Racial Inequality In Do The Right Thing By Spike Lee

Do the Right Thing is a film produced, directed, and written by Spike Lee in 1989. It is a comedic drama focusing on the injustice of racial inequality. Not only this, but this film touches on ageism and classism, all things that are still relevant in today’s society, even if we, ourselves, may not see it. With worried thoughts, funding was difficult to find. Eventually, Universal signed with Lee giving him quite the budget- $6.5 million (MentalFloss). It is good that Universal did so. After the films production, Do the Right Thing was nominated for countless awards and was selected for preservation in The National Film Registry (IMDb). After watching this film, one will understand how the plot and the message make this film such an important

A fight breaks out and police show up. They take Buggin’ Out and arrest him and place Raheem in a chokehold, killing him. Those who saw (and heard) this destroy Sal’s pizzeria and transform it into a pile of ash after lighting the restaurant on fire. The film touches on the effects of police brutality, racial inequality, and many more social messages/ injustices that are unfortunately still seen today (Do the Right Thing).

Spike Lee did not create this work just to create it. He did so to show America what was really going on in the world, to use this film as a “mirror” of sort. There is an effort to announce the power of the people and to fight the power of the awful things we see in this film i.e. police brutality, racism, discrimination, etc. Throughout the film, Lee never states whose side you should be on. This is something directors / writers have trouble doing. Lee did so effortlessly.

Having no bias opinion on the actions, viewers have a little taste of their own idea of what the right thing is to do. This leads to a much stronger feeling to the film itself. With this being said, this film has an implicit meaning. An implicit meaning is an internal meaning based off

As with many, I find this film to be moving. I find that the message and reflection on what was / still is going on in America, and virtually all over the world, is a much needed realization for everyone. At the beginning of Do the Right Thing we see what seems to be a normal day of extreme weather, as each scene progresses, we see a buildup of anguish and tension between races and injustice. When watching the film, you gain an emotional connection with the characters, wanting what is best for everyone. But, everyone can’t win. One event seems to benefit one individual while devastating another. Personally, I have yet to encounter a film of such emotion from within. Of course, I have seen films where I’ve cried once and that was that.

But, as Ebert stated, this film stayed in my soul. It left me wanting to better the lives of those around me. I applaud Lee and his work for creating such an influential piece. As I have previously stated in other papers, I enjoy the visual appearance equally as much as the plot itself.

In this film, the light stands out to me. Throughout, we see a soft yellow light. Although this may have virtually no meaning, I feel as if Lee wanted you to feel as if you were standing outside