REVIEW: Spike Lee's "Do The Right Thing"

DO THE RIGHT THING

Certificate: 18

Directors: Spike Lee

Writers: Spike Lee

Cast: Danny Aielo, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, John Turturro

Running Time: 120 min

Plot

After Buggin’ Out (Esposito) insists the black community of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn boycott Sal’s famous pizzeria. He is not taken seriously at first, however the community soon reconsiders their feelings towards Sal (Aielo), his sons, and the police, as their racist attitudes are revealed as daytime turns to dusk. What begins as a fair and blissful day will soon turn into a heartbreaking disaster.

It's 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and the people of a Bed-Stuy block take to the streets to enjoy the amazing weather; some wanting nothing more than a simple water fight and Double Dutch tournament, others however, wanting a lot more from the day. We meet Buggin’ Out, the neighbourhood’s black activist, whose main aim is to raise awareness amongst the community. Then there’s Radio Raheem (Nunn), who you can find walking around the block blasting Public Enemy’s Fight the Power from his beloved boom box. Mookie (Lee) works the day away delivering pizzas from Sal’s Famous Pizzeria (owned by Sal and his two sons Vito and Pino), a pizza place that has been a winner on the block for years. “I grew up on Sal’s Pizza!” says Ella (Rivers), and this is the same for most of the black people in the neighbourhood; so when Buggin’ Out calls for a boycott of Sal’s Pizzeria because of the lack of black faces on Sal’s all Italian-American wall of fame, they exclaim “you crazy!”, and concentrate on enjoying the rest of their day.

While Mookie sneaks off and abandons work to visit his girlfriend Tina (Perez) and his son, the neighbourhood drunkard Da Mayor (Davis) tries everything in his power to woo Mother Sister (Dee); and three veterans of the block set up plastic chairs and an umbrella observing the street and its inhabitants, things get intense back at Sal’s. Buggin’ Out, Radio Raheem and Smiley (a mentally impaired young black man who sells photos of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King) seem to be the only people on the block who can see the open racism coming from Sal, his sons and the Police. As the former come together at Sal’s and Radio Raheem’s boom box becomes deafening, the story concludes with a regrettable loss that truly shakes the block.

When it comes to Do The Right Thing, Lee has no qualms in ‘telling it how it is’. He elegantly addresses the issue of racism by progressively building up tension between the opposing crowds; collating the stress released from the smaller incidents and using them to produce the big finale. He changes the Bed-Stuy atmosphere and the attitudes of its people so subtly, we almost don’t notice, and this is why the finale works so well. The ending of the film flawlessly conveys the message that Lee is trying to get across to his audience: no matter what society or neighbourhood we live in, when pushed over the limit, even those who strongly disagree with open racism will be forced to choose a side. Though some viewers may believe this view rather risky, the finale proves that in situations like these, we must take responsibility for our actions and the part we play. In the end, no division is better off than the other, and this is so very true to life.

An intelligent study of racism and its effects, as well as a rich and entertaining homage to Brooklyn, New York.