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.
