“Do the Right Thing” A Spike Lee-directed film that continues to question the meaning of “LOVE” and “HATE”

An ensemble drama that powerfully depicts racial discrimination and conflict.

The film depicts a hot summer day. The setting is Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York, where a variety of people live, including mainly African-Americans, but also Italians, Puerto Ricans, and Koreans. The film centers around a pizza shop run by an Italian-American man named Sal (Danny Aiello).

Mookie (played by Spike Lee himself), an African-American man, works as a delivery boy at this restaurant, and is so irresponsible that he doesn't come back for hours after leaving to deliver food. He has a Puerto Rican girlfriend and a young son with her, but he doesn't feel like a father.

That day, the temperature was over 37 degrees, and one of Sal's regulars, Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito), saw the "Wall of Fame" on the wall. There were only pictures of Italian actors and singers such as Al Pacino and Frank Sinatra. He complained that he wanted pictures of African-Americans on the wall as well. When Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) appeared in the store with a boombox playing loud music, Sal advised him to turn down the volume, but Raheem resisted.

"Do the Right Thing"(C) 1989 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Sal's shop has been loved by the local people for over 20 years, but after Baggin' Out and Raheem's small backlash, hidden racial tensions are rising. , which eventually develops into a big incident. The first half has a light comedy tone, but the second half takes a turn and powerfully depicts a shocking riot.

In 1992, three years after the film was released in the US, riots broke out in Los Angeles. One of the reasons for this was the video footage of white police officers assaulting Rodney King, a black man who was speeding, and the officers were acquitted after a trial. This incident led to riots (footage from the Rodney King incident is also used at the beginning of Spike Lee's ` `Malcolm X '' (1992)).

There are scenes in ``Do the Right Thing'' that seem to have anticipated this. In the second half, an unexpected tragedy occurs when a riot breaks out at a pizza shop and the police are dispatched and cuff Radio Raheem by the neck with a club.

In the final scene of the film, a photograph of Malcolm X, a black liberation activist from the 1960s, and Martin Luther King Jr. are shown together. Dr. King was a pacifist, but Malcolm believed that violence for self-defense was not violence. Which one is correct? The film does not draw any conclusions about violence, leaving it up to the viewer to judge.

The starting point is an incident that actually happened. Initially, De Niro was also asked to appear.