When the social problem films began in the late 40s, they shed light on the topic of racism while launching the careers of black actors (notably Sidney Poitier). However, as well-intended as the films were, they still refused to go all the way to show the brutality or complexity of racism to challenge white audiences. They were dramatic films but usually left audiences with a feel-good message at the end as if these films knew how to combat racism rather than leaving them to think about the issues. And they were not just a product of their time; they were still made throughout film history, where their formula usually stayed safe. There were still some notable films that defied the traditional storytelling narrative Hollywood would teach about racism. One of the essentials in that category is Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing.
Most films tackling issues of race would usually have a white director in charge of the picture rather than a person of color. Of course, just because a black person directs a film does not automatically mean the movie will be more authentic than a white director in charge. The film industry is primarily controlled by white men who still have the final say in the film's approval and can make changes if necessary. But when having a black director who is also the writer, producer, and founder of the production company (40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks) the film was made under, there is a more substantial chance that the raw authenticity is going to come through, which the film unquestionably delivers.
Spike Lee also stars as the film's protagonist Mookie, a young black man working at an Italian Pizzeria in a primarily black neighborhood in Brooklyn on the hottest summer day imaginable. Most films about racism typically had a white protagonist to connect to white audiences, but there were still a few films with black people as the focus such as "Shaft," or "No Way Out". While commendable, many of the black protagonists were a little too perfect. The typical black protagonists would suffer from racial prejudices but usually keep their cool, remain headstrong and come on top in the end, serving as an ideal a black person should be as opposed to a relatable character for black people to identify with. Mookie is not a perfect character. He is loyal to his job, but he always slacks off. He loves his girlfriend and kid but is not dependable as a father or lover. Mookie is not made to look as classy as Sidney Poitier, but he is not a one-dimensional stereotype of a man in poverty living in a poor neighborhood. He is portrayed as the everyman. A character striving to do well in life, figuring out where his loyalty lies. His boss Sal sees him like a son for his commitment, except he is still viewed as a black punk by Sal's son Pino. He disapproves of his black friends' stirring up trouble for their black skin, however, he cannot pretend he is not struggling because of his race. And as the film progresses, Mookie's anger because of his struggling loyalty to both sides continue to rise like the summer heat. Mookie's imperfections, vulnerability, and uncertainty make him a fascinating and relatable character who is more complex than most black protagonists in films about racism.
The film's racist white antagonist Sal is not portrayed as a one-dimensional savage racist like so many others in films. Sal is well-liked in the neighborhood for his place of business and cares for the customers. As Sal explains to his son Pino, he has a nostalgic spot for the people in the neighborhood because he watched them grow up on his food. Sal does not live in the area where his establishment is but is still willing to work a little past closing time to serve the latecomers a slice. Sal still has a bossy attitude and a heated temper, but usually when he catches his employees slacking off or when a customer is acting out of line, either when overusing the parmesan cheese or inappropriately blasting music. Sal seems like a nice guy who is just trying to run a business his way. For the character not acting like the racist antagonists usually depicted in media, a good half of moviegoers (typically white) do not see him as a racist. The actor portraying Sal, Danny Aiello did not think he was racist either when portraying him.
On the surface, his racism is not blatant, but it is still there. The central conflict of the film is Sal's refusal to add pictures of African Americans on his wall of fame after hearing a customer's complaint. Sal explains it is his establishment therefore he is free to put whatever he wants on the wall. And as an Italian proud of his heritage, he would instead fill the walls with famous Italians. The customer Buggin' Out retorts Sal's claim with the fact there are mostly black people in the neighborhood, and since they are the ones who fill Sal's pocket with cash, it would not hurt his business if he put some black people on the wall. If Sal did care about his customers, he would consider the option of including a few pictures of black people in his restaurant. Sal could easily purchase a photo of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X together from Smiley on the street for a small fee. But a little later after his feud with Buggin’ Out he politely brushes Smiley off when granted the opportunity. During his feud with Buggin' Out, Sal starts acting violently and hostile towards him after hearing his reasons yet holds back. His refusal to do so is not because he does not want to hurt Buggin' Out but because he knows it will give his business a bad name.
Sal's refusal to put pictures of black people up is not the only indication of his racism. When describing to his son Pino why he does not move his business, he refers to the community as "these people," indicating he does not see them as equal despite not sounding mean. To Sal, friends are people who put money in his pocket, but he never considers the community as his friends. He claims Mookie is like a son to him though never treats him like his sons because of his race. The only scene when Sal is fatherly towards his staff is with Pino, who, out of his two legitimate sons, is the one who is openly racist. It is not until the end of the film when Sal's racism is as direct as Pino's when Buggin' Out, and Radio Raheem confront him again. Sal, having enough of the two resorts to calling them racial slurs, lashes out in violence, and when Radio Raheem dies in the chaos, he shows no remorse. Sal is not a non-racist man who said and did the wrong things irrationally in the heat of passion because the film indicates multiple times that he is racist, just not directly as shown in other films. And Lee's portrayal of Sal as an ordinary man makes his racism more real. As Hollywood would like to make racists clear-cut villains, they tend to overlook that racism is not just from the extremist but could be from your friendly neighbor, vendor, or relative you know.
Surprisingly, while Buggin' Out and Radio Raheem have some valid points against Sal's establishment, they are not exactly innocent; they are both self-righteous troublemakers. It is not the first time Sal and Buggin' Out met each other. Buggin' Out has been to Sal's pizzeria three times a day and always does something intentionally to stir Sal up. Radio Raheem walks around the neighborhood, blasting his stereo and harassing people who are not black with his music. Raheem also has little patience for Koreans' lack of English speaking, having no issues insulting them. Of course, Buggin' Out and Radio Raheem are not the only black characters who are racist. The three elderly black men sitting around the neighborhood corner hate the Koreans in their community too. And to complicate the racial matters further, the black characters are disliked by another oppressed minority the Latinos. Lee does not cater to conventional themes or formulas when diving into racism; he investigates multiple layers of the subject to explore its complexity.
If there is one thing Spike Lee makes clear about racism in his film, racism is not all about the individual. Hollywood tends to have a narrative where racism exists from the individuals who make it a big problem, when racism is more systemic and nowhere is that made clear than in the film's climax. Once the police intervene during the fight at Sal's Pizzeria, they only worsen matters. The fight is broken up at the expense of murder by one of the officers, who chokes Radio Raheem to death with a nightstick. Raheem's death was far from any accident as the officer refused to listen to the pleas from the civilians and fellow officers. Before this scene, the police officers who patrol the neighborhood hardly do a thing when there is trouble, and when everything is at peace, they cruise around glaring at the black inhabitants looking for an excuse to bust them. Those scenes are small, but they establish the neighborhood is under corrupt white police authority, just as non-black folks own the successful businesses in the area.
Systemic racism is why Mookie throws a garbage can into his boss' window to start the destruction of Sal's Pizzeria. Sal's racist colors are fully revealed, and the police murder a defenseless man in front of the pizzeria. From seeing everybody go at each other in the neighborhood all day in the burning heat and seeing Sal and the police get away with their crimes while his friends take all the blame, Mookie has had enough of the injustices. Mookie does the right thing, and Sal's place is in ashes, which should end the film either with a celebration or with Sal reforming after seeing the error of his ways, but the film does not end happily. Mookie did the right thing at the expense of losing his job. Sal's business is destroyed, but he will receive insurance money to start over. The riot did not end racism in the neighborhood as long as systemic racism still exists to keep everyone divided.
In the article Remote Control: How Mass Media Delegitimize Rioting as Social Protest, it is suggested when commenting on the L.A. riots for Rodney King (two years after the film was released) "rioting as a legitimate form of social protest continues to be delegitimized by mainstream media." The response that Spike Lee's film received supports that claim. Before letting the film roll the end credits, Lee uses a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. and an excerpt from Malcolm X asking the viewers when we should use love or violence "to fight the power." Lee informs the viewers that racism is not a thing of the past and that it is our time to decide what method we should use to fight it after seeing what Mookie did, leaving white audiences uneasy with its message. White audiences were scared that the film would promote riots and violence when ironically, the violence was not caused by this film or even happened when it came out. The violence and rioting came from the injustices a few years after the film was made from the police brutality that Rodney King suffered.
When white audiences usually want to see a film about racism, they want reassurance that they are not racist, that times are better, and expect answers about how to end it, which usually means "love thy neighbor." Spike Lee does not have the answers to end racism, nor is he concerned with creating characters who are viciously racist and morally perfect to distinguish the good from the bad. Lee's film is less about the individuals and more about the complexities of bigotry and systemic racism. Lee's goal is to create a movie to entertain and challenge viewers to start a discussion and debate on the topic. The Academy did not take too kindly to the film's unconventional narrative, message, and controversy, consequently nominating and giving the Oscar for Best Picture Driving Miss Daisy, a film that follows Hollywood guidelines. And to this very day, this overused and safe narrative still wins that award through the movie Green Book in 2018, proving nothing has changed. These are not necessarily badly made films, nor should films celebrating acceptance and love for others in an injustice society be not seen as unimportant. But it is not the only way to combat or teach about racism. It is a more significant and more complicated problem than audiences think and does not deserve to be sanitized or presented as a simplistic matter. We still have an incredibly long way to go with difficult choices, and we need more films like Do the Right Thing representing the matter, which means making white audiences as uncomfortable as the black audiences watching the movie.
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