Reactions to Do The Right Thing Film

"1989 the number, another summer..." These are the beginning of the lyrics to Public Enemy's "Fight the Power", the anthem thats prominently played throughout Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing.  Do The Right Thing is a critically acclaimed film and a cult classic amongst the rap and hip hop community. The film takes place on the hottest day of the year in Brooklyn, New York, in the year 1989. Spike Lee uses the film to demonstrate the racial tension in the area during that time period.

One of the most interesting aspects about Do The Right Thing is the culture that is represented throughout the film. Spike Lee was able to perfectly capture the essence of the city at that time. The film features tons of creative art work, classic Air Jordan sneakers, and essential hip hop music for the time period. As someone who is a fan of all of these various subjects, this movie was a perfect representation of the hip hop culture.

Another important aspect of the film is the various themes and battles that are fought throughout the film. A few of these themes are black vs. white, youth vs. old, and cops vs. civilians, and love vs. hate. These are generally touchy subjects and Spike Lee does a masterful job of intertwining one another to send his message. The racism aspect throughout the film is explained beautifully through the various characters and their respective viewpoints. One of these important characters is Radio Raheem. Raheem is a strong figurehead in the community, who always has his boombox blasting Public Enemy. He is always sporting the Love and Hate finger rings and trying to spread his message of love and peace.

I thoroughly enjoyed the film and the many different aspects of a community in which I never had a chance to experience. Being someone from an all white community, I never had to deal with many of the injustices that many African Americans portrayed in the film had to experience. The most telling scene of the movie is when Clifton steps on Buggin Out's shoes, and Buggin Out asks Clifton why he moved to Brooklyn, and Clifton responds with "It's a free country." But it's not a free country for all, and Do The Right Thing does a great job of showing that.