REVIEW: Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing

My sister and I have started watching the films on the AFI's top 100 movies of all time (the 1997 version). We started with #99: Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing".

The films on the list are often chosen because of their cultural impact to society at the time. I can see how Spike Lee's film broke into the Hollywood stratosphere with it's presentation of cultural and racial tensions presented in a way that it hasn't been presented before. I was not even born when the film came out so I can't begin to pretend that I would know what racial tensions existed in society at the time, but watching episodes of the Donahue talk show recently has helped me to gauge the mindset.

From what I understand, civil rights had only occurred only 10-15 years before and society decided that racial equality issue was finally resolved. However, the film illustrates racial strains still existed between races in New York.

For now, I'm going to pretend that you've already seen the film.

My sister and I agree that Spike Lee's films are sometimes confusing but he does establish his own identity as a director, evident in his color schemes, subliminal messaging, dialogue choice, camera panning, etc. The character he plays, Mookie, is not something new. Some could argue that he was a typical lazy young Black male, but that would oversimplify his character. Despite the fact that he lived a simple life, no real high aims, his character was still rich and had depth and complexities, as a human being should! In more recent films, it seems Black men are too restricted into bland, shallow individuals which is not true. So, I love the fact that Spike Lee still gives Black men a voice, a face, and complexities.

I like the way the film developed so quickly. It's hard to believe all of the events occurred in a period of 24 hours! Spike Lee took a lot of situations from the films from events occurring in the media: the slaying of Michael Jerome Stewart, the rape of Tawana Brawley, the Howard Beach incident, on and on. Names that would soon be forgotten with the next generation but forever immortalized in this film.

All in all, I see the cultural impact of the film at the time, but it would be less impactful if it came out today. I liked it, but I favor Jungle Fever before this film.