Do the Right Thing (1989)

Directed by Spike Lee

Released July 21, 1989

Written by Spike Lee

Movie Synopsis Courtesy of IMDB

"On the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence."

I remember when I first watched this movie over four years ago. I was in my freshman year at college and I had to take a film appreciation course (technically I had the choice between music, art, and film appreciation and obviously film was what I wanted, duh). This was the first movie that we had to watch for the class and discuss. Now I don't remember much from that discussion, but here are the things that crossed my mind this second time around.

First of all, it is easy for me to draw a parallel to the central theme of this film to what I see in my own city right now. When the heat comes out, so does everyone's intolerance, big mouths, and violence. It has never been a secrete that when the summertime comes around, crime rates increase. It all comes down to the fact that people are not afraid of freezing their butts off like they are in the winter, but more importantly the heat makes everyone more irritable and easier to do something more violent. 

But why all the anger? It is simple, just like how it is today, people fear what they don't know, are not used to, or what is different from them. This is extremely relevant in how the three men on the street treat the Asian couple who own the store, how Sal and his sons treat the black community they cater to, and how most people treat Da Mayor. It all comes down to people not taking the time to stop and learn about someone else. People would rather hate, fight, or discriminate someone else rather than taking the time to learn about their culture, their way of life, or who they are.

It takes a big person to set aside their own fears/insecurities in order to stop hating someone they don't know and get to know them instead. This fear is evident in today's culture and political climate just as it was relevant 30-years-ago when this movie came out. Isn't it time to stop stereotyping and judging people and to just accept people from different walks of life. You don't have to agree or even like other people's way of life, culture, or background, but that doesn't mean you can't take the time to understand it and not fear it. Maybe if there was less fear there would be less hate, which hopefully would mean less violence in the world.

The other problem is that it is coming all to common that the people we hate or fear automatically have to be beaten-up or killed. Just because you don't like someone or a certain race of people even, doesn't mean that violence is going to solve the problem. You can hate someone, fine, but that doesn't mean you have to kill them or wish death on them.

Okay, before I go on a whole political rampage I will get back to the movie.

There were a couple filmmaking techniques that I picked up in this movie that I very much enjoyed. The first, related to my rant above, is towards the middle/end of the film when everyone is talking directly into the camera while hating on the people they don't like.

This technique is extremely effective because just like I have talked about with other movies, this breaks the fourth wall and brings the audience in on the action. By having the characters directly talking to the camera it makes the audience feel how these people feel when they are getting stereotyped and hated on by others. It makes the audience feel like the characters are talking directly to them, which is way more impactful than if they had the characters talking amongst themselves.

The other big technique that I enjoyed throughout the movie was the long tracking shots. This was first seen in the very first scene of the movie.

(Also shoutout to Samuel L. Jackson because he is the man!)

This technique is another great immersive choice that helped the audience feel like they were in the movie. Most people have very short attention spans. Therefore when movies are made you generally only stay on a shot for about 3-4 seconds before you cut to another one because our brains get bored otherwise. These shots clearly lasted longer than that and used slow zooms to elongate our viewing time. By prolonging the shot, the director is mimicking the day in the hot heat and how it seems like the heat will never go away. The shot mimics the feeling of  how the characters move slow when it is hot. It shows how they are just waiting for the day to end, just like the audience is waiting and waiting for the shot to end.

It seems like in most of these movies I end up finding something I want to bring back and make popular again. While for this movie it is the idea of mom and pop stores just like Sal has. No chain restaurants, no brand name stores. I am talking about the kind of places were you can walk in the door and the owner not only knows your order, but asks how your mother is doing. During those times, I feel like people cared more about the quality of their product than the sale they made. They wanted the best products for their customers and they cared about their customers as people. It is very difficult these days for these kinds of stores to compete with all the big name stores and restaurants, but I know in some small towns they are alive and kicking. I just wish they were more common as a whole because going out to eat or going shopping had a whole different meaning back then than it does now.

Oh, something else I want to bring back, playing with the fire hydrants. Now I know this isn't a safe practice and there are rules, but this was a big part of my childhood. During the summer my neighborhood always hosted a block party and at the party the firefighters would come to open the hydrants for us to play in. That was always the highlight of the summer because it was such a special treat! Then again for this to come back kids actually would have to play outside more...but that is a separate argument altogether.

Can we take a moment and recognize Da Mayor for a second? Now he is the real man! Yes, he may be the town drunk, but you can tell he has a good heart. This is even more prominent when he falls into one of the sweetest categories of men. I can't find the quote exactly, but it is something along the lines that a rich man can spend $100 on you or a poor man will spend all of his money on you. Basically saying that someone who has a lot of many will only spend a certain amount, but a man who is poor will spend anything he can on you because he cares for you. It shows a lot about a man's character when Da Mayor is poor, has barely enough money to stay drunk, but will buy the most expensive flowers he can, no matter the cost, in order to impress Mother Sister. That right there, says a lot about him even if he is the town drunk.

Okay last thing. I know this one is long, but in fact this is me keeping this short because there is a lot more I could talk about.

This movie was made 30 years ago, yet most of the themes in this movie are still sadly relevant today. In fact, most of these themes have gotten worse since this movie came out. I have already touched on the racism and violence, but the other big part is the police brutality.

I am not going to sit and preach about my views on this topic because well, this isn't that kind of blog and I have already done a little too much of that. What I will say, though, is that if this was already a problem back in the 80s and it is even more relevant 30 years later, then there must be something we are doing wrong as a society. As years progress, we are suppose to learn from our mistakes and grow as a community/society. But in many aspect of how our lives are today, it seems like we have only digressed. Or maybe this movie was just way before its time. Either way it is hard to ignore the similarities in this movie from our own current society.

Maybe if more people watched this movie then more conversations can be started on how to move forward with a lot of these issues. Hey, just a thought. Movies can change lives, so why not societies as well?

Da Mayor: "Doctor, those that'll tell don't know, and those that know won't tell."