Feelings About the Movie

Elizabeth Griffin
February 5, 2018

The film “Do the Right Thing” by Spike Lee depicts most of the racial hatred that has been going on in cities all around the country back then. As I was watching the film, many things stuck out to me and caught my attention. In my opinion each character seems to act exactly as they should and look exactly as I expected. I never thought for a second that the characters weren’t portrayed in the right way. I could tell that each actor or actress truly understood how it was in that time period. Also, the film clearly shows which characters are respected in each community. For example, it is obvious that Radio Raheem is respected because Cee and Punchy stop spraying the water of the fire hydrant when he walks by without even having to say anything to them. However, when Charlie, a white man, drives by in his car they continue to spray the water of the fire hydrant. As well as the characters, I believe the setting is as it should be. I could tell that it was extremely hot and that Brooklyn was composed primarily of African-Americans and Hispanics.  

The film deals directly with the subject of race which is clearly shown. I believe that the fact that the racism remarks that were portrayed brought out the worst in every character. While watching the film, I felt a bit of anger each time someone would say something insulting to another race. I understand that this is how is was back then and in some cases still is today, but evidently is still not right. I would get so frustrated because you can see the hatred in the eyes of the character that is making the racial slurs. When reading the script, I did not feel as bad when I saw these comments but when I actually saw and heard what was happening, I felt bad for everyone.  However, this does show how good the actors and actresses were when it came to portraying the feelings of the character that they were playing. Although we have not finished the movie, I can tell from the scenes we have watched that the violent outbursts are coming. I can feel and see the tension building right in front of my eyes. Even though I know what is going to happen, I am excited and nervous to see all the drama that will take place.

Do the Right Thing

Elizabeth Griffin 

Does the script provide a point about doing the “right” thing?  What is the “right” thing to do according to the script?

"Doing the right thing" is something that every human being is expected to do. It is a decision or action that will best benefit everyone in the situation. Although this is something that should be done with every decision, many people have a hard time with it. After reading the script of "Do the Right Thing", I have found that each character believes that they are doing the right thing being in the situation that they are in. They all believe that they are right but as the audience, we know that they could have taken a better route to fixing the problem. However, I can tell that it can be very hard for people to do the right thing in situations of anger and disbelief. Once anger takes over, there is no going back and it is hard to focus on trying to please everyone. At some point, many of the characters contain a great amount of anger inside of them. With this being said, I do not believe that the script provides a clear point about what doing the right thing is. Each character has a completely different point of view from the next causing it to be difficult to point out the right thing for all. Given their circumstances, they are unaware of what the right thing to do is. For many of the characters, they do both the right and wrong thing throughout the play. Their is not one character that was consistently "right" throughout the play. For example, as the reader I can tell that Da Mayor tries to do the right thing when he saves Eddie from getting hit by a car and tries to stop the angry mob from damaging Sal's but in the beginning of the play he disrespects the Korean clerk which was not the right thing to do. Also, Vito does try to stick up for Mookie in the pizzeria however he lets Pino get the best of him causing him to not do the best he can when defending Mookie.  Radio Raheem believes he is doing the right thing by boycotting Sal's but he could have done it in a more respectful way by looking at Sal's perspective which would have avoided violence and his death. 

A message that can be taken away from the script is to stick up for what you believe in. This can be taken as doing the "right" thing. Every character has their own beliefs and they stick to these beliefs throughout the play.  It seems that no one changed, they remain true to themselves and demand what is theirs. Sal demands respect in his restaurant and does anything to receive it. Mookie wants his money and consistently asks for what he has earned. Pino looks down upon Mookie because of his skin color and does not change his opinion on him throughout the play. Overall, based on the script, it can be inferred that the right thing to do is to remain true to yourself and your beliefs. Everyone has different opinions but the only one that matters is your own. It is hard to say that each character does the right thing however in the situation that they are put in, they do what they think the best thing to do is.