Analysis of Do The Right Thing

Do The Right Thing, is clearly loaded with lots of cultural and racial stereotypes. Spike Lee uses these, usually negative, assumptions people have of other people to prove his point that this world is not as it is supposed to be. This movie is refreshing because it does not seem to hide nor skirt around some pretty intense controversial issues. I have heard different interpretations and analysis of this movie, but I would not want to taint your viewing of it if I shared mine. I did not see this movie before, so I came to it with an open (maybe clueless?) mind. If things would have been different and I heard interpretations of it before I saw it, I would most likely have a very different perception in my head about it.

Instead of focusing on the numerous culturally significant interpretations one can have about this movie, I will focus on the editing of the scene with the race ranting. **Spoiler alert- this may give some of the movie away*

In the scene before, Pino (one of Sal’s son who is particularly vocal about his belligerent racist views) and Mookie have a discussion. Mookie attempts to reason with him, attempts to show some logic about how Pino has idols like Magic Johnson and Bruce Willis, but hate other blacks. Pino denies such subtle accusations from Mookie (whom he does not have a high level of respect for) and the tension grows between the two. The scene is cut by having Mookie and Pino standing in between a cigarette dispenser and a picture of Rome’s Coliseum and Arch of Titus (two-shot) and then the scene unfolds as Mookie and Pino disagree about his idols. When Pino does not agree (does he defend his own thinking?) with Mookie’s point, the camera references back and forth to each other as they speak and present their issues almost as proving as they are on different sides (shot/reverse shots). So, they have different shots representing how the flow is happening. Once they disagree, it seems to be jarring and there is a lot more movement. This movement and rapid succession happens when people share their boiling points about other races. Mookie, once level headed and somewhat rational, now has a shot all to himself in which he is loud, angry and venting. The camera zooms right into his face and Mookie has his arms crossed. This is the part that Spike Lees allows the audience to really feel not only defensive (since the zoom is so close, it feels as if somebody is invading personal boundaries) but also very focused on what he saying. The camera editing is very intentional with putting the camera dead infront of the character and progressively zooming. As the shot moves to the next character, the motion is similar. This pace and movement of the camera as it focuses into the character seems to be equal as each person has their gripe about another race. The equality of time allows for some sort of rhythmic repetition to happen. Overall, this scene has purpose editing in terms of the first scene, where Pino and Mookie are purposefully split from the shot together and then placed in opposition to each other, and also when the zooms and rhythmic repetition are used for each character to spew their stereotypes at the other race. Although this scene is somewhat harsh on ears (because some of the stereotypes hit too close to home and are more honest than we may be willing to be), it is important to view for original editing abilities.

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