Stay Black
"It's a free country."
Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing (1989)
Points
for Reflection
Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing (1989)
- how long does the opening blues motif last before Lee replaces it with “Fight the Power”?
- during the opening credits, Lee captures Rosie Perez dancing hard and fast in an array of outfits, against numerous backgrounds, and from a wide array of angles. In addition to introducing the film’s musical through line, an R&B single written by Public Enemy for the film, this nearly four-minute long sequence also establishes what sort of tone?
- why might Lee have chosen Rosie Perez (born in Brooklyn, to parents from Puerto Rico) to open the film, and play Mookie’s lover, instead of a black actor like Vanessa Williams or Halle Berry?
- does the tenor and tempo of Mister Señor Love Daddy’s morning welcome on the radio match that of the opening song played during the credits?
- does this film suggest that the events of this particular day in a Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn neighborhood are typical, or extraordinary?
- Smiley first appears in front of the “Yes Jesus Last Baptist Church.” What message does he appear to be preaching as he moves throughout the day?
- what does Mookie’s introduction reveal about his temperament?
- does Sal’s introduction as he opens his restaurant suggest that he considers his business a welcoming oasis for everyone in the neighborhood, or an epicenter for racial conflict?
- Pino says he hates his father’s business from the outset. What fuels this negativity?
- why does Sal give hand a broom to Da Mayor when the older man enters Sal’s?
- Ahmad tells Ella to use her brain, and not do things just because Punchy tells her to do them. Do the women in this film appear to be independent agents of their own destinies?
- what camera angles does Lee use to introduce Radio Raheem?
- do Radio Raheem’s neighbors give him and his boombox respect?
- what about Da Mayor appears to irritate Mother Sister?
- do we have enough information to determine why Tina’s so often upset with Mookie?
- what conversation topics occupy the three middle-aged guys?
- does Buggin Out walk into Sal’s raring for a fight, or is he provoked?
- how does Mookie respond to Buggin Out’s grievance against Sal?
- what does Mookie mean when he tells “Sal” that people “should be free to do whatever they want to do”? How much freedom do the characters in this film successfully exercise?
- how do the inhabits of Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood cope with the extreme heat on this summer day?
- do the policemen who frequent the neighborhood consistently intervene when a law is broken?
- when Mookie delivers pizza to Mister Señor Love Daddy at the radio station, the DJ gives him the opportunity to dedicate a song to Tina. What type of music does Mookie dedicate to his girlfriend?
- who wins the volume competition, Radio Raheem or the five Hispanic guys with a boombox on their car?
- the bicyclist wearing a shirt who bumps into Buggin Out has what basketball star’s name on the back of his green Celtics shirt? What type of shoes is Buggin Out wearing?
- what character echoes Mookie’s earlier observation about freedom, saying “It’s a free country”?
- do ML, Coconut Sid, and Sweet Dick Willie agree on why no black family runs a business in their neighborhood?
- whose is the voice of dissent when the teenager quartet starts mocking Da Mayor, trying to stop their three friends from disrespecting the older man?
- do you feel inclined to sympathize with Da Mayor, or join in with Punchy and his crew when telling him they don’t care about his pain?
- what stratagem does Mookie use to counter Pino’s racism?
- which people groups get splattered by the litany of racial slurs spewed by five of our characters?
- what angle does Lee use to capture the child using chalk on the street, and what is the young girl drawing?
- which character succeeds in getting Radio Raheem to smile?
- Mookie tells the teenagers to get a job, just as they told Da Mayor to get a job earlier. Why are so few characters working?
- what does Jade mean when she says she’s carrying her brother?
- what kind of celebrities does Mister Señor Love Daddy list in his litany of black folk who make “our lives just a little brighter here”?
- what is Sal’s response to Pino’s extended complaint about their business?
- which folk respond encouragingly to Buggin Out’s loud complaints?
- does Da Mayor prove himself more than the itinerant drunk others think him?
- what’s Mookie’s own stance on interracial romance?
- why does Mookie dislike Tina’s cursing?
- what message is Pino trying to get through to Vito in the closet?
- what folk does Buggin out finally win over to his cause?
- in Charles Dickens’ novel Barnaby Rudge (1841), a naïve, neurodivergent man gets swept up in a cause not his own and ends up behaving in surprising ways. Is Smiley such a figure, or does he know well what he does in the last act of the film?
- why does Sal let the four teenagers into the restaurant after it has closed?
- what camera angle does Lee use when Radio Raheem enter’s Sal’s Famous Pizzeria?
- what photo on the wall does Lee cut to during the ruckus, and what does this suggest about our culture’s attitude towards violence?
- does Lee choreograph the frenetic, action-filled scene which takes place after dark in a way that points the finger squarely at one or two culprits, or does he spread the blame around?
- what role does Da Mayor play in the evening’s turmoil?
- how many moral quandaries has Mookie inserted himself into throughout the day?
- why does Mookie take the decisive action he does?
- what does the Korean grocer mean when he says that he’s black?
- what complicates the efforts of the crew that arrives?
- recall the words on Radio Raheem’s brass knuckles/rings. Do either love or hate finally win?
- on what terms do Mookie and Sal part?
- what is Mister Señor Love Daddy encouraging his listeners to do the next morning?
- why does Smiley not smile through much of the film? At what point does he smile?
- why might Mister Señor Love Daddy never exit the radio booth?
- does the film conclude with an answer or a question?
Do the Right Thing (1989)
one sheet
Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu
