Do the Right Thing

Title: Do the Right Thing (1989)
Director: Spike Lee
Starring: Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Bill Nunn, John Turturro
Rank: 96

I saw Do the Right Thing when I was a teenager in a History of Cinema class, and from what I remembered from it, I was not looking forward to watching it again. I was actually glad that it came so early in the year so that I could get it done and over with. When I watched it that first time, I walked out of the class feeling low, depressed, and a little dirty. Now, though, after a few years of growth and a little bit of wisdom under my belt, I watched this film with a different perspective. As soon as I saw Do the Right Thing on the list, I told myself that even though I didn't want to see this movie again, that I would watch it with an open mind and try to leave out all of my previous feelings about it.

It is without a doubt that Do the Right Thing will be one of the more intense films on AFI's list. Set in Brooklyn on the hottest day of the year, the subject matter of this movie is as heavy as the temperature is high. It deals with several groups of people- blacks, Asians, Hispanics, Italian-Americans, and one white guy with a stutter, all of whom are mostly portrayed as the utmost stereotypes of their group. It isn't easy to watch this film- there is a lot of anger, hatred, racial slurs, and violence. I am a self-proclaimed egalitarian- I believe in equality for all, that we are all human and no one is better than another. (Some people who do terrible things fall below the human level, but that's a whole other story.) Watching a movie so full of tension was difficult for me, and at times I wanted to shut it off.

The movie has a general orange-yellow color to it, showing the heat of the day and also creating more of an uncomfortable feeling for the audience. Do the Right Thing is blunt about the violence, racism, and hate that exists. Spike Lee (who wrote, directed, and starred in the film) didn't hold back or censor anything, which actually is good. Sadly, racism still exists today, there are still people who do abominable things to another just because of skin color. With all the progress the human species has made in the past one hundred years- splitting the atom, curing so many diseases, amazing technological advances- it's amazing that racism can still be a problem. It is so easy to send a man to the moon, to talk to someone on the internet who lives on the other side of the world, and yet it is still difficult to reach out to a next door neighbor who is a little different from us.

Since this film has brought into light such a difficult and touchy subject so bluntly and forward, I'm going to share something personal that I am very ashamed of: I once held a fear of men of a particular race because of an event that happened to me. A few years ago, I was working as a teller in a bank and one day we were robbed at gun point. The robbers happened to be three young black men, and for a couple of weeks after the robbery, I would always find something else that "had" to be done when a young black man walked into the bank, myself being afraid to help him. It wasn't too long before I realized how irrational and idiotic I was being, and I am very embarrassed that I once held those feelings, even though it was only for a brief period. I know so many people of so many different races, all of them are wonderful people. (I even have members of the family who are black, Asian, and Hispanic! One of my grandfathers even told me that there is African in our bloodline several generations back, among so many other races that run in my veins.) In any group, there will always be good and bad apples. If you were to separate all people into groups- blacks, whites, Asians, Christians, Jews, atheists, blondes, red-heads, homosexuals, heterosexuals, bisexuals, people with curly hair, people with straight hair, smart people, dumb people, beautiful people, ugly people, skinny people, fat people, etc- in each group there would be people who are amazing, kind, and generous and also people who are mean, hypocritical, and manipulative. These traits (whether they are good or bad) don't come from the features that puts them into one group or another, and so it is illogical to base judgments on physical traits.

Thinking about it, though, watching a film like Do the Right Thing can be beneficial. It isn't always a good thing to live in a bubble and deny that violence from racism still happens. The sad truth of it is that there are still people who judge each other all the time based on things that a person can't help, whether it is the color of their skin, their sexuality, their religion, or the shape of their body. It is time we moved past these things, and embraced our differences for the wonderful things that they are. If we were all the same, life would be pretty damn boring. By bringing attention to a situation like this we can move forward to help dissolve the problem. I know it will still be years before racism (or any other negative -ism) is a thing of the past, but one positive step forward is still worth it. Besides, as Confucius once said: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." If we all make a single step, then together we can make that thousand miles.

I'll leave you tonight with this, a quote from Do the Right Thing. Radio (Bill Nunn) is talking to Mookie (Spike Lee), and Radio wears knuckle rings on each hand: on the left, one that says "HATE" and on the right, one that says "LOVE":
Radio Raheem: Let me tell you the story of "Right Hand, Left Hand." It's a tale of good and evil. Hate: It was with this hand that Cane iced his brother. Love: These five fingers, they go straight to the soul of man. The right hand: the hand of love. The story of life is this: Static. One hand is always fighting the other hand; and the left hand is kicking much ass. I mean, it looks like the right hand, Love, is finished. But, hold on, stop the presses, the right hand is coming back. Yeah, he got the left hand on the ropes, now, that's right. Ooh, it's the devastating right and Hate is hurt, he's down. Left-Hand Hate K.O.ed by Love.

Trivia:
•Samuel L. Jackson has a small part as a radio disc jockey, and he is credited as "Sam Jackson."
•Supposedly, President and Mrs. Obama saw this movie on their first date in 1989.

Movies to Go: 96