Lawson 1
Last Name 2
Darrius Lawson
R Bornac
English 1010
October 22, 2016
Do The Right Thing: A Movie with Hidden Messages?
With its 90’s flare of boom boxes and box tops, Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing” draws in audiences who love the era. The film depicts an urban neighborhood during an extra hot summer’s day. However, in this movie throwback clothing and summer heat influenced conflict aren’t the only thing the crowds are getting; Director Lee repeatedly sends out messages to his audience. Using rhetorical situations Lee is able to cause his audience to question scenes throughout the picture.
Characters such as Mookie, and Pino cause the mind to wonder, can there be lazy hard-working people? Or are there racist black loving people? The movie spins a tale of it being possible to be lazy while hard-working, just look at Mookie, he’s goes to work religiously but still lazes around on the job. All the while neglecting his duties as a parent, which his sister, Jade, calls him out on. This causes the viewers to question the meaning of effort; it’s a message that seems to say, hard work without any ambition or effort is not truly hard work. Furthermore, Pino, Sal’s oldest son, to the on-looker is blatantly racist. However, through dialogue with Mookie we learn that the majority of his idols, like Magic Johnson and Bruce Willis, are black. Pino denies this saying “they aren’t really black”, but it instantly brings a series of questions to mind; is subconscious racism a thing? Do...
