characters getting into minor altercations with someone else, as if trying to exert dominance. A joke where Mookie, played by Spike Lee, is called gay could be intended to suggest that the various male characters are all trying to be perceived as manly. Pizzeria workers and brothers Pino and Vito rough house and many male characters are egged on to act boldly. Mookie’s arc concerns his girlfriend wanting him to be a better father. This “masculine” energy is shown to have a mix of positive and negative, like Raheem discussed. This leads to many of the film’s most gruesome moments, but it also leads to characters being bold enough to stand up for themselves and calm a situation down, like with some roles at the end.
Whether or not this is a negative can depend on perspective, but sometimes the messaging is on the nose. An early example of this is Mother Sister, played by Ruby Dee, saying she “always watches”, suggesting a wise elder status. You’d think that there would be no reason for her to say this in-universe because everyone would already know, so this line is clearly present for the audience. Da Mayor, played by Ossie Davis, insists that he loves everybody and will get Mother Sister to be nice to him, showcasing a blatant contrast with him earlier being insensitive to someone else and also telling us that their dynamic will at some point come into prominence as an important center of the film. Admittedly, the latter element is probably going to be noticeable to a classic film fan because of the wandering tramp tropes. In another scene, Da Mayor refuses to cooperate with the police, with this scene here to tell the audience why a black person, especially that would’ve been around during the 60s, would not want to give information to the police. This is also paid off by one of the more famous scenes of the climax, if a viewer needed a textual reason to understand his perspective. Due to the negative effect subtlety can sometimes have, it is understandable that writer and director Spike Lee may want to make things as unambiguous as possible, this in turn makes for a style. Characters that spiritually break the fourth wall become walking messages, as if chosen to represent the main themes of the story as people instead of as just an action or idea.
Sal, played by Danny Aiello, at one point monologues about his restaurant being his and as respect for his own culture will only include Italian-Americans. This is in fact the same logic that some black characters use. They’re very protective over their own culture, which sometimes is based on very arbitrary standards. As an example, many look at Sal’s pizza as part of their community and culture. Those that don’t like him are by contrast very cold to him. This war of cultures only ever divides people in the story and emphasizes the absurdity of anyone to treat the other people as if they are inherently lesser. After an argument between Sal and Buggin’ Out, played by Giancarlo Esposito, Sal and Mookie discuss the matter with different philosophies. Mookie thinks Buggin’ Out had the freedom to act out while Sal says there is no freedom and he’s the boss. Despite the apparent differences, both are essentially making the same point.
Sal’s tribe from his perspective is himself, his sons, his restaurant, and maybe Mookie. Mookie’s is shown to be a much wider scope of people, possibly all of the black characters he is shown to have positive interactions with, but also probably not his Italian coworkers. Mookie doesn’t show much respect for Sal and especially his older son Pino, played by John Turturro. The reasons why each party excludes others is apparently based on race and also culture. Some of the characters feel embarrassed to be associated with other races. In fact, one saying they should stay in their own neighborhood reeks of the view racists have that different skin colors cannot coexist. While Sal’s temperament and subtle racist values probably come from his fish out of water status, Buggin’ Out’s similar behavior seems driven by a severe lack of intelligence, but otherwise a need to have some arbitrary sense of control, not that these traits are limited to just him. Sal on the other hand already feels in control and isn’t searching for more.
Not just does the film detail the worst of a colorful Brooklyn neighborhood, but it starts on the opposite note. The opening showcases how stylish the film can be, with a black woman dancing and wearing revealing clothing, as if to boldly criticize the notion of women needing to be modest and that black people shouldn’t be loud and imposing. The sequence is very colorful, while still having a dark mood, setting the tone for a story filled with colorful personalities and lots of conflict. Despite this, the film does not stick to one style. Said style changes depending on what character or situation is being shown. Scenes of the older Da Mayor are shot with this slightly red hue, as if to evoke a 1950s film. His distress over some of the events of the story come with it this pain and reminder of the past. Scenes of conflict tend to feature handheld camerawork, like even the movie is becoming as unhinged as the roles are. This is personified with Bill Nunn as Radio Raheem.
One of the most attention-grabbing scenes is when Raheem shows his brass knuckles to Mookie. One hand says “Love” and the other “Hate”. He discusses the battle between the two throughout history. Despite the fairly simplistic messaging, almost to a fault, it is depicted with this powerful conviction by Nunn. The point of the scene is very clearly to just tell us that this is what the movie is about, with a stylistic lack of subtlety. Specifically, many of the movie’s specific struggles don’t concern what Raheem said, hate doing a number on love, which then strikes back. Arguably, the opposite happens. Sal wants to defend his heritage by only having Italians on his wall, other characters want to defend their black heritage, but this causes them to become hateful and intolerant of those outside their bubble. As a whole, it is debatable if this message applies. This mirroring of “love” and “hate” is reflected by the photo Smiley carries of Martin Luther King Jr shaking hands with Malcolm X, personifications of those that feel violence is never the answer vs it is to at least a degree acceptable. At one point, Smiley tries to give said picture to Mookie while the latter is telling Vito to hit his brother, essentially as if a reminder to take a more nuanced approach to the situation.
Raheem is an extremely simple character who doesn’t have many scenes. He doesn’t distinguish himself much from the others, notably in a scene where he’s racially insensitive to the Korean couple, just like many other characters. He walks away as one of the more memorable characters for a few reasons. Mainly it’s a strong scene with him near the end, but also his habit of walking around just playing “Fight the Power”. We never hear him play anything else, not even another song by Public Enemy (“Party for Your Right to Fight” and “911 Is a Joke” would not have been bad choices for songs to have been played as well). By doing this thing that you’d think no real person would have the time or patience for, Raheem stops being a character and becomes a message. In universe and out, it seems he might be intending to tell everyone he comes across to fight the power, even though the music won’t always be there, like when his radio runs out of batteries. Matching him with the name of the film, “doing the right thing” is to fight the power and to consider the balance of love and hate, which helps in discerning certain moments of the film on whether we’re supposed to be supporting any given character’s actions. Spike Lee said he wanted the movie to start a conversation and those two points are ideal centerpieces for discussion.
Despite the many distinct characters, the protagonist is still Mookie. While scenes of general racial disharmony among the residents of the street provide necessary texture to the story, Mookie is often at the heart of the tale. One example is that although Mookie in many ways is selfish and disinterested in responsibility, he is very protective of his sister, frustrating those around him in his unwillingness to respect her and her choice. This plot point is not resolved, which could be looked at as commentary on how such a thing is not likely to change or more likely it’s simply a plot hole. Mookie has disdain for non-English speaking people, like how he dislikes the non-American qualities of his girlfriend. Someone telling him to leave after he says something bigoted shows how even a reasonable choice, like wanting a racist to leave you alone, does still reinforce separation of cultures and thus increases tension. Mookie also drives many big moments in the film.
Some favorite scenes include numerous black characters opening a fire hydrant and having fun in the water. These shots evoke police brutalizing black people by spraying them in the 60s. One person even playfully gets another one wet, as if reclaiming and making your own something originally used to oppress. Later, various characters break the fourth wall to spew insults to the audience, which is open for interpretation, but could be seen as a tense metaphorical point where one’s worse biases come out. Smiley and later Sal’s last scenes of the film are excellently symbolic.
SPOILERS
More favorite scenes are when Pino confesses to being “sick of n*****s” and calling the area they’re in “Planet of the Apes”. The moody and dark lighting makes it seem like a confession, as if acknowledging this is something to hide. Adding onto the theme of “family”, Pino is giving all this to his father, as if he thinks he’s the only one who won’t fight back hard at his racism. Maybe he even senses Sal’s prejudices? His view of family is extremely restrictive as that suits him. Pino also supports self-imposed segregation, which is not beneficial for society in the long term. Buggin’ Out tries to get Mookie’s sister Jade, played by Joie Lee, to help in his boycott of Sal’s, seemingly assuming she’d be down for it. Him just before telling Mookie to “stay black” implies he’s trying to take advantage of Mookie’s idea of family, as if all the black people in the area should be supporting him because they’re family in a sense. When Da Mayor saves Eddie Lovell, played by Richard Parnell Habersham, who then lies to his mom to avoid getting in trouble, she finds out and hits him. “Family” here doesn’t save him from what he was probably trying to avoid in the first place, a beating. This also helps to articulate Da Mayor’s character growth. When the mother dislikes Da Mayor advising she not hit her son, he says she’s right, either showing signs of his developing non-confrontational attitude or because he thinks violence is acceptable in some circumstances. For those that might not be aware of the hosing of people back in the height of the Civil Rights movement, wisely there’s a shot of rioters getting viciously hosed at the end. Within the text of the film a comparison can be drawn between the two similar scenes.
Many of the black characters are portrayed as stupid or selfish. An early example is when Da Mayor is extremely insensitive to a Korean couple who own a convenience store for not having the beer he likes. The line that this isn’t “Korea or China or wherever you come from” is reminiscent of white racists that act like every black person is African, without any regard for the fact that not all people of one skin color come from the same place. The full ramble also suggests that Asians are inherently backwards and should be more accommodating to him. He says they’re “asking” a lot of him by “making” him change his beer, reading an aggressive action in what is at most a misunderstanding. The point of this might be to suggest that inane actions or lack thereof can be read as aggressive by people prone to assuming the worst. While various black characters are prone to violence, the Korean characters are not. One character, Buggin’ Out, is pushed by his inability to control his grudge and recruits more people to start a completely pointless conflict. This snowballs into a crowd of people destroying Sal’s restaurant.
None of the characters of any race are exempt from nasty behavior, but with other cases there is some sort of justification included in the film (with one exception). The Korean couple do not seem very hot headed, but yell at someone being racist to them. While the Italians clearly harbor racism already, they only act racist in response to a black person bothering them, with the ill conceived idea that a black person is inherently villainous. Many of the actual black characters do bad things for no real reason, sometimes picking fights. Thus, the message Spike Lee is trying to make is muddled. This demeaning view of black people is shown even in smaller scenes, like when Smiley tries to sell his photos to people. Some pay him just so he’ll leave them alone. Him saying to Mookie “Thank you, black man” suggests Smiley sees Mookie as a demographic. Admittedly, some of this is essentially what Sal does, treating black people as just a group that has money he can appeal to. Another example is when Sal lets some people in past closing because he’s in a good mood and they “love his pizza”, Mookie argues with him and the customers. When those black customers come in they’re loud and slightly disruptive.
After Buggin’ Out’s shoes are accidentally scraped by a white man’s bicycle, other black characters urge Buggin’ Out to start trouble. However, he claims to be too righteous to fight him. The intention of this scene is unclear, especially because this character was a pointless troublemaker in his previous scene. Considering he usually wants to egg people on, here he is not egging on the cyclist, but his friends by not doing anything. Another interpretation is that it is clear the cyclist is looked at as an outsider to the street, so if he was beaten up that could draw unwanted attention from the police, who might look at the incident as worse than just another Brooklyn black person attacking their own. Adding to the earlier scene of a clash between Mookie and Sal’s view of who is in their respected and protected circle, Buggin’ Out and his friends seem resistant to outsiders, as we saw earlier, so after falsely assuming this person is from a whiter area when in fact he’s from Brooklyn like him, they are disappointed due to having to accept that this foreign face is really not so foreign. Their treatment of the cyclist is frankly racist and harsh in a way similar to black people beaten for perceived offenses. Once more this film is turning the tables on something that has victimized black people, like it’s being reclaimed in a twisted way.
Despite the idea that “having your own tribe or family” should in theory be an objective and unwavering thing, it is shown to many times. Pino appears to want to be black, and sometimes is respectful to Mookie, but he still distances himself from black people when needed, even calling them racial slurs in private. It appears the way he’s able to balance this is by saying certain black people he likes are not really black, which doesn’t make sense, but emphasizes the changing “family”. In another example, after Pino yells at Smiley, Sal tries to make things right. He also is very forgiving of the shortcomings of Mookie, who does not respect him. However, all that goes out the window in the ending, with Sal calling Buggin’ Out the n-word for no reason other than anger. While Sal seems to have considered his restaurant and neighborhood his tribe, that doesn’t show when it counts, with his kindness probably subconsciously being a facade. Him giving some pizza to some people before Raheem and Buggin’ Out come in showcases how even when he’s been nice, his racism is close to the surface. He calls the music Raheem plays “jungle music” and says they’re “not in Africa”, which is a much more insulting and unproductive comment than if he hypothetically just called them black or that he would call the cops, which also might cause similar rage.
Despite probably Sal and definitely Pino judging those looting their store, Sal did also destroy Raheem’s property and metaphorically tried to stop his message of “fighting the power”, which makes him the spiritual villain here even if it’s at worse only a little worse than some of the other characters. Sal’s racism appears to be so intense that after Raheem’s murder, he’s unable to empathize with him and says, “You do what you gotta do”, suggesting he means that sometimes the state just has to commit a completely pointless murder because of an adrenaline rush? This strong hatred blinds him from any reason and makes him look like the bad guy, despite Raheem representing some of the worst traits of the characters. He tried to kill Sal and even in general silences discussion due to his loud music. He was essentially forcing everyone to shout and get more agitated. Him letting himself be riled up by Buggin’ Out makes him look idiotic. Raheem acts like he always cared about the lack of black people on Sal’s wall of fame, but he was never previously shown to care. Sal going too far by excusing his graphic and inhumane death makes the issue appear one sided, as often happens with real world conflict. Raheem in turn continues to be what he always was, a message. The boombox being destroyed proves futile due to Sal being so outnumbered, and his death riles up everyone. Raheem being mentioned on the radio the next day suggests he will continue on, though this sense of everything backfiring on Sal would be stronger if Raheem’s message was a bad one. Despite his actions, fighting the power is the right thing to do, so it’s a shame the film ends with an attack and attempted attack on two low stakes stores, one of which is fueled by racism towards another group, instead of some sort of attack on the police, something like the Stonewall riot. Someone even says they’re not going to stand for the police anymore, yet we never see anyone doing anything against those actual aggressors.
While it is the great detriment to our society to claim that people should be separated by race, either legally or informally, and the riot at the end might be seen as a claim that coexisting would lead to these violent outbursts, in fact what this really shows is that this tribalistic view of your own community is both harmful to the continuing of society and even not sincere on its face. Plenty of black characters take issue with others for a variety of reasons. The Italian Pino and Vito also not only constantly are at each other, despite literally being brothers, and don’t ever seem to come together. In fact, Pino at one point citing himself as Vito’s brother seems to be used as his own justification for being so disrespectful to him. Vito is given little recourse in a way of escaping this, other than possibly to do as Mookie said and hit him. Thus, it is the underlying bigotries of the people that is the issue. There are even suggestions that the racial tension will only increase. Earlier on Sal says he doesn’t make mistakes. At another point he scoffs at Pino wanting them to move away from a black neighborhood. Pino’s bigotries are affirmed to himself when the riot occurs, which lightly implies Sal might come to Pino’s point of view.
When Sonny, played by Steve Park, is under threat of his shop being destroyed, he claims to be black. He doesn’t otherwise show an identity with being black, so he probably is using his status as a POC to try to avoid losing his store. He is trying to appeal to the cultural sense of “family”, but once more it doesn’t really seem to matter. The rioters don’t care and only seem to leave him alone after a black person tells them not to. This logic of identity can seemingly be applied to Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Someone that didn’t know who they were while watching the film might find the most significant moments related to them being the photo of them in unison possessed by Smiley, getting along in a captured moment. However, once the movie ends, there’s two quotes by each of them with different ideologies on how to deal with their oppression. Put painfully simply, King is always opposed to violence and X is not. Only taking the contents of the film into consideration, the two Civil Rights leaders seem primarily connected by their skin color as opposed to ideological similarities. This is of course a huge generalization, but works to treat them as representatives, just like characters like Raheem and his “Love” and “Hate” knuckles. While there is justification in the idea of trusting in those that have gone through your hardships, and that they are the ones that will be more reliable in your life, such tribalism also sows division with others. Ending the film on the two leaders thus could be seen as reinforcing this mindset. There is a more optimistic interpretation, though.
The relative calmness of the ending suggests that the air has settled enough for there to be some realization of the brutality of what occurred to those depicted after the fact. Mookie, finally seeming to be more available for his girlfriend and son, mirrors an earlier scene of Ahmad, played by Steve White, yelling at Da Mayor for being a bum. Ahmad says that he would provide for his family. Considering the climax, Mookie would be inclined to “do the right thing” and support his child, for risk of becoming as jaded as Da Mayor and unhinged as the various rioters. Mookie is improving on the bigotries seen by his more loving approach to his son, suggesting an increased acceptance of his non-American identity. Wisely this is not made explicit and is open to interpretation. Mookie’s possible change is foreshadowed by the scene of him rubbing an ice cube on his girlfriend’s naked body. He celebrates each individual part of her body. While he does celebrate her breasts, it is not in a sexualized or exploitative way. The scene acknowledges the inherent beauty of the human body, describing characteristics that are not limited to just one culture or skin color. The depiction of a woman is symbolic for the vessel that continues the human race through pregnancy and that we should celebrate that continual process, which will probably produce a generation with a way of thinking different from the previous. Mookie wants to be part of the future and not the past that Da Mayor knows.
Just like how a real person is unlikely to consciously realize and immediately change their racism, this increased bonding between Mookie and his son, the community over Raheem (as represented by Love Daddy), and Sal giving Mookie his paycheck are just little things that might be a sign of a hopeful future, but could also dissipate into nothing. They’re not conscious, as seen in a powerful moment of Sal reflecting on Mookie and the two parting with mild comradery. Still, the confrontational attitude of Sal and Mookie in the ending and Mookie cursing at his girlfriend in front of their child, among other moments suggest no improvement. The picture of King and X in this light means that even those that disagree ideologically can come together and bond. Anyone can find anyone and have something in common. Even on just a level of oppression, the Korean couple has surely faced racism from the government. Any working person has also faced poor treatment, even if not always on racial lines. Regardless, the ending is stronger with less certainty as to what will happen next. Raheem saying that love will make a comeback essentially spoils that things will get better at least in the movie, despite the claim that the days will get hotter. Then again, you could also look at this message dying with him or being invalid due to that character’s many flaws.
The journey from hate to accepting love, and how they balance, is shown in the dynamic of Da Mayor and Mother Sister. Some scenes of them clearly make use of their older perspectives. Mother Sister finally being more respectful of Da Mayor and thanking him is scored with romantic music that you might see in a 50s film where a young man is shown to have a shot with a love interest. Thus, it’s a shame that their connection could be seen a mile away. The climactic scene of Raheem being murdered by the police and its aftermath are filmed with especially detailed filmic coloring and razor edge focus, having a more attractive visual aesthetic. Us seeing all the characters stand in shock and disbelief over the killing, particularly Mookie’s reaction, are so intense because of how un-intense it is. After a lot of yelling and fighting, now we’re in relative silence. Now the movie has caught up to the older characters, everyone is experiencing the world as they’ve had to feel it, cruelly old fashioned. Da Mayor’s learned non-confrontational attitude is challenged when he becomes confrontational in the end in his attempt to stop the conflict. He then manages to gain affection from Mother Sister, with them both connected by a shared past of hardship. Both also seem enlightened visually, in how they are shot, like at the end where rosy colors light their bodies surrounded by darkness. They also are culturally in how they do not appear as prejudiced as most, with Da Mayor defending another skin color. This point would have been better made if Da Mayor was not racist earlier, but there is the effect of “If he can develop and grow, as can Mother Sister in her disdain for him, then anyone can.”
When violence is committed in the film, it is typically in a way where at least one type of person could see it as justifiable. The most bigoted might even say that black people deserve their treatment from the police, even when fatal, no matter how misguided that would seem to normal people. Even a more mild individual may support breaking someone’s property or yelling due to being aggravated or it being healthy to hit your family. The very ending, where Mookie finally decides to do something selfless and Sal puts aside his prejudice, is a call to look away from those supposed justifications and emotions and just be kind. It’s like they’re so tired of hating, what else is there to do other than be decent?
OVERVIEW
Do The Right Thing really succeeds due to these excellent vignettes about the misadventures and conversations of people living their day. The fact some of those people are caricatures could hold the film back, such as the depiction of black people and some of the insensitive or inconsistent messaging, but it works when you look at the movie as a representation of ideas instead of as completely honest. You basically have to when considering the stylistic depiction of roles like Radio Raheem. This off-kilter tone is demonstrated by phenomenal acting and visual aesthetic, with changes in color palette and angles emphasizing the little flavors of life within.
As an aside, you know that if this film was made today, there wouldn’t have been a cop yelling that they were too aggressive. They have to stick to their own.
The Filme Diary 