Do The Right Thing Analysis

Do The Right Thing is a fictional narrative that surrounds an Italian restaurant in the middle of a black neighborhood. Do The Right Thing does something that no other film was able to do, which is, “… present the aspects of the culture - language, dress, attitude, music - in a realistic context…” (Donalson 23). Donalson was correct - this film didn’t just serve to depict the random lives of a community, but rather the political and racial tension their community (and, I imagine, the rest of the United States) is undergoing in the 1980s. It’s a very special film because it doesn’t need to introduce the audience to the hip-hop culture and it most certainly does not romanticize it. Do The Right Thing shows the racial tension and lack of opportunity the black community was facing during the eighties while overcoming the African American stereotypes shown within the documentary Classified X. One of the more compelling scenes within
the film is the three older African American men sitting across from a Korean business. The scene starts off with an uncomfortable faceoff between two white police officers driving by, while the three black men stand by. There is obvious contempt for each of the respective groups, which shows not only the tension between the two races but the tense relationship between black people and the police force, which only comes to a head later on in the movie. In response to seeing their Korean businessmen across the street, they say things such as, “bet they haven’t been off the boat a whole year before they opened up their own place” (Do The Right Thing 00:39:56-00:39:59). Their envy of the Korean family is tangible, and just goes to exemplify Paula Massood’s assertion: “… [the film] shows signs of the effects of economic shifts, such as rising rates of unemployment…” (qtd. In Donalson 23). This scene shows the “us versus them” political and economic mentality that can be seen throughout the film, which is what is happening when the African American men are showing spitefulness towards their economically better off Korean neighbors.
Another example of this mentality in a way that not only infuses politics but the hip-hop scene is when Radio Raheem goes up and down the streets of the town playing “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy.
The lyrics are a representation of the African American struggle for equality, and the fact that Raheem is choked to death by a police officer at the end of the film only drives home the need for that fight to be even more present in the lives of American citizens. Before this happens, however, there is a striking scene within this film that surrounds Raheem and Sal’s Italian restaurant. Johnson asserts, “Radio Raheem’s Public Enemy not only imposes music upon Sal’s place, it also infuses the popular neighborhood hangout with unwelcome social criticism from a young, urban black male perspective” (26). In the last minutes before his death, Sal shows him contempt for Raheem’s music (and contempt for the African American culture) by smashing the boombox. This displays suppression of African American culture through the silencing of hip-hop
music.
Though a silent character, Raheem was an immensely powerful figure. In Classified X, Melvin Van Peebles asserts that black men throughout Hollywood’s history have been made out to be fools, people without significant thoughts or tangible ideas, figures only added to films for comedic relief (Classified X). Raheem, however, is the exact opposite of this. He allows his music to speak volumes, his tough persona and dominance over the Latinos in the community allowing his character to be seen and taken very seriously. Mookie also defies stereotypes laid out in Classified X. The most prominent stereotypes he overcomes are the same ones Raheem does, only in a different way. Mookie proves himself to be a caring individual when he converses with Smiley, a mentally slow man. Mookie speaks kindly to him, offering help while other characters and groups in the movie ignore the man.
Do The Right Thing defies stereotypes within films while also displaying the lack of opportunity and racial tension through avenues such as hip-hop music. Though it is important to remember that this is a fictional film, it is equally important to remember that such extreme actions such that took place in this film, such as the police brutality and hate directed towards different races, are littered throughout American history. This movie encompasses those real fears and societal shortcomings without ever imposing the director’s or actor’s personal beliefs on the viewers, which is more than can be said about early films that featured black actors.