Jocelyn Hetrick Do the Right Thing

Jocelyn Hetrick

Dr. Permenter

Film Analysis

Do the Right Thing

Desson Howe wrote, “it's clear that everyone in the movie could use a cold moral shower by the end of the day.” I think that if everyone took the time to talk and understand each other the finale could have been avoided all together. Desson also refers to each of the characters with slurs to who they are. This I believe is part of the problem, throughout the entire film the characters were dissing each other and throwing out racial slurs. Jim Emerson discusses the concepts of love and hate, which I think is part of the basis of the whole film. After Radio Raheem is killed, Mookie throws the trash can and screams hate, as if he is choosing. I do not think that this was the “right thing” if Mookie did nothing or told everyone to go home then situation might not have escalated. However, faults can be found in every character’s actions. Each one of them could have done something throughout the whole movie to prevent it. For instance, Sal could have been nicer to everyone and explained his reasoning to why he did not want music in his place. I completely agree with Ebert when he writes that the film “doesn’t ask its audiences to choose sides; it is scrupulously fair to both sides.” We see the view of the town and their feelings towards Sal and the Koreans, we get to understand why they wish to boycott and it is justified, but then at the end we see Sal and see his viewpoint. However, if Sal could have simply put up the pictures in his restraint everything could have been avoided.

The first thing I noticed about this film was all the bright colors. I love the composition that Lee used. During the scene where Da Mayor and Mother Sister argue I liked how he used the tilt angle to film Da Mayor up high showing him weak, and Mother Sister up in her window form a low angle.

The riot scene at the end was very fast paced and scattered. I think Lee did this to give the audience the feeling of what was happening. Also when Radio Raheem is killed and thrown on the ground the camera is on the ground filming up towards the police officer giving him “power” as he kicks the deceased. I think this shot really shows what things were like and what did actually happen back around the time the movie was produced. I really liked the shot from the back of the police car through the window, showing the perspective of the man inside and showing the audience what was going on from a different angle. After the cars leave the scene the camera pans across the bystanders as they repeated say murder and how they are not safe in their own neighborhood. This shot shows the stunned and upset feelings of the bystanders. They are all so beside themselves that they just stand there staring in the distance. Each one of these shots and movements lets the audience not only see what is happening but feel it too.

At the very beginning of the film in the pizzeria the camera is already set up as Sal says “come in Mayor” and we can see Mookie and Pino in the background of the shot and Sal in the right half and we watch as Da Mayor walks in from the sidewalk.

Overall i really enjoyed the film. At first i was extremely bored with it and did not understand the plot. After awhile i began to understand the complexity and what Lee was trying to do. The riot scene was so skillfully done with the angles and movements giving a feeling of terror and hate to the audience. It projected the feelings of the characters out of the screen to the audience.