Do the right thing (1989)
Thirty-five years after its release, Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing remains not just a masterpiece of American cinema, but a prescient examination of racial tension, urban life, and the complex interplay between justice and violence. Set during the hottest day of summer in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, the film presents a microcosm of American racial dynamics that feels as urgent today as it did in 1989.
The film's genius lies in its ability to resist simple moral calculations. Through the character of Mookie (played by Lee himself), a pizza delivery man navigating between the neighborhood's Black residents and Sal's Famous Pizzeria's Italian-American owners, Lee crafts a narrative that defies easy categorization. The central question - whether Mookie ultimately "does the right thing" by throwing a garbage can through Sal's window - has sparked decades of debate precisely because it resists simplistic answers.
Lee's direction masterfully employs color and cinematography to amplify the film's themes. The persistent red hue that bathes many scenes serves both as a reflection of the oppressive heat and as a harbinger of the violence to come. Ernest Dickerson's cinematography, with its distinctive Dutch angles and heat-rippled surfaces, creates a visual language of instability and tension. The effect is both beautiful and unnerving, suggesting a world perpetually off its axis.
The film's structure is deliberately episodic, presenting a series of vignettes that build like heat waves toward an inevitable explosion. Through characters like Radio Raheem, Mother Sister, and Da Mayor, Lee presents a rich tapestry of Black urban life that refuses both stereotype and sanitization. Each character carries their own philosophical weight, yet remains deeply human. The local DJ, Mister Señor Love Daddy, serves as a Greek chorus, his radio broadcasts providing rhythm and commentary to the unfolding drama.
At the heart of the film is Sal's Famous Pizzeria, a symbol of both racial integration and underlying tension. The Wall of Fame, featuring only Italian-American celebrities despite a predominantly Black clientele, becomes a flashpoint for larger questions about representation and ownership in American society. Sal's insistence on maintaining this Italian-American shrine in a Black neighborhood speaks to deeper issues of cultural authority and spatial politics.
The film's climactic sequence, triggered by Radio Raheem's death at the hands of police, remains one of cinema's most powerful depictions of how racial violence erupts from the accumulated pressure of daily indignities. Lee's decision to follow this tragedy with competing quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X about violence and justice forces viewers to grapple with fundamental questions about resistance and moral action in the face of systemic racism.
What makes Do the Right Thing particularly remarkable is its ability to maintain multiple perspectives without falling into false equivalencies. The film acknowledges the humanity of all its characters while never losing sight of the larger power structures at play. Even Sal, despite his paternalistic attitudes, is portrayed with complexity - a man whose pride in his business blinds him to the changing demographics and power dynamics of the neighborhood he serves.
The film's technical elements contribute substantially to its thematic depth. The hip-hop anthem "Fight the Power" by Public Enemy serves as more than just a soundtrack - it's a Greek chorus that articulates the underlying tensions driving the narrative. The decision to have characters frequently break the fourth wall, addressing the camera directly, creates an immediacy that implicates the viewer in the unfolding events.
Perhaps most significantly, Do the Right Thing refuses to provide easy answers or moral closure. The morning after the riot, as Mookie confronts Sal over his wages, the film suggests that life continues, unchanged yet irreversibly altered. This resistance to neat resolution mirrors the ongoing nature of America's racial struggles.
The film's visual style deserves particular attention for its innovative use of color and composition. Lee and cinematographer Ernest Dickerson created a distinctive palette that uses warm colors - particularly reds and oranges - to emphasize both the physical heat and the simmering tensions. The film's famous "racial slur" sequence, where characters deliver bigoted monologues directly to camera, remains a masterclass in how formal innovation can serve thematic purpose.
Contemporary viewers might be struck by how many of the film's concerns remain painfully relevant. The death of Radio Raheem at the hands of police officers using an illegal chokehold eerily prefigured numerous real-life incidents in the decades that followed. The debates about gentrification, police violence, and the limits of nonviolent resistance that the film explores continue to dominate American discourse.
Yet Do the Right Thing is more than just a political statement. It's also a loving portrait of a community, filled with humor, warmth, and authentic human interaction. The film's ability to capture the texture of neighborhood life - from the local drunk's philosophical musings to children playing in fire hydrant spray - gives it a richness that transcends its political themes.
The film's ending, with its dual quotes from Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., presents opposing views on violence as a response to oppression. Yet rather than advocating for either position, Lee leaves viewers to wrestle with these contradictions themselves. This refusal to provide easy answers elevates the film from mere polemic to enduring art.
In retrospect, Do the Right Thing stands as both a technical achievement and a moral challenge. Its innovative cinematography, complex character dynamics, and unflinching examination of racial tension have influenced generations of filmmakers. More importantly, it continues to prompt vital discussions about race, violence, and justice in American society.
The film's greatest achievement may be its ability to maintain both its artistic sophistication and its raw emotional power. It's a work that rewards close analysis while never losing its visceral impact. In an era when many films about race relations feel didactic or simplistic, "Do the Right Thing" remains a model of how cinema can engage with complex social issues while maintaining its artistic integrity.
As American society continues to grapple with many of the issues the film explores, "Do the Right Thing" feels less like a period piece and more like a perpetually contemporary work. Its questions - about community, violence, justice, and what it means to "do the right thing" in an imperfect world - remain as relevant as ever. In this sense, the film stands not just as a masterpiece of American cinema, but as a vital contribution to ongoing discussions about race, justice, and community in American life.
