Do The Right Thing...sometimes.

Upon the completion of Do the Right Thing, motion picture directed by Spike Lee, I began to reflect on what I had just watched. True, the opening credits were misleading and at times I found myself playing clips of other more...interesting films in my head, once delving into the point of the story I began to realize how much thought and awareness was put into this movie.

As a title, Do The Right Thing tells you nothing about the film it is named for. What it does say, however, is that there will be a morality lesson posed in the movie and that in fact is true. Near the end the entire movie takes a turn of events when playful aggressive behavior becomes destructive and violent. When Radio Rahemm refused to turn down his music Sal began the downward spiral of unnecessary acts of violence and hatred. This succession evolved into nothing less than a riot, where Radio Raheem is killed by a police officer after refusing to stop choking Sal, and Sal's pizzaria is burnt down.

This dilema poses the question of fault. Who takes the blame? Is it Raheem for abusing his right and not adhering to Sal's rules in his own store which is allowed? Is it Sal for letting his anger get the best of him and smashing the radio? Is it the all the people of the town who were swept up in the emotionof the evening? Or is it the white family who represents the larger problem of racism?

The answer is this: There is no answer. Each individual who watches this movie can come to their own conclusion regarding who was wrong who was right. There is a catch, however. You must be able to justify why you believe this is so. The reason you have to justify is because otherwise you could be labeled racist or ethnocentric. This is an extremley touchy subject and most do not like getting into it at the risk of living up to a stereotype. The movie raises this "elephant" in the room and begs you in the title to DO THE RIGHT THING. You have the right to believe what you want, but it must be based on hard facts.

Sometimes there is no right thing. In some situations, everyone is wrong. This movie skillfully raises the question of blame, and who rightfully deserves it on their shoulders. Both sides are depicted evenly; there is no one 'better' group demonstrated in a more possitive light than the rest. Therefore, this is not just a movie, but a question asking you to search your own morality and look beyond your own personal beliefs to see the much larger issue between not just those of different races and genders, but more importantly between those of the same.