Do The Right Thing: Racial Aspects That Happens In The Neighborhood

The first time I saw “Do the Right Thing” was in my English class. Do the Right Thing (1989), directed by Spike Lee, the movie take place in a hot day of summer in a neighbourhood of Brooklyn, this is not an action movie with the typical violence, drugs, and firearms, there are people living in this neighbourhood, people with problems living with another people with their own problems, and although this situation the sense of community was there.

The majority of the neighbourhood is black, but Sal’s Famous Pizzeria has been in the same corner since before the neighbourhood changed, in a part of the movie Sal says that “these people have grown up on my pizza.” This scene continues with Sal sitting down and explaining to his son that he has had a pizzeria for over 25 years, and that has seen the community grow up with his food. The words Sal confirm the change of the neighbourhood since he arrives. And in a nearby store that was closed for years, a stand of fruit and vegetables was open by a Korean family, and it looks like nobody knows the Korean family, but Sal and his sons had been there since de beginning, they know everybody and everybody knows them. Sal is a tough businessman that just wants to get along and administrate his pizza store, one of the Sal sons is vocal racist but the other one is more open toward blacks, the person that acts as the voice of Sal in the community is liable local youth named Mookie, who also works for Sal as a pizza delivery and acts as a messenger of news. Mookie is good at his job, but he knows that there is no future in it, He dreams to provide something better to his family. Eventually, we meet Da Mayor, I kind of man that knows everything and everybody, Radio Raheem young guy that represents his style of life with music.

This movie focus on racial aspects that happens in this neighbourhood between black, Hispanic, Korean, Italians, etc. this movie it’s not filled with brotherly love, but no does not hate, either. The use of colour in this movie was amazing, I notice warm tones, bright oranges, and reds that represent the hot summer, the red colour in the first scene that pop up got mi attention, as well the scene where the men’s sitting transmit a joyful vibe, at the beginning the scene of the men look out of the place but as the tension rises in the film, the conversation between them acted as a break from intense arguments. One of the warnings that the film was in the beginning, almost every character that came to the scene mentioned about the weather, starting with the radio announcer, it will be a hot day he tells in the radio station, which then cuts to Mookie walking his sister up tells her the same thing, the representation of problems in how hot the day felt was like a time bomb that was going to explode soon or later.

Do the right thing it’s a powerful and unforgettable illustration that how hate against other direct us to a destructive path and the best way to fight racism and hate is with brotherly love, way people solve violence and hate was with more violence and hate, it’s very realistic in the way how real people live and solve problems and try to survive in the Brooklyn of that time, full of racism and hate, I would highly recommend.