Do the Right Thing

Do the Right Thing is a Spike Lee movie made in '89 and as such should probably be viewed in that context. Today, movies like Crash have forced viewers into deeper acknowledgement of the difficultly of cross cultural relationships - or relationships in general for that matter. In that way, Do the Right Thing sort of feels like a pre-cursor to Crash except with more attitude. Spike Lee takes a situation that to any of the parties involved feels like a morally black and white scenario, but by taking us into each groups' stories, ambiguity is introduced that probably more accurately reflects life in America. Spike Lee is specifically interested in trying to figure out where to sit in the spectrum between MLK's non-violence and Malcolm X's approval of violence within certain circumstances. His conclusion is uncomfortable and attempts to be grounded in "real life."

Watching the film I was reminded at the importance of narratives - how all sorts of people have different intersecting and colliding narratives or stories that help give understanding to the world and how we relate to it. Do the Right Thing presents us with several different narratives (Italian American, young black, senior citizen black etc.) and the temptation is to quantify those on some sort of moral scale. I think the challenge in viewing this type of film is to accept those narratives at face value and to not say they are outright wrong, but they express some deep understanding of the world and as such should be honored, perhaps even revered if we are to seek to build a more perfect union.