DO THE RIGHT THING; a closer look...

When it comes to more technical aspects of this film, I was impressed. Spike Lee's use of color and camera tricks all blended well to allow the film to have an increasingly strong effect on its viewers. One thing I did take great notice of, was that there were times when Mookie (Spike Lee's own character) wore the Italian colors. Now, while he worked for Sal (who is Italian), he was yet black and there were actually friends of his who disagreed with aspects of Sal's business. I felt like the fact that he wore the colors represented the fact that he saw no need for the barriers that were being placed between the different ethnicity's within his neighborhood. He represented the start of prospective unity. Another example of Spike's use of color was the great red wall that the three gentlemen would sit in front of for the duration of the day and discuss everything and nothing all at the same time. Being as though it was repeated time and time again that the temperature was exceedingly high, I enjoyed the use of such a bold red to serve as their backdrop. It was not too suggestive, it gave the idea that they were at a very neutral corner on a very average day. It also gave off the impression that this was something these gentlemen did day in and day out. The red wall intensified the notion of the blazing heat, and the fact that these gentlemen remained here, only to discuss the ongoings of the community, suggested that either they had nowhere else to go, or they did not wish to go back to where they had come from when they traveled to this spot. Either way, the use of the red was brilliant.
If I had to choose one of the most important symbols within this film, I would undoubtedly choose the radio. From the beginning, we are introduced to the nieghborhood through the voice of the radio Dj and it goes on to show us that the radio is on in just about every household, It is important, a source of motivation. The radio Dj narrates most of the day if not the entire day. He acknowlegds Radio Rahim who is apparently known for carrying his radio and playing extremely loud music. The radio also causes discourse when he enters Sals and Sal orders him to turn it down. Despite the fact that he comply's, you can almost sense his frustration in that he expects that everyone understands the relationship he has with his rado. The same expectation applies when Radio Rahim is met by the latino's who are playing their cultural music nice and loud and Radio Rahim has no problem drowning their music out immediately. At the climax of the movie, when Sal destroys Rahim's radio, you get the sense that he feels as thoough he just lost his mother or something heavy such as that. This then leads to a huge fight which eventually leads to the death of Rahim and Sals Famous Pizzeria. Music served as the one thing that had the power to tie all of the differences among these people together and I believe that it why the radio was stressed so strongly. Also, the song Radio Rahim constantly played was "Fight the Power" which suggested a desire for change in some way.
The use of symbols, colors, and camera tricks in combination with the casting and acting in this film made it the classic film that it is! The various themes and ethical challenges and lessons that are compacted within this plotline are incomparable toa ny other movie i have ever seen.