"Do the Right Thing"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how Spike Lee demonstrates his filmmaking prowess in his 1989 film "Do the Right Thing". It examines how, as with most of Lee's work, race relations are central to the story and how with "Do the Right Thing", Lee presents a bleak view of the nature and future of cross-cultural relationships in urban America. It looks at how the protagonists Mookie and Sal, despite their differences, reveal a remarkably similar worldview as the film progresses,especially in their inability to resolve the racial tension that emerges in the film. Mookie and Sal develop a decent professional relationship, yet both retain lingering feelings of resentment toward the 'other'. It shows how Spike Lee does a remarkable job portraying mutual feelings of 'otherness' in "Do the Right Thing" and how the writer/director/actor shows that racism exists on both sides of the fence.

From the Paper:

"One of the main themes and motifs in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing is impasse. Sal's Wall of Fame symbolizes this cross-cultural impasse, just as the Kashmiri boarder represents it on the subcontinent. In Do the Right Thing, both the African-Americans and the Italian-Americans have a valid point: both want to retain their ethnic and cultural identities without succumbing to oppression and pressure. The patrons of Sal's are mostly black; therefore, Buggin' Out feels miffed that Sal would only showcase Italian-Americans on his wall. Yet Sal does not include photos of Asian-Americans either, even though there are Asians in their community. Sal's choice to display Italians on his wall might be borne of a lingering superiority complex, but Buggin? Out chooses to view the act as a sign of hatred and intolerance rather than mere ethnic pride. The conflict between India and Pakistan exhibits similar sentiments. Kashmir, like Sal's pizzeria, becomes the battleground of racial tension. Both Indians and Pakistanis view the property as theirs. Similarly, both the blacks and the Italians view the area as theirs. The characters in Lee's film would do well to practice Manchanda's idea of reconsidering maps and geographic boundaries."

More papers on "Do the Right Thing":

• Film Review # 128649 : "Analysis of Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing"
• Analytical Essay # 123063 : "Do the Right Thing" and Values"
• Film Review # 45728 : "Do the Right Thing"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: