Do The Right Thing
By Charlotte Dekle
Spike Lee should’ve earned an Oscar for this movie. It is actual perfection. My mother had been raving about it for years and I finally got to watching it. It came out in 1989 and the world hasn’t seemed to change a bit. All the injustices boiling on a hot day in Brooklyn culminates in a riot. When Spike Lee throws the trash can towards the end of the movie, it is a catharsis and yet doesn’t resolve any of the issues. It is astonishing how little the world has changed since this movie’s release. When you watch it, you’ll understand why. This movie is a must see for film aficionados and people who just want a relevant story. You grow to care about every character on either end of the conflict. The film never preaches about the issues, it just conveys them in a nuanced and fascinating light. The issues being shown in this movie are nothing new, but it seems just as relevant in 2020 as it was in 1989.
logline: On the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.
Source: IMDb
My Favorite Characters:
Spike Lee as Mookie: Mookie may seem like a passive protagonist on the first watch of the movie. But it turns out, that much like the heat, his passion was boiling to a breaking point. Spike Lee portrays this slow burn to a tee. As the lead, he carries the movie on his back, but he is supported by a strong ensemble cast.
Danny Aiello as Sal: the owner of the pizzeria that is the subject of the riots and fights towards the end. Sal is a complex character and Aiello plays it perfectly. He’s not necessarily the villain in the movie because he toes the line very closely.
This movie is rated R. Here’s why:
Moderate Sexual Content
Violence
Extreme Language
Something I liked: The character Radio Raheem has brass knuckle rings that say LOVE on his right hand and HATE on his left. This is an homage to the film The Night Of The Hunter where a character had a tattoo with the words LOVE and HATE. The speech that Radio Raheem gives is also a similar monologue to the one given in The Night Of The Hunter.
Important Fact: Prior to the credits, Lee dedicates the film to the families of six victims of police brutality or racial violence: Eleanor Bumpurs, Michael Griffith, Arthur Miller, Jr., Edmund Perry, Yvonne Smallwood, and Michael Stewart.
Where to Watch: Available for purchase on all major platforms
Image Source: Redbubble