Review of Do the Right Thing (1989) by Johannes J — 13 Nov 2009

3: Interesting film, but mainly because of the third act. I actually found the 40+ minutes of 1989 Cannes interview footage to be more interesting than the film, which isn't precisely what one would hope.

Spike Lee certainly has a different perspective from me. I haven't really experienced anything like what apparently occurred on a frequent basis in 1980's NYC. I guess I'm supposed to be something like John Savage's character gentrifying the old neighborhood.

Either I've been almost completely oblivious to this world or I've just been fortunate enough to never experience it. Racism was certainly never much of an issue for me, whether in my Hmong neighborhood Elementary school, mostly African-American Martin Luther King Jr.

Track Club, racially diverse High School (although my particular classes were less so), 4 years living in Manhattan, year in Korea, or travels around the world. I'd probably understand a picture about class differences much more.

Spike Lee is definitely very passionate about these issues and is obviously privy to and conscious of a different America than the one I am personally familiar with. I feel like he was reaching for a bit too much and isn't quite gifted enough to achieve it.

I didn't necessarily see the MLK/Malcolm X thread woven throughout the picture like Lee indicates he believed it to be. It's present to some extent, but it tends to lean heavily towards Malcolm X and not really give MLK much of a chance.

The film seems to merely pay lip service to the underlying issues and fails to hit much below the surface. The third act is thought provoking and entertaining, both due to the conflict coming to a head and the unusual choices.

Lee seems to condemn just about everyone. Having his character hurl the trash can is an interesting, and certainly surprising, touch, but in the end the story simply seems to be about misunderstanding, misplaced anger, and frustration.

Everyone seems to be at fault and they simply end up lashing out at anything in their way. It's an interesting and ultimately relatively simple message for such a complex issue, but I felt like there was more here Lee didn't deal with.

Nonetheless, it is an important and powerful film despite its faults.