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Radio Raheem's Death

1894 Words8 Pages

Melanie Wielander
Mr. Deminico
9 June 2018
IB Film HL
“Radio Raheem’s Death” Scene From Do The Right Thing
1:53:46- 1:57:59

The 1989 film Do The Right Thing, directed by Spike Lee, is a dark comedy that reveals the racial tensions of a gentrifying neighborhood. The story follows the love and hate of the dynamic between the Italians and African Americans of Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Although this relationship is symbiotic, the “Radio Raheem’s Death” scene highlights the climax of the neighborhood tension which is building up due to the summer heat wave as pressure escalates and everything boiling up plays out at the heart of Bed Stuy. I will analyze the social context of the scene and discuss their role in the understanding and development …show more content…

Radio Raheem symbolizes fighting against oppression in the film. Raheem’s character is generally the quietest of the locals; however, he doesn't need to say much. Every other aspect of his character speaks to his role in the film. From his clothes to his tone, Radio Raheem is the person who represents the community of Bed Stuy. He wears a Bed Stuy shirt with brass knuckles spelling out ‘love’ and ‘hate’ while carrying around a boombox playing Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” as the music represents the power of the community and questions authority. The fight starts when Sal triggers the riot by breaking an extension of Raheem, the boombox. This moment symbolizes a loss of control within the neighborhood. Considering Raheem is the face of the community, and the person that metaphorically holds it together, breaking a piece of him breaks apart the community. Although he isn’t without flaws, given that he continued blasting music in the pizza shop even when Sal repeatedly asked him to turn it down, Raheem represents that while the people of Bed Stuy aren’t perfect, they’re human. The generally reticent Radio Raheem is ultimately the one who sparks the riot that leads to the film’s chaotic conclusion, and his inevitable death given the circumstances. Raheem’s death symbolizes the loss of any control or sanity left in the …show more content…

The honesty Lee’s film was able to portray a unique approach to exposing America to a new type of film genre at the time where characters don’t need to be good or bad and face real-life problems. In this case, Lee created a memorable film that changed the lives of many people in the 1990s and still came full circle to impact us today in

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In the film Do The Right Thing, the significance of Radio Raheem's character is better understood after his death. We see very little of him throughout the film and we learn little about his background, unlike some of the other characters. Whenever we see him in a film he is walking with his radio playing “Fight the Power” by the rap group Public Enemy. In most of his scene he comes off as a very angry individual and we begin to see who he respects and who he doesn’t. The lyrics in one part says, “Our freedom of speech is freedom or death, We've got to fight the powers that be” which can indicate how he let’s the music speak for him.

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