With its bold cinematography, engaging narrative and original soundtrack, the Spike Lee ‘joint’ Do the Right Thing explores the ideas of racism in a creative manner. The movie doesn’t hold much of a backstory and instead jumps straight into the action, which may be controversially confusing for the audience but thrilling as well, as there is no definitive equilibrium. The film breaks many cinematic boundaries such as the frequent use of canted angles and breaking the fourth wall to highlight the racial struggles but also to give a sense of auteurship from Spike Lee. There are many intertextual references (mainly regarding African American icons) which breaks away from the aesthetic realm and creates a sense of realism to remind the audience the film is a reflection of the modern day – although it is set and produced in 1989 the themes and messages are still relevant to today.
The movie focuses on racial groups that have been underrepresented in the media (e.g. African Americans, Koreans, Italo-Americans etc) and how they interact with each other in the Brooklyn setting. Lee ensures that none of the characters are ‘perfect’ – he portrays each race as having their own faults making the characters more likeable for the audience since they are considerably relatable and not one-dimensional. Although some scenes are shocking and disturbing, Lee doesn’t shy away from portraying the gritty truth about the so called ‘United’ States of America to create a story that contains morals for the audience. The courageous move from Lee to depict this truth without sugar coating it is evident in the majority of his works that put across messages which are still relevant to today - this is why he is known for being such an acclaimed director.
He creates a strong aesthetic realm in Do the Right Thing which also contributes to his auteurship. The use of bold, warm colours not only reflect the colourful era of the 1980s and the fact that it is based during a hot day in Brooklyn, but these colours are representative of the stifled anger and frustration the characters feel. The scenes seem to get hotter and hotter in terms of colour to build up to the climax of Radio Raheem’s murder. This is effective because it provokes the audience to feel uncomfortable which is the intention. Radio Raheem’s character is used as a narrative device because he is the only character that explicitly promotes ‘fighting the power’, however almost ironically when he has a chance to fight the power (the policemen) he doesn’t. This could be because in the scene previous to his death Sal destroys Raheem’s radio which arguably was the only thing keeping him alive, therefore this act foreshadowed his death.
The narrative structure is also interesting – the movie starts with multi-stranded storylines but as the narrative progresses these small stories intertwine with each other to build one narrative. This could reflect the idea of the construction of a community within Brooklyn – even though the ending isn’t happy and is open-ended the idea of a community coming together is Lee’s moral for the film.
In conclusion, Do the Right Thing is a cinematic masterpiece as it explores themes and ideas that many directors shy away from. Spike Lee has cleverly crafted a narrative that is both entertaining and educational for an audience. Therefore, this film is considered a ‘classic’ and explains why it is always referred to and analysed.
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