"Do the Right Thing" (1989) is a comedic drama about racial tensions in Brooklyn, New York. There are several notable characters in this film, but Mookie, played by Spike Lee, has the spotlight. When I originally watched this film almost 20 years ago, I felt a sense of pride that the black community stood up. When watching it today, I feel anger in my compassion because I sincerely believe that had everyone spoke with a little more respect to one another, the tension would have been slighted resulting in an alternate ending. Overall, my emotions don't affect my opinion of this being an outstanding film.Spike Lee is an amazing writer and director that puts the hard truth on the big screen for the world to take notice. This film is the epitome of not only what was happening then, but what is still happening today. The acting was mostly spot on for the era and location, but the exception is Spike Lee himself. He appeared very stiff and out of place through most of the film, but it didn't detract from the message. His multiple uses of unconventionally canted shots added a complex level to the scenarios that adds tremendously to the story. Even though watching this film now hurts my heart, it is a classic that should be viewed by everyone, particularly those who need an inside look into lower class minority communities.

I saw this movie when it first came out, and remember thinking how good it was. I saw it again today, and realized that while the themes it tackles are important, it really isn't as great a film as I remembered. Filled with stereotypes (despite places in the film that seem to be mocking how people stereotype one another), the dialogue is stiff, unnatural, and again, like someone's impression of stereotypes of Brooklyn street slang. Most of the performances consist of various people screaming bad lines at one another. I really wish this was the movie I thought I saw in 1989.

The reputation 'Do the Right Thing' gained upon its release as a racially incendiary picture has defined both the film itself and the reputation of its director and star, Spike Lee. Its rather pessimistic depiction of urban race relations had many people fearing it would incite the African-American community to riot. Their main qualm was that a piece of 'white property' was destroyed because of a riot that the film's main character incites. The same people, however, mostly forgot that a black man lost his life to police brutality first. Lee took, and still takes, offense against those mainstream critics who almost seemed to both suggest that black people could so easily be persuaded to destroy public property and that white property took precedence over black life. That critics also complained about the way the film portrayed a black, 'ghetto' community in a reasonably positive light only served to aggravate Lee further.And now in the era of increased accusations from conservatives towards liberals for 'race baiting' - educating or highlighting instances of institutional racism -, the tensions 'Do the Right Thing' created at the end of the 80's have become thematically relevant and rich to the contemporary viewer as they were during that earlier, quite neo-conservative decade. But despite Lee's reputation for creating pictures that flirt with Black militancy and supremacy (I personally find this not so common among his films as in his personality), DTRT's framing as 'a black picture' does a disservice to the universality of its perspectives, from the rough but benevolent white pizzeria owner Sal (Danny Aielo) to the lazy and rather selfish but lovable protagonist Mookie (Lee). The relationship between these two is fundamentally the key focus of the film, with the giant and seemingly threatening Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) the lighting rod that tests their already fragile friendship. By the end, we have seen both men's point-of-view and are hurt not only by the death and destruction that has snowballed from what was originally a minor complaint from the belligerent Buggin' Out (an unrecognisable Giancarlo Esposito), but also by how the conflict has divided them for reasons that to both men seem so unfair.Lee has been clear that he sides with his own protagonist by the film's end, and the film itself supports this by how Mookie ultimately loses little compared to Sal (though unlike the friend Mookie loses, the pizzeria Sal loses is recoverable). However, Lee rather optimistically has the two cautiously reconcile, and with that a hope for tranquility and even equality between the two, and by extension Blacks and Whites of the US, can be inferred.The film remains one of the best examinations of American racial politics. Its dialectical style, especially its subversion of political melodrama archetypes (the sympathetic minority victim, the brutal racist, etc.), demonstrate an intent not to manipulate audiences into feeling pity for black people but to get them to think about why these humans of both races, with all their flaws and prejudices, are the way they are.As the film ends with two juxtaposed quotations from MLK and Malcolm X on the ethics of violent residence to oppressive regimes, we are left to wonder, with all that we have seen and heard, how we can respect each other as human beings without compromising our autonomy. Such a query should be so simple, but the world keeps making it so complicated.

Full of style, color, and humor, Spike Lee's masterpiece "Do The Right Thing" takes place during the hottest day of the year in a Brooklyn neighborhood. It explores the issue of racism in a powerful and brutal way, showing how every character has their own prejudices, and how some characters are far more villainous and hateful than others. Eventually, this hatred explodes into a finale that can only be described as shocking and chaotic.For a large portion of the film, I was smiling and laughing at all of the joyfulness and comedy that is packed into this somewhat depressing story. Although it's about a strong and mature topic, the film itself is entertaining, hilarious, and likable. But, it's still a very heavy film at times as well.Spike Lee portrays racism in a very powerful and meaningful way, and he doesn't just show whites oppressing blacks, which is refreshing to see, since it's a cliché in a film about race to show that all of the black characters are saints who don't have prejudices of their own. Pretty much every main character in "Do the Right Thing" has their own prejudice, some of them have far more mild prejudices than others, and some of them are far more kind than others. Characters like Radio Raheem and (especially) Buggin' Out are very hateful against the whites, and then characters like Pino are very hateful against the blacks. There's also characters who hold strong prejudices against Asian characters, and elderly characters. Overall, the film shows that hate can be inside of anybody, and can be directed to anybody.Unfortunately, it seems like many people seem to be interrupting the film all wrong. Looking through message boards and reviews, some people may have the idea that "Do the Right Thing" supports the actions of Radio Raheem and Buggin' Out, but they're wrong. Based on the film I watched, the Italian pizzeria owner Sal is actually supposed to be somewhat likable. He cares for and likes his customers, unlike his son Pino, a very racist and unsympathetic character, and Pino comes across as the polar opposite as his very likable and friendly brother Vito. Sadly, Sal unleashes all of his hatred at the end of the film, when Buggin' Out and Radio Raheem unleash their own hatred. Mookie, a very likable black character, is also pushed to the limit at the end of the film. So both Sal and Mookie are good people who are pushed to their limit and unleash hatred, while characters like Da Mayor and Vito are never really filled with hate and remain likable for the entirety of the film, and other characters like Buggin' Out and Pino are very racist and unlikable for the entirety of the film.At least, this is how I interpreted the film.