Do The Right Thing (1 Viewer)

[Brian W.]

I think everyone has got it wrong

Well, that's what's great about this film -- it's like a Rorschach test. What you see depends on your own psyche.

I don't know that Spike Lee thinks no one was wrong. When the character of the retarded man -- the only truly inoccent character in the film, and just as significantly, the one character whose race is indeterminate (is he white or black?) -- when he is pinning the pictures up while the building is burning down, Lee seems to imply he is doing the right thing.

 

[Lew Crippen]

I have not seen Mo' Better Blues

Mike, I'd give this a go when you have time. Not that is a great movie, but there is one scene that, for me is so powerful, that I can replay in in my mind.

 

[Tom Ryan]

Mo' Better Blues is the one other Spike Lee film I've seen, and I really enjoyed it. As a musician, it spoke straight to my heart about the anguish and the joy of pursuing what you love. Plus, the tunes were great !

 

[Jason Boucher]

Do you really think Spike felt that pinning the pictures on the burning wall of the pizza place was the right thing? If so, this may change my perspective of the movie. Does this mean that Spike believed Sal needed more brothers on the wall, at all costs? I kinda thought that the whole brothers on the wall thing was meant to make Buggin Out look superficial.

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

I'm not sure the pictures on the wall are superficial at all. They're symbolic of Sal's attitude: he'll take their money but he won't embrace them. Even though all of his clients are black, he honors only Italians.

 

[Seth Paxton]

But exactly what is doing the right thing? Spike Lee planted scenario after scenario where it is impossible to say that one person is entirely right or wrong. You could take everyone from Sal right on down to Radio Raheem. While many of you have judged these characters as being right or wrong, I think that upon subsequent viewings and greater understanding you'll find that no one was right or wrong. No one was perfect. No one was guilt free.

And it wasn't just me saying that, Lew, LaMarcus, Brian had said very similar things.

I don't mind various opinions, but the whole "you guys missed it, wait till you see it more" thing bugs me, especially when you follow it by repeating what's already been said. It seems rather annoying, or maybe I'm just too sensitive.




Besides, I also agree with Brian's point that at least the retarded character was portrayed as "doing the right thing". He was played as the "innocent" I think, as a contrast with the rest of the cast.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Mike, He Got Game is pretty solid actually. It at least covers some interesting issues.
But one of my favs of Spike's more recent works is Clockers. You can see the collaboration with Scorsese (and in the soundtrack I think). They are definately 2 directors coming from a similar place in terms of style, IMO. I've really noticed it lately.
Spike's got a potentially great film coming out this fall, BTW. The 25th Hour has a solid cast and an interesting story. I like it's potential at least, so I'm hopeful.
3 directors do NY like nobody else - Lee, Scorsese and Allen.

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

Seth,
I'm also a fan of Clockers. I think that it's one of his more underrated films. Speaking of Clockers, the montage of crime scene photos during the opening credits is disturbing.

 

[Bryant Trew]

Sorry lew/Seth,

That wasn't meant for "everyone". Like I said, I was in a rush.

 

[Bryant Trew]

One of the things I really loved was how Sal was a contradiction, and his two kids were the embodiment of who he was. One kid was kind and was not racist. Turturro on the other hand was a flat out racist. Spike showed you how Sal was totally kind to the Mayor and every other black person, but when it came down to respecting the culture of his customers (who were 99% black), he just wasn't having it. A beautiful contradiction, best seen when Sal explodes at radio raheem.

Radio didn't trouble anyone - he was about "love" he explained early in the film. All he wanted to do was enjoy his music, which happened to be conscious rap music by the way. Nevertheless, Sal did not want rap music of any kind in his pizzeria. Sal's position was, you can come in to buy my pizzeria located in this 99% black neighborhood, but leave that black music outside. AND don't go looking for any black pictures up on the wall.

 

[Tom Ryan]

Radio didn't trouble anyone - he was about "love" he explained early in the film. All he wanted to do was enjoy his music, which happened to be conscious rap music by the way. Nevertheless, Sal did not want rap music of any kind in his pizzeria. Sal's position was, you can come in to buy my pizzeria located in this 99% black neighborhood, but leave that black music outside. AND don't go looking for any black pictures up on the wall.

I totally disagree with this. Radio came in LOOKING for trouble. He practically acted like a five year old with that radio of his; ask him to turn it off and he'll throw a fit. He had no respect for Sal in his OWN place of business. Respect for other cultures is good, but that doesn't mean everybody's got to listen to rap or worship black people. Respect for someone you know is more important.

Sal was who he was, and he wasn't a racist. The people in the community didn't care if Sal liked rap or had pictures of blacks on his wall, it only became an issue when someone (and this was really just Buggin' Out, if you notice he was the only one who ever really cared) with an agenda began to use it to sow chaos.

 

[Bryant Trew]

IMO Radio Raheem was with his radio like a Wall Street lawyer is with his porche. Both act like 5 year olds with their show off toys. Spike even showed that with Radio and the Italian guy in his car, both were immaturely possesive about getting their toys wet... But that is not the point.

The scene at Sal's was to demonstrate the demand to really recognise blacks in Sal's establishment. It was certainly aggressive, and Spike needed that to provide a reason for Sal's racism to bubble to the surface. Radio and BO were looking for trouble, but they weren't looking for violence. It was Sal who always resorted to violence.

Earlier in the film, when Buggin-Out first asked to see some brothers up on the wall, Sal said that the wall was for Italian American's only, and that BO can get his own place and hang up photos of his bothers, sisters, uncles and cousins. In that statement Sal was showing disrespect to black culture which uses the word, "Brothers". BO then says that blacks spend so much in the pizzeria that they do have a say. He throws a knapkin on the ground at the end of his statement. Sal's response is to grab a baseball bat. BO was making a point in a non-threatening manner, obnoxiously and disrepectful when he threw the knapkin, but Sal grabbing a baseball bat was clearly a sign of his bigotry through his lack of tolerance towards BO's views - not just because he threw the knapkin.

As I said before, Sal's two sons were there to show you the polar opposites of Sal's personality.

Back to the climax, when Radio, BO and Smiley showed up to the pizzeria that night, what were the things that Sal said?

"Jungle Music"
"We ain't in Africa"

Now buggin out says, "We're closing you guinea bastards for good!"

Sals response?

"Black Cocksocker"
"I'll fucking tear your fucking nigger ass"

BO responds with more racist comments, and so does Sal with "YOu nigger mother fucker". Then he takes the baseball bat to the radio. Then when Radio was murdered, he says, "You do what you got to do."

Was Sal a good person? Yes, far more good than most. Did he have some deep-seeded racist beliefs? I think so, and this explosion shows them in full glory. Like I said, his sons were there to demonstrate his two polar opposites. And like most people, 99% which are racist in some way, Radio and BO were Sal's muse to a grand display of bigotry.

 

[LaMarcus]

Man!! This discussion is getting so good.
Bryant I agree with you totally.
Seth, you are my man, you cracked me up with your response to the dude that said we were all wrong, that was classic.lol
Anyway, it is so true when he said that 99% of all people are racist in someway, and if we're talking about Americans, than I'll add 1% to that. But, at the same time it's not our fault, this country was built on racial problems that have been passed down generations. Racism is thought, your not born with it. If you father is in the Klan, you'll mostly likely be in it too, cus that's what he'll teach you.
I've made it a policy to not be racists (but I'm not perfect), and though I feel my mother is not one, I can see how her growing up when she did how she has a little bitterness toward white people and it shows every now and then, when she makes statements like "these honkeys can't drive", I don't like that shit, and I always tell her to stop saying that, cus she wouldn't like it if they we to say "these niggers can't drive". But that's the only time she says that word, and definitely not around me cus she knows I hate that kind of stuff. If you gonna hate "A" person hate'em cus their an asshole not because their white/black first and a asshole second.
Anyway I kinda got of the topic but, I had strong feelings about that. Do the right thing, I think I need to watch that again, so I can have a more accurate interpretation of the film, cus I think I mentioned earlier that I was young (13?) when it came out, so my understanding and feelings toward the film may have changed. Cus the statements of Raheem acting childish sound wrong to me (maybe cus I was a child when I saw the movie), he was like my hero. I wanted to be Raheem back then (or maybe I just wanted his radio. lol)

 

[Seth Paxton]

That wasn't meant for "everyone". Like I said, I was in a rush.

Okay, cool. I probably came off pissed, but its turned out to just be a misunderstanding. No big deal on my end then.
Carry on.

 

[Seth Paxton]

but when it came down to respecting the culture of his customers

I understand the point, but I think it was Buggin' Out who was out of touch. The restaurant is about itself, not the community.

For example, should I expect to see pictures of Larry Bird and John Mellencamp all over the walls of the local Indy Italian place just like Sal's?

It might be their choice to do it, but I wouldn't expect it. If I go in Buca di Beppo I don't cop attitude because a Tony Bennett photo is on the wall. But that place is making money off of Hoosiers, right?

Sal makes money because he makes food that people want to buy. That's all he owes to them. If he made bad food but put up Malcom X photos, would they still come buy the food? Hell no. Now it might benefit his biz to cater to customers even more, but based on Buggin Out's boycott success I don't think Sal was making a mistake.

Sal hasn't been taking charity that he owes something for. Maybe the problem is that while Sal IS living within someone else's culture on a daily basis, the people from the neighborhood aren't receptive to his small bit of culture being a part of their world.

I don't think Sal is perfect, but I do think he is a pretty normal and realistic representation of a good person.

Really, I think Mookie is a good person too. He is making mistakes and is a bit flakey, but he generally is trying to do the right thing.

Actually I think a lot of people are TRYING to do the right thing in the film.

I admire Spike Lee most of all for going out on a limb in showing blacks with typical faults just as much as anyone else, rather than trying to doing something about racism by simply pointing a finger at the other side. Not only that, but he shows a non-black audience a healthy VARIETY of black characters, rather than making them ambigious stereotypes or something (same with the other races). There are plenty of characters for us to identify with on all sides.

That makes it so much more difficult to know where to stand on what happens in the film. Who's side do you take when you see points on all sides? Like making amends between your friends.

Even better is this aspect - what do you think you would have done as any ONE of those characters to make everyone get along? Spike puts the ugly truth right in our face and gives us no comfort zone to squirm our way in to:
Easy solution? Heck, there might not even be ANY solution.

Yet despite that bleak truth there is some layer of hope running throughout the film. That's what makes it an American classic to me.

 

[Tom Ryan]

I've been too tired today to write a good response to Bryant's comments, but I think Seth sums up my feelings quite nicely.

One thing I will address, though...the use of the word "nigger" by Sal. Despite the fact that this is a racial epithet, I really don't think Sal was using it in a racist manner. He knew the word would be hurtful to Radio Raheem and Buggin' Out, that it would insult them in the worst way possible. Sal was absolutely infuriated by the way they were treating him in his own store. This is a man who has served in that Brooklyn community for over 25 years, and who genuinely loves the neighborhood and its people. So while he wasn't above striking a low blow in a moment of anger (with the n-word), I don't think Sal was truly racially motivated. He was just angry.

 

[Bryant Trew]

I understand the point, but I think it was Buggin' Out who was out of touch. The restaurant is about itself, not the community.

For example, should I expect to see pictures of Larry Bird and John Mellencamp all over the walls of the local Indy Italian place just like Sal's?

It might be their choice to do it, but I wouldn't expect it. If I go in Buca di Beppo I don't cop attitude because a Tony Bennett photo is on the wall. But that place is making money off of Hoosiers, right?

Sal makes money because he makes food that people want to buy. That's all he owes to them. If he made bad food but put up Malcom X photos, would they still come buy the food? Hell no. Now it might benefit his biz to cater to customers even more, but based on Buggin Out's boycott success I don't think Sal was making a mistake.

I think that Sal's desire to put up photos of his choosing is legit, because it's his pizzeria. But, I also think that Buggin' Out's desire to have blacks recognized on the wall of fame was also legit, because the pizzeria was dead smack in a black neighborhood, with 99% black patrons. So you have two people who have legitimate points of view.

Buggin Out's way of resolving that point of view was to protest like an asshole. Sal's way of resolving that point of view was taking a baseball bat to Buggin' Out's head.

 

[Matt Pelham]

If you watch the extras on the Criterion DVD, Spike comments on this. He notes that Sal was racist, seen by some of his comments and using phrases such as "these people" when referring to Blacks.

 

[Lew Crippen]

the correct way to see and it is EXACTLY what Lew, Brian, myself and others just said???

Well, I would have said something, but you beat me to it .
But no prob, Bryant, as I agree with much of what you have said. But as to exactly what the title means, it appears to me that Spike demands that we, the audience, decide for ourselves what the right thing is.
To me (and feel free to point out I’ve got it wrong), Spike Lee does not know the right thing himself. There are several reasons why I believe this to be the case (and I’ll probably leave out some), but to begin, early in the film Mookie is advised by ‘Da Mayor, to “always do the right thing.” To which Mookie replies, “that’s it?” And ‘Da Mayor says, “that’s it.” This reference to the right thing is made by a person, likable as he is, who has been unable to do the right thing himself, although by the end of the film he has taken his own advice. And to add to our confusion as to the right thing, Mookie’s departing comment is, “I got it, I’m gone”, and then he immediately does not do the right thing by any number of the character’s standards (Jade, Sal and Tina). It appears as though neither ‘Da Mayor nor Mookie know the right thing. How can the audience?
Further, an obvious subtext of the movie is the differing philosophies of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Lee constantly shows the two approaches side-by-side, and in contrast. Look again at the pictures that Smiley is distributing: King and Malcolm X. The pictures on Sal’s wall and Smiley’s pictures. Is it any wonder that there is a conflict on adding pictures to the wall, when there is an implied conflict as to which pictures from the black community should even go on the wall.
Only in Smiley are the two different views resolved and combined into a (again, implied—I think) perfect whole. And Smiley, is the one character who can be described as an “innocent”, in classic sense. The only person who can synthesize the disparate elements into a whole, as all of the others have distinct views and represent differing philosphies.
So is the right thing King’s or Malcolm’s? There is no easy answer to this question and perhaps no answer at all. Certainly, most whites were comfortable with King’s approach than with Malcolm's, at the time this movie was made, which likely helps explain their reaction to the burning of Sal’s business. Still, (at least in my opinion), time has validated and confirmed much of what Malcolm X taught, to the point that many now take his views as being mainstream (or a mainstream variant).
I realize that this is a pretty long post as to the meaning of the title. But to me, the difficulty that we all have with what the right thing is, is an intentional presentation of differing “right things” by the writer/director.
I’m curious as to what Rich thinks of the thread that he started.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

This is a picture that certainly provokes strong feelings, and I'm not entirely convinced that Jones himself knows really all the depths that it plumbs. What it does say to me is that provoked enough, anyone will resort to race and then all hell breaks loose. Jones seems to be condemning Sal for having his pizzeria in a black neighborhood, but as I think Sal notes, it wasn't a black neighborhood when he put it there. But I'm not sure that he offers any solution other than segregation.....