The other day I finally got around to seeing Spike Lee's (probably) most critically acclaimed film, Do the Right Thing. It was a smart move mainly because I thought it was great and really enjoyed it, but also because I got it in just before Spike came to Brown to give a talk. While nothing he said was really too noteworthy, he made some comments about the film that I've been thinking a lot about and will come back to later. Anyways, here are some thoughts on it, if you don't want the plot ruined don't read this, although I wouldn't say that knowing the plot would hinder one's enjoyment of this movie.
Spike said during his talk that what he likes to do in his films (and this is tragically the only of his I've seen so far) is show the "vibrancy" of urban black life. This movie definitely gets that across and it was one of its greatest strengths. The plot is pretty simple and I think, although I'm not sure, that Lee kept it that way purposely so you don't get too caught up in anything. For example, Mookie's faltering relationship with his girlfriend and their young child is something that one might expect to get investigated in great depth and is not. I don't think this is a failure in writing, however, because instead you get to focus more on day to day life in Bed-Stuy, which none of us (unless this blog has really been catching on beyond our group of friends) knows shit about. The colors are bright, almost coloring over the abject poverty that is equally obvious, and you get a feel of the characters that inhabit the block where the entire film takes place. Da Mayor is a great character, kind of a typical old nice drunk, and I particularly love his most poignant and simple line when he advises Mookie, "Always do the right thing."
My favorite, however, was Radio Raheem, a hilariously flamboyant guy seen wandering around the neighborhood blasting his huge boom box. He also provides one of the best sequences in the film, when he tells Mookie the story of his left and right hands, which have brass knuckles on them that say "hate" and "love" respectively. This scene is just so cool, especially because it made me really think a lot about what exactly protest movements are all about. The civil rights movement obviously had a lot of success because of love, but at the same time it had to resort to (and in many cases I think rightfully so) to violence. Its not as powerful, but I just can't resist giving you the quote right here, because for me there are a lot of cool things in this movie that I'd love to discuss with those of you who have seen it, but nothing is more important than this conflict in the film:
Then someone asked him at the lecture if Mookie "did the right thing", to which he gave an emphatic yes. To paraphrase his argument, lots of people who think it wasn't right to start the riot show a valuation of white property over black life, and that clearly pissed him off a lot. Now to his credit, this is a legit complaint. I looked back at some reviews and some of them are just stupid, saying that the film preaches violence and support destruction of white property while not giving proper recognition to the fact that what started everything was THE POLICE KILLING SOMEONE BECAUSE HE WAS BLACK! Absurd. What I didn't like at all about Spike's response, however, was his implicit rejection of the notion that there are white people out there who are going to feel uncomfortable watching this but are really on his side in all of this.
Like I said, I felt uncomfortable but wasn't sure why. This was all stage two. Stage three is where I resolved this. I think the movie is good for people who can't relate to the plight of blacks and others in the ghetto BECAUSE it makes you feel uncomfortable. Unfortunately I am sure tons of people miss this, but when I felt uncomfortable I wanted to figure out why. The reason why is because I can't grasp the life portrayed enough to really be able to fully feel good about the riot. So even after rational evaluation during which I came to the conclusion that Mookie did the right thing, I still couldn't really get into the violence because I lack the background.
To grow up in the environment Spike portrays is something I'm trying to learn about and relate to, but it will take a long time. None of us can even begin to imagine what it's like living in fear of the police, the very people meant to protect us. I think any really meaningful dialogue between blacks and whites rests on people taking initiative to figure things out about each other's situations. Not just watching a film like this and saying, oh that's what it's like in Bed-Stuy. Thinking about it and internalizing it and then trying to meet people in real life, etc. Anyways, I suggest everyone check this Spike Lee joint out, it'll provoke your thoughts and is good for some great laughs and music as well.
My favorite, however, was Radio Raheem, a hilariously flamboyant guy seen wandering around the neighborhood blasting his huge boom box. He also provides one of the best sequences in the film, when he tells Mookie the story of his left and right hands, which have brass knuckles on them that say "hate" and "love" respectively. This scene is just so cool, especially because it made me really think a lot about what exactly protest movements are all about. The civil rights movement obviously had a lot of success because of love, but at the same time it had to resort to (and in many cases I think rightfully so) to violence. Its not as powerful, but I just can't resist giving you the quote right here, because for me there are a lot of cool things in this movie that I'd love to discuss with those of you who have seen it, but nothing is more important than this conflict in the film:
Radio Raheem: Let me tell you the story of "Right Hand, Left Hand." It's a tale of good and evil. Hate: It was with this hand that Cain iced his brother. Love: These five fingers, they go straight to the soul of man. The right hand. The hand of love. The story of life is this: Static. One hand is always fighting the other hand, and the left hand is kicking much ass. I mean, it looks like the right hand, Love, is finished. But hold on, stop the presses. The right hand is coming back. Yeah, he got the left hand on the ropes now, that's right. Oh! It's the devastating right and Hate is hurt, he's down. Left-Hand Hate KOed by Love.That is badass. And it means something. It is this struggle that is at the core of the film, because at the end Mookie witnesses the police kill his friend and, in Spike's opinion (I know this because he said so, not speculation), he does the right thing, inciting a riot resulting in the destruction of Italian Sal's pizzaria, where he worked. Throughout the movie Mookie has acted with a lot of restraint, so this came as a shock to me. Now I went through three phases trying to understand this ending. At first I was like, this is a little bizarre to me, these aren't great people (Sal and his two sons who run the joint), but they weren't overt racists or asshole except for one of the sons, and Sal gives Mookie shit but still pays him fine and to be fair Mookie does slack a little bit on the job. So I was thrown in a weird space as Charlie Murphy would say, because if I were in Mookie's situation I'm sure I would react similarly, but I wasn't sure what Spike was trying to say. Violence is ok I guess.
Then someone asked him at the lecture if Mookie "did the right thing", to which he gave an emphatic yes. To paraphrase his argument, lots of people who think it wasn't right to start the riot show a valuation of white property over black life, and that clearly pissed him off a lot. Now to his credit, this is a legit complaint. I looked back at some reviews and some of them are just stupid, saying that the film preaches violence and support destruction of white property while not giving proper recognition to the fact that what started everything was THE POLICE KILLING SOMEONE BECAUSE HE WAS BLACK! Absurd. What I didn't like at all about Spike's response, however, was his implicit rejection of the notion that there are white people out there who are going to feel uncomfortable watching this but are really on his side in all of this.
Like I said, I felt uncomfortable but wasn't sure why. This was all stage two. Stage three is where I resolved this. I think the movie is good for people who can't relate to the plight of blacks and others in the ghetto BECAUSE it makes you feel uncomfortable. Unfortunately I am sure tons of people miss this, but when I felt uncomfortable I wanted to figure out why. The reason why is because I can't grasp the life portrayed enough to really be able to fully feel good about the riot. So even after rational evaluation during which I came to the conclusion that Mookie did the right thing, I still couldn't really get into the violence because I lack the background.
To grow up in the environment Spike portrays is something I'm trying to learn about and relate to, but it will take a long time. None of us can even begin to imagine what it's like living in fear of the police, the very people meant to protect us. I think any really meaningful dialogue between blacks and whites rests on people taking initiative to figure things out about each other's situations. Not just watching a film like this and saying, oh that's what it's like in Bed-Stuy. Thinking about it and internalizing it and then trying to meet people in real life, etc. Anyways, I suggest everyone check this Spike Lee joint out, it'll provoke your thoughts and is good for some great laughs and music as well.
8 comments:
My mom saw this movie a while ago and said it was one of the best movies she had ever seen. So I saw it too, and I also really liked it. I would argue that what Mookie did was not necessarily the right thing, nor was it necessarily the wrong thing--I think it's a personal decision. Did he do the right thing? Depends on who you ask. Moral ambiguity that forces you to think--one of the beautiful things about this movie.
This has made me rethink Do the Right Thing. For a while, it was one of my favorite movies, but since my last time seeing it, I have been dissapointed. Perhaps it's because I haven't thought about it enough. Having thought about it some more, I've now come to really like it again.
I always feel like beneath the story there is some sort of strange feeling, and I really didn't know what it was. Now I think I know: the atmosphere is like Sesame Street, if you will. It seems as if it is really just Sesame Street with racial and moral issues, really hot weather, and Public Enemy. And for that, I love it. If that all sounds ridiculous, maybe it is, but for me, that's how I felt.
For most of the movie, that aggressive, "in your face" camera was great, but then it dissapointed me once Sal's was on fire. When everyone is standing outside as it burns (I don't remember if it is before or after the riot) and as the camera pans across the crowd and people speak one at a time, it just felt incredibly planned and fake, like the ending to a bad school play.
I was also confused at first about why Mookie even started the riot. It seemed like Spike Lee was trying to make a racial situation out of just a moral situation. I guess he had to do this so that the cops could come and kill Radio Raheem.
My favorite character has to be Buggin' Out. Spike Lee uses him perfectly, I think, to address anybody who thinks that he is, in fact, trying to make racial tensions out of nothing by showing somebody who does.
And he's just hilarious:
Buggin' Out: Yo, Mookie.
Mookie: What?
Buggin' Out: Stay Black.
In response to Ross's comments, I would suggest everyone check out the following two links:
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/
http://backhand.uchicago.edu/Center/ShooterEffect/
I understand what you're saying, and I think culture/lifestyle IS the most overt way in which we distinguish ourselves (at least we as in the people I'm talking to right now), but I think racism is still a bigger problem because we've been conditioned by society to think differently about black people, even if its subconsciously and we harbor no real, tangible racist mentalities. Yes, people react similarly when they see a black or white or any other race thug walking down the street. The problem is that a lot of people react this way when they see just a black guy walking down the street who isn't dressed in the nicest clothes, etc. THAT is the type of racism that much of America still has to confront, even though they may have overcome the overt racism that cast a shadow on our country for hundreds of years.
these are really interesting. i think that we shouldn't take the harvard one too seriously though. If you've read Blink, which you all should because its incredible, you'll remember the concept of priming.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priming_(psychology)
essentially you can influence peoples actions if you expose them to information beforehand. For instance if you read a story thats two sentences and i fill it with words that make you think of old people (wrinkles, arthritis, florida, raisin) you walk away more slowly. Conversely if i give you words associated with rude (loud, inconsiderate, angry) you are more likely to interrupt a person you speak with afterwards.
in the harvard test you are primed by associating black with negative things first and whites with positive things. Of course, directly after you're going to have difficulty separating them. I would really like to see what would happen if black was associated with good first and then they were switched. I would be shocked if it didn't change the results.
that said, i think its interesting and i liked the uchicago one. apparently i am quicker at shooting and acquitting white people by about 10 milliseconds. Who knows what that means.
I don't have a long response to this, but I just want to say a couple of things:
1)There's this really interesting thing Malcomn X said in an interview about Martin Luther King: "Nonviolence is strategy, a strategy." I'm not sure I agree (being a Quaker and all), but his claim is that what King did was great because it was effective, but once nonviolence stopped working, they had to turn to violent means. Sounds like Spike and him are on the same page.
2)I tend to agree with Ross about this. I don't think our prejudices are racial so much is cultural, and that to the extent I'm racist, it's because I associate that with a cultural attitude--not the other way around. It doesn't make it okay--it's still racism--but it's not about something intrinsic about the skin color but the culture that represents to us. And I get scared of poor-looking white people all the time too. It's clear that the cultural divide is often on racial lines, but that doesn't mean the conflict is predominantly racial. I'm not sure if what I just said actually means anything, but there it is...
3) Comment on the blog!
I could very possibly be misremembering that part of Blink, but I thought he concluded that the Harvard study was effective and talked about that priming phenomenon separately. Am I forgetting his conclusions about that?
did everyone notice that Josh has a blog with three two-month-olds posts about food?
you should notice that. it is from a class i took winter quarter--a seminar (aka 15 kids + professor) called 'The Language of Food' in which we discussed linguistics related to food. Part of our homework was to write blog entries every once in a while. Not kidding, this class was one of the best I've ever taken. It was awesome, and we ate a lot. If you want to read my final research paper, hit me up. It's Proust-esque. And it's about potato chips.
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