 |
| Courtesy of Universal |
Considering
the flick – recently voted the 96th greatest of all time by the American Film
Institute – celebrated its 25th anniversary in July and remains just as
relevant decades later, it’s certainly an appropriate addition to the ongoing
series. However, it’s unquestionably the most polarizing selection so far.
The
nontraditional narrative (one of the writer-director’s trademarks) is
off-putting for some, as is the blunt, uncompromising manner in which the
controversial Lee conveys his message. Still, just because some viewers may
bristle at that message doesn’t mean it’s not true. And even though it’s 2014,
recent events prove there are still plenty of people who need to hear it.
As
the opening lyrics of Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” – the film’s ubiquitous
anthem – indicate, Do the Right Thing takes
place in 1989, on the hottest day of the year. Lee narrows his focus to a
single street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, showing how the rising
temperature causes already-tense relations among the racially and culturally
diverse citizens to escalate, until the neighborhood explodes in violence and
tragedy.
The
audience’s entry point into this world is Mookie (Lee), a delivery man for
Sal’s Pizzeria, who encounters most of the neighborhood’s memorable characters
throughout the course of the day. At first glance, his many conversations with
Sal (Danny Aiello), Sal’s sons Pino (John Tuturro) and Vito (Richard Edson),
and the customers make the first 90 minutes of the movie seem like a series of
loosely connected vignettes. The exchanges are always compelling, intelligent and
often blisteringly funny, but not exactly a propulsive narrative.
As
the day goes on, however, there’s a sense that the everyday grumbling and
good-natured ribbing is steadily transforming into something altogether different.
Something more dangerous. Buggin’ Out (Giancarlo Esposito), a longtime customer
of Sal’s, decides to boycott the pizzeria over its Wall of Fame, which only features
photos Italian celebrities rather than faces that resemble the majority of
Sal’s paying customers.
Radio
Raheem (Bill Nunn), who walks around the neighborhood blasting “Fight the
Power” on his giant boom box, also isn’t happy with how he’s treated at Sal’s.
Nor is he pleased that the Korean grocer doesn’t speak English well enough to
understand he wants to buy fresh batteries.
Mookie
is constantly fighting with Pino, an unabashed racist desperately trying to
convince his father to sell the restaurant and move to another neighborhood. Pino,
in turn, tries to convince his brother Vito that he’s wrong to place so much
trust in a race other than his own. And they all clash with Sal, who keeps
trying to get everyone to shut up, stop fighting and do their jobs.
Meanwhile,
radio host Mister Senor Love Daddy (Samuel L. Jackson, in one of his first big
roles) and neighborhood wino Da Mayor (Ossie Davis) serve as the voices of
reason, trying in vain to calm things down before the tensions reach a tipping
point.
Spike
Lee has gained a reputation as an agitator, someone who constantly inserts race
into conversations where it doesn’t belong. But, as his most acclaimed work
proves, it’s not unnecessarily inserting race when you’re just pointing out
what’s been there all along.
Each
of the characters in Do the Right Thing is affected by racism in some way,
whether they’re on the receiving end or they’re dishing it out – often without
realizing it. That’s what makes the film so true, despite Lee’s kinetic,
hyper-realistic shooting style. The vast majority of people who espouse racist
ideas don’t believe they’re racists. Real life doesn’t work that way – there’s
no discernible good guys and bad guys.
Lee’s
film works the same way. Aside from Pino – whose virulent racism is still
presented with an undercurrent of complexity, as evidenced by his favorite
athlete (Magic Johnson), actor (Eddie Murphy) and singer (Prince) – the
characters aren’t easily separated into protagonists and antagonists. They all
have valid concerns about the world they live in; they just so happen to raise
them in confrontational ways on the hottest day of the year.
One
gets the impression that if these issues came up in March or October, the film
might’ve ended quite differently. But, obviously, that’s not Lee’s intention. He
uses these colorful, fascinating characters to prove that life is complicated,
and people don’t respond well when forced to deal with the unavoidable fact
that the world isn’t (no pun intended) black and white like they always
believed it was. Reality is gray.
That’s
why – aside from the colorful clothing and hairstyles – Do the Right Thing is
just as relevant today as it was 25 years ago. Recent events prove that we
haven’t come as far as we like to think we have when it comes to race relations
in this country. Granted, it’s an issue most people don’t want to talk about.
But
when New York City police kill an unarmed black man for selling cigarettes
illegally, using a choke hold exactly like the one that ends Radio Raheem’s
life, almost to the day of the film’s 25th anniversary, it’s an issue we need
to talk about. When the death of a young black man at the hands of Ferguson, Mo.
police incites the kind of intense arguments the country engaged in back in
August, it’s an issue we need to talk about.
Do
the Right Thing should be a blueprint for those conversations. It’s not preachy
and it acknowledges that the vast majority of people are complex individuals
with their own perspectives on a sensitive issue. But the only way to address
these very real problems in our country is to talk about them seriously and
respectfully. We don’t need to instinctively take sides and we don’t need to
jump to conclusions. That way madness lies.
(Got
a suggestion for a future installment of Catching Up on the Classics? E-mail me
to share your thoughts.)
Do
the Right Thing is rated R.
Grade:
A
Comments
Post a Comment