Do the Right Thing

In away Do the Right Thing was a lot like Elephant. This is because the characters were developed extensively and for a long time before the plot escalated. I enjoyed this film more than Elephant because it had a goal. To me the goal was to show racism that existed in a poor town and how in poorer towns racism can get out of hand. Truthfully its goal is more profound than that, but attempting to lay my finger on its exact lesson would not do it justice. I can only guess that Spike Lee wanted to show how everyone is a little bit racist and even if you think you aren't pressure situations can push people over the edge.

For me, Do the Right Thing was a window into a life that I have never and can never know. One film aspect I noticed was how canted angle was used. It was used for almost every time we saw Radio Raheem especially when his music came into contact with Sal. Canted angles were used for pretty much every situation of conflict. It was used when Da Mayor was talking to Mother Sister, but once they had reconciled with each other, it stopped being used.

Another thing I noticed was that whenver someone was being racist or directly insulting another person, they did so directly into the camera. It seems to me that this was Spike Lee's attempt at forcing you into the shoes of a victim of race. The comments were directed at the viewer. I think this attempt failed.

Final Rating: 4.0 (maybe even a little lower)