English 214-88
Blog Post 3: Do the
Right Thing
In the
first review that we were told to look over, written by Desson How of the
Washington Psot, I found that the paragraph in the middle had some very
important details for the film. Sal’s Famous Pizzeria on Stuyvesant Avenue sets
the scene for the whole movie. It introduces us to the most important
characters in the film and also gives us so incite to what they really are
like. IN the final scene in the Pizzeria, the arguments that take place are
conducted in a way, by the director (Spike Lee), that leaves it open for
interpretation by the viewers; there isn’t one way that the argument should be
taken.
In the
next review that we were told to read, written by Roger Ebert, it became clearer
to me that the director was trying to cover a handful of different controversial
issues. At the time of its release, “Do the Right Thing” had become the most
controversial film and that was just the review of the people that had seen the
pre-release. Some of the reactions included confusion, disgust, troublesome or
trouble seeking. The writer hits on a good point when he says, “ those
reactions are simply different ways of avoiding the central fact of the film,
which is that it comes closer to reflecting the current state of race relations
in America.” In the review he hits on a point that I didn’t find in the review,
we he talks about the movie as a whole. At the time, there were movies that
were out showing all the gun and drug violence that goes on in the urban city
neighborhood; but this film was able to stray away from that and look at it in
a different light. It showed the neighborhood for what it really is, a
neighborhood, where people know there neighbors and accept one another for what
they really are.
A
certain scene in the movie that showed the use of camera angles to show power
and dominance was the scene with the Air Jordan’s. Yeah this scene was a little
vulgar and offensive but it was easy tell who was in power and who wasn’t. Buggin’
Out was showed to be in power the whole time just because of how the camera was
placed below him, shooting up at him making him look bigger than he actually
was. The scene is cut from being a block on the street, to this little area on
the sidewalk to make this white guy feel small and hopeless.
The
scene with Spike Lee and Sal the pizzeria owner gives a good understanding of
mise en scene. It’s not the biggest set of area in the movie, but the meaning
behind this scene shapes the entire film. It gives everyone that is watching
the understanding of the racial tension that the director is trying to cover.
The way that the Mookie is asking Sal all his favorite people in the world and
they all happen to be black, but at the same time he says that he is racist and
doesn’t like black people? I think this is a great way that Spike Lee was able
to show people that their opinions could be very similar to Sal’s but they don’t
seem to make much sense.
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