Do the Right Thing--------Victoria Culp blog

         The reviewer, Howe, from the Washington Post points out how the hip hop number from the group Public Enemy is used heavily in the film.  Did Spike Lee use this hit, “Fight the Power” in a positive or negative connotation?  The entire story clearly shows the negative effects of solving things violently, from a white and black perspective.  Therefore, does this angry hip hop song used repetitively enforce the violence? 

        

         Like Emerson points out, when Mookie throws the garbage can in Sal’s store, does he do the right thing?  I am sure that Lee intentionally created this film to let people, depending on their race/ethnicity/background/etc., create their own opinions in response to the end of the movie.  Lee truly showed us who Mookie and Sal were as separate human beings.  Viewers could basically either love or hate the two characters.  Opinions shifted, I’m sure, when Sal ruined the boom box because of the loud music and when Mookie threw the garbage can through his own place of employment.  Viewers are still left pondering, were both of these acts a good idea? 

         Ebert’s review was in my humble opinion, the most insightful.  He mentions that some reviewers have stated that the film almost condones violence.  Ebert points out that this film’s story, characters, and film crew merely state life’s cruel trials in an unfair road.  It merely shows how these good people, have a bad thing happen to them and how they all react.  I enjoyed this aspect of the film the most.  It gave insight into several people’s lives and how they dealt with the hard times and the good times. 

         The oblique angles in the beginning show an awkward relationship with Mother Sister and the Mayor.  As the story continues, the angles become less oblique with this unlikely pair.  The low angle on the intellectually disabled character who runs around the neighborhood selling pictures of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X.  These angles show the underestimated power and value of his message to “do the right thing”

         In the very beginning when the film when [love] is giving a wake up call, there are distinct red, orange, and yellow color patterns in all of the scenery.  These hot colors show the ever-rising temperature in the poor, black Brooklyn neighborhood and the way other matters will heat up as the story goes on.  These colors push the story to the riot in the end of the film.