A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Why is this movie called "DO THE RIGHT THING"? Everyone does the wrong thing, This is a film that promotes racial hatred & bigotry while glorifying violence towards anyone who doesn't fit your profile of acceptable racial acceptance. Glorified racially motivated hate film.

"Do the Right Thing" is a film from 1989 directed and written by Spike Lee who also stars in the movie. The rest of the cast includes Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, and John Turturro.The story takes place in the city of New York City, New York in the area of Brooklyn within the neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant. It is on one of the hottest days in the summer. The story follows the adventures of a young African-American man named Mookie who lives with his sister and works as a delivery man for a middle-aged American-Italian man named Sal who owns the local pizza parlor, "Sal's Famous Pizzeria." Mookie's heart is not into his job at all, and doesn't take it very seriously and often slacks off from it much to Sal's dislike. Mookie also has a three-year old son with his girlfriend Tina, but is too scared to marry her, move in together, and settle down."Sal's Famous Pizzeria" has been standing proudly in the neighborhood for twenty-five years. Sal, and his two sons Pino and Vito are few of the only white men who work in the area which is predominantly African-American. The neighborhood was originally a largely Italian-American neighborhood until the 1960's during the civil rights movement when black people moved into the neighborhood, which caused many of the local Italians to move out.Sal's oldest son Pino, is a huge racist and hates having to work in a black neighborhood. Pino makes it very clear that he doesn't enjoy his job and that he hates black people. Sal's other son, Vito is more open toward blacks and just the opposite of Pino, and has a good friendship with Mookie.One of Sal's regular customers, "Buggin' Out" notices that Sal's wall of fame in the restaurant only has pictures of Italians. He asks Sal why there are no black people on the wall, and Sal tells them that this is his place, and Italian people are to be all the wall only. Buggin' Out argues that because mostly black people spend their money in there that they do have some say over the creative control of the business. This idea does not go over too well with Sal, and he kicks Buggin' Out to the streets. Buggin' Out then plans to organize a boycott of Sal's pizzeria and goes on a quest to find those who will join him. There are other little story lines and characters within the film, but the one I described above is the main plot of the story.It's an interesting, thought provoking film that I think everyone should see. It's a little disturbing and not a feel good movie. It's also just a tiny bit dated (but the 80's theme is all apart of the appeal in my view) the film is kinda cheesy in some parts too, but again, it is apart of the appeal of the movie. There's also some reverse racism that goes on that is intended to be comical to black audiences, but I found it to be offensive and mean.On that note, in many of Spike Lee's movies he often has his Italian characters as either being racist bullies that the audience are suppose to hate, or unintelligent people who the audience is suppose to laugh at, and we see both of that in the characters of Pino and Vito.There are honestly no classic cinema good guys in this film. (which is not exactly a bad thing since it makes the film more realistic.) Not even the main character Mookie is someone I would call a hero. He doesn't set a very good example for the audience. He's a complete slacker when it comes to his job, and only cares about getting paid, and yet he doesn't do much to earn the money.Spike Lee presents a very realistic and honest look at culture clashes that sadly exist in the United States of America. Now while it's true that I personally haven't been involved with too many race conflicts, thank goodness...all one has to do is observe history, read a newspaper or watch the news to see the realism in "Do the Right Thing" that is just as alive now that it was in 1989.The thing about this film is that almost no one is nice. Almost everyone is a very rude jerk with no manners. Some might think this movie stereotypes New Yorkers, but there were mostly New York actors in it. I can see why NYC has the rep that it does (at least among some of the people I know) for it's rudeness, and this movie does not deny it. In most cases, anytime a person is rude to another person, that person will often react by also being ruder, and that happens often in this film, and so much violence and drama could have been avoided in this picture if one person could have turned the other cheek, swallowed their pride, been polite and unselfish. I think the movie is very realistically because in real life, the exact same thing I said above applies to everyday violent human events.The title "Do the Right Thing" is interesting...because no one does the right thing.

The reputation 'Do the Right Thing' gained upon its release as a racially incendiary picture has defined both the film itself and the reputation of its director and star, Spike Lee. Its rather pessimistic depiction of urban race relations had many people fearing it would incite the African-American community to riot. Their main qualm was that a piece of 'white property' was destroyed because of a riot that the film's main character incites. The same people, however, mostly forgot that a black man lost his life to police brutality first. Lee took, and still takes, offense against those mainstream critics who almost seemed to both suggest that black people could so easily be persuaded to destroy public property and that white property took precedence over black life. That critics also complained about the way the film portrayed a black, 'ghetto' community in a reasonably positive light only served to aggravate Lee further.And now in the era of increased accusations from conservatives towards liberals for 'race baiting' - educating or highlighting instances of institutional racism -, the tensions 'Do the Right Thing' created at the end of the 80's have become thematically relevant and rich to the contemporary viewer as they were during that earlier, quite neo-conservative decade. But despite Lee's reputation for creating pictures that flirt with Black militancy and supremacy (I personally find this not so common among his films as in his personality), DTRT's framing as 'a black picture' does a disservice to the universality of its perspectives, from the rough but benevolent white pizzeria owner Sal (Danny Aielo) to the lazy and rather selfish but lovable protagonist Mookie (Lee). The relationship between these two is fundamentally the key focus of the film, with the giant and seemingly threatening Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) the lighting rod that tests their already fragile friendship. By the end, we have seen both men's point-of-view and are hurt not only by the death and destruction that has snowballed from what was originally a minor complaint from the belligerent Buggin' Out (an unrecognisable Giancarlo Esposito), but also by how the conflict has divided them for reasons that to both men seem so unfair.Lee has been clear that he sides with his own protagonist by the film's end, and the film itself supports this by how Mookie ultimately loses little compared to Sal (though unlike the friend Mookie loses, the pizzeria Sal loses is recoverable). However, Lee rather optimistically has the two cautiously reconcile, and with that a hope for tranquility and even equality between the two, and by extension Blacks and Whites of the US, can be inferred.The film remains one of the best examinations of American racial politics. Its dialectical style, especially its subversion of political melodrama archetypes (the sympathetic minority victim, the brutal racist, etc.), demonstrate an intent not to manipulate audiences into feeling pity for black people but to get them to think about why these humans of both races, with all their flaws and prejudices, are the way they are.As the film ends with two juxtaposed quotations from MLK and Malcolm X on the ethics of violent residence to oppressive regimes, we are left to wonder, with all that we have seen and heard, how we can respect each other as human beings without compromising our autonomy. Such a query should be so simple, but the world keeps making it so complicated.

Do the right thing takes place during a very hot summer day where racial tensions are building up. What do the right thing does right is making this little neighborhood feel alive. This is achieved by making every character seem relevant in story. Each character is given just the right time to ease their self in our mind allowing us to believe that even after the movie ends, the neighborhood continues to live.Why I think do the right thing is important is because even after the civil rights movement, people thought racism was coming to an end. Spike Lee wanted to show in this movie, that race relationships in America are still a problem. Even to this day, this movie still applies and could be made today and it would affect me the same way.In terms of actual technical skill, the movie feels different. Spike lee films in unusual ways, he keeps the camera moving. He keeps it upbeat, he keeps it fresh and he keeps it interesting.The performances are great and if there was one stand-out it would have to be Sal.Overall, a very thought-provoking movie that makes you pondering race relations. No matter what your color is.