"Do the Right Thing" Depicts Racism between Minorities and Civil Unrest Caused by Police Brutality

             The film does a great job at depicting gentrification, racism between minorities, and civil unrest caused by police brutality. Spike Lee sewed together many relevant social issues throughout the story. The film follows different people of the same community though the hottest day of the year, but tensions rise when a local customer confront a pizzeria owner about the absence of black people on his wall of fame, soon the entire community is in for an ugly awakening. There’s an amazing compilation of scenes where people of different races verbalize popular racial stereotypes.

 

Lee provided an interesting twist on how films touch on racism. While some directors depicted racism in the traditional stories set in the civil rights era, Spike Lee showed how people tend to group themselves according to race, resulting in conflict between them as residents living on the same block.

            The movie kept pushing the buttons, this time, through gentrification. The story shows people of different races moving into a “bad” neighborhood, opening businesses in the area, and pushing the old residents out through economic means. Although the film emphasized how people tend to group each other according to race, by the end of the day, those who did not win the natural lottery are all vulnerable to the same problems in society. “Do the right thing” ended the film with a clear example of one of the biggest flaws in our society, police brutality. After an altercation escalates and the police are called, the situation, ironically, only goes from bad to worse. More than 20 years later, and innocent people are still muttering the words, “I can’t breathe,” as their last. Be-it for a lack of training in the police force, or racist people becoming cops to have authority over others, there is a trend of minorities being murdered by policemen. 

The film all in all offers an abundant amount of relevant hot topics. Congratulations to the cast, every actor delivered their lines perfectly, and the chemistry between them was incredible. If you enjoy seeing hot topics through a different perspective and like a well developed story, check out this film!!! And remember, "do the right thing!"