Do
the Right Thing
As
viewers begin watching Do the Right Thing,
we are immediately confronted with bright colors, and quickly learn of the
sweltering heat that has been beating down on this neighborhood. Señor Love Daddy—who often plays the voice of
reason and love throughout the film—is heard over the radio as he tells the
characters and the audience that it’s going to be another unbearable day
outside. It quickly becomes evident that
the heat of the summer and the bright reds, yellows, and oranges seen
throughout sets and clothing serve a double meaning in this film. Not only has the weather been terribly hot,
the people in this neighborhood have also experienced racial heat from one
another. The Italians, African
Americans, Mexicans, Koreans, and Caucasians all seem to battle it out
throughout the film; there is even a powerful scene where we hear racial slurs
and stereotypes being spoken by every race represented in the film. By the conclusion of the film, we realize Lee
has been—among other things—trying to get us to experience a place that is in
between right and wrong, and in between “middle-class values and street values”
as Roger Ebert suggests.
While this film does have some very
formalistic elements in terms of the way the camera is used throughout the
film—low angles, high angles, oblique angles, etc.—and the fact that Spike
Lee’s personality is very evident in Do
the Right Thing, the narrative and plot structure do not necessarily follow
the formalist narrative. The story does
essentially follow the classical paradigm in that there is an exposition,
rising action, climax, resolution, and some form of closure, but although the
plot does follow the classical paradigm, the characters within the film are far
from straightforward. As Desson Howe,
Jim Emerson, and Roger Ebert all point out, this film does unsettle audience
members because there are no characters that are strictly “good” or strictly
“bad.” Even the characters we identify
with most, and consider the protagonist of the film—Mookie—do not necessarily
“do the right thing” in the end. Just
like the narrative style is somewhat difficult to pinpoint exactly, so too are
the characters in the film. One of Lee’s
points is to show, “…the space between right and wrong, justice and
retribution, reason and outrage,” in order to force the characters, and
therefore the viewers, to explore this area of uncertainty, because reality
really is uncertainty where things are not strictly good or strictly bad;
nothing is as clear cut as that, which is also made evident by Lee’s
exploration of different cultures and the way they all experience and react to
different events (Emerson).
One scene that is particularly
moving and also relates directly to one of the over-arching messages of the
film is the scene where Radio Raheem is showing off his brass-knuckle rings to
Mookie. Across Raheem’s right hand is
the word “Love,” across his left hand the word “Hate,” as viewers can see love
and hate are two very human emotions that can go hand-in-hand. Despite their vast differences, love and hate
can exist simultaneously within one person, or be present simultaneously
throughout one community or country. As
Raheem says, “’One hand is always fighting the other hand,’” which is very true
(Do the Right Thing). Not only do
people battle with love and hate for other
people, we also battle with love and hate within ourselves. In this film, there is an external struggle
of love and hate between all the races that are represented in the film; at
times certain characters preach about loving one another, but then turn around
and do not necessarily act what they
have preached. Sal is somewhat notorious
for acting in this way, but many of the characters throughout the film also act
in this fashion and in reality, many of us do not always act the way we tell
others people should act.
Throughout Raheem’s speech about love
and hate, the camera plays a large role in contributing to the power of the
scene. Raheem is shown from a low camera
angle to show his power and dominance, but also the importance of what he is
about to say. When Raheem begins
speaking, the camera switches to a head-on angle where it appears that Raheem
is speaking directly to the audience in a soliloquy style, instead of carrying
on a dialogue with Mookie. This is not
the first time Lee has characters appear to directly address the audience, and
by doing so Lee forces the audience to become more involved in the film. Although the characters in the film do need
to learn a lesson about love and hate and how to better balance the two, it is
more important—and Lee’s goal—that audience members take this lesson away from
the film. Ideally, there would be no
hatred in the world, but since that we do not live in a perfect world where
this can exist; we can strive for only love, but ultimately even just balancing
our hatred can improve the world. As
this scene continues, Raheem’s hands and the words on them take over the
dominant role, adding to the importance of the “love” and “hate” message that
both Love Daddy and Smiley have been preaching throughout the film. The colors in this scene also add to the
overall feelings, as Lee is sure to incorporate the reds, yellows, and oranges
of heat, but also creates haziness in the scene that shows readers the heat of
the neighborhood, as well as the heat created by the confliction over love and
hate present in this neighborhood, and in America.
In the conclusion of the film, although
viewers are left somewhat uncomfortable with many things to ponder
over—including Dr. King and Malcolm X’s powerful words—we do realize that
ultimately this is a film about reality—though not a realist film
necessarily. Lee’s film is not meant to
be purely enjoyable, something to whisk us away from our daily routines
providing us with a form of escape; instead it is a film showing us the reality
of America. Although there have been
some improvements since 1989, racism is still very much an issue in this
country, and in the individual lives of American people. Lee shows viewers how love and hate, two
emotions that are so vastly different, can very easily exist within one person
and one country. We are left with the
words of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X reminding us that hatred and
violence will only continue to breed more hatred and violence, but at the same
time self-defense may not necessarily always be considered “more
violence.” Smiley’s Shakespearean
significance comes out as the messages of these men appear on the screen,
leaving viewers feeling conflicted, pondering everything they have seen
throughout this film.
