Category: Do The Right Thing

The common theme I’ve seen present in both ‘Do the Right Thing’ by Spike Lee and ‘Fires in the Mirror’ by Anna Smith is that racial tensions are more complicated than black and white. Cops beating up colored people for no reason and teenage girls throwing eggs at the elderly Chinese as seen in ‘Do the Right Thing’ or the black and Jewish community’s reaction to a colored boy being killed by a Hasidic Student in ‘Fires in the Mirror”. These films demonstrate how much racism is beneath the surface and that it is not between just two sides, white and black. Both of these films use similar and completely different storytelling devices to reach the same theme/message.

What makes ‘Fires in the Mirrors: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other identities’ storytelling unique, is that it’s entirely a one-person play by Anna Deavere Smith, an African American playwright, actress, and author. The entire play is based on the actress’s reaction to the tensions of the colored and Jewish people in Brooklyn and the Crown Heights revolts that occurred in August 1991. The play is four acts with each act named after a theme it speaks too.

The story unfolds on August 19, when a car driven by a Hasidic Jewish Student swerved wildly on a road in the Crown Heights segment of Brooklyn, incidentally killing a 7-year-old boy, Gavin Cato, and injuring his cousin Angela. When the Jewish Hatzolah ambulance arrived, they decided to completely ignore the colored children under the car in favor of its Jewish occupant.

After three hours, in another piece of the region, a gathering of colored young people decided to avenge the boy’s death by stabbing an Australian rabbinical understudy, Yankel Rosenbaum, who leaked to death awaiting help at a neighborhood clinic.

In the days after, Crown Heights had hostile tension between the two gatherings, as each side blamed the other for bias, benefiting from extraordinary treatment, and murder.

Smith begins her storytelling by interviewing a considerable amount of the population involved, including such prominent identities as the Rev. Al Sharpton, dark investigations educator Leonard Jeffries, Jewish feminist creator Letty Cottin Pogrebin and Rosenbaum’s brother, Norman. She likewise spent numerous days among individuals, Jewish and colored, from the zone, recording their records, observations, fears, and expectations.

She created the playwright with the idea that each interviewee was the author by telling their stories and answering her questions. This idea of giving the voice to the characters directly is an important and unique form of storytelling. Although Smith is credited as the playwright, the voice was true of the interviewees. Smith would change clothes, background, voice, and posture for every character, creating distinct people in the audience’s mind. Smith never added any external people or an interviewer, instead, she interviewed herself while portraying the characters. I found this approach to be unique in that you don’t see the people she is portraying, you just see an African American woman portraying them, so your judgment of these people and characters is based solely on their testimonies and experiences. This made a deeper impact personally because it allowed my mind to be distracted from the races involved and more occupied by the story and experience.

Her method of storytelling had mixed reactions from audiences, some were pleased with how diverse yet connected the characters were, while others thought she was stereotyping and stigmatizing the cultures. The same could be interpreted from Spike Lee’s film ‘Do The Right Thing’, he uses distant races to portray thoughts on race and racial tensions.

Spike Lee uses a common method of storytelling by having actors play the characters but just as Smith does, he delivers his message. Spike Lee plays the character, Mookie, a lazy pizza boy who is concerned more about ‘getting paid’ than anything else. He works for Sal, a white Italian guy who’s owned a pizzeria in the neighborhood for years. As the day heats up, racial tensions do the same. A neighborhood groupie, Buggin Out, helps start the burning fires with his concern that Sal has been in the neighborhood for years and won’t hang up a single picture of a black man in his store. As the day progresses, we see a white man harassed for moving in, several shop owners and residents of various races complaining about each other, and a violent event that leads to the destruction of Sal’s pizzeria.

Another common practice we see in the films is that they let the actors portray characters with good and bad traits. When Smith played a character regardless if they were her race, she showed their bad traits and wrong views. This is what gives both of these films/playwrights their strength. For example, Sal’s character is not a bad guy. In a sense, he likes the neighborhood and many of the people in it. But he can’t escape frustrations that come from clashing cultures. On one hand, we can understand why his neighbors are upset that he doesn’t make any concessions to decorating his store in a manner that reflects the neighborhood. On the other, we can understand why Sal resents the implication that he is a racist because he’s proud to display his heritage. In ‘Fires in the Mirror’ when Smith plays both families that lost innocent loved ones, the boy Gavin and Jewish man Yankal, we see that neither could escape frustrations from the clashing cultures. These balanced portrayals in both films went a long way toward me accepting both Smith and Lee had more on their mind than a simple-minded criticism of racist. Instead, they both show us the prejudices that all of us seem hard-pressed to escape. No one remains unscathed in either film. Spike Lee chooses to portray himself as the poorest character, Mookie, and Smith portrays most types of racist. While the directors and actors are trying to convey a message using the characters they remain with some form of neutrality, we still see Mookie destroying Sal’s pizzeria and asking for his paycheck while sifting through the ashes. We see Smith justify to herself the interviewer as to why the Jewish man deserved to get stabbed and why the young boy deserved to get hit.

Both ‘Do the Right Thing’ and ‘Fires in the Mirror’ are iconic titles. In the end, nobody is right or chooses to do the right thing in both films, Spike Lee’s ending shows us figuratively what we end up with. Nothing but destruction and a never-ending cycle unless we address the real underlying problem, that equality should be universal for every race. What you would not want to be done to yourself, don’t allow to be done to others because they are a different race.

The word ‘stereotype’ is today almost always a term of abuse. A pattern of stereotypes is not neutral. It is the guarantee of our self-respect; it is the projection upon the world of our own sense of our own value, our own position and our own rights. The stereotypes are therefore, highly charged with the feelings and attached to them. They are the fortress of our tradition, and behind its defenses we can continue to feel ourselves safe in the position we occupy (Richard Dyer, 1999).

It is my purpose in this essay to analyze the different kind of stereotypical patterns used in cinema and literature and their representational connotations. Therefore, many aspects will be analyzed starting with a brief research on the differences of the resembled stereotypes in ‘Dead Man’ and ‘Do the Right Thing’, continuing with some different kinds of analysis in various literary texts we had previously worked on in class, such as ‘Indian Radio Days’ and finishing with the multidirectional aspect that stereotypes contain.

‘Dead Man’ is an American Western film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch in 1995 and is completely shot in monochrome, while ‘Do the Right Thing’ is a comedy drama film produced, written and directed by Spike Lee in 1989. At first sight, the viewer can we aware that in both films, the roles of the characters are mainly constructed by stereotypes. ‘Dead Man’ is the story of a young man’s journey, in a physical and spiritual manner, into a remarkably unfamiliar territory. When he is lost and badly wounded, he encounters a very atypical, outcast Native American, named ‘Nobody’ who leads William Blake through situations that are as well as violent, comical. The story of ‘Do the Right Thing’ goes around many characters from Brooklyn; the main one, Mooki, works at a pizzeria whose owner is Italian. The lower-class neighborhood is full of different people, not only regarding their personality, but also their race. Most characters in the film are black, together with people from other races and cultures, like Chinese and Italian, for instance.

‘Dead Man’ incorporates conventional stereotypes of Native Americans and ‘Do the Right Thing’ combines conventional stereotypes of Italians but mostly African Americans. In addition, in both films, the stereotypes of the characters are mixed, meaning each of them has a different amount of qualities that fit into the stereotype that belongs to their personage and another ones that do not fit. In general, I have concluded that the characters of ‘Do the Right Thing’ fit more into the stereotypical African American or Italian than the characters of ‘Dead Man’.

There are many examples which support my idea and firstly, I will look into ‘Do the Right Thing’. The main character, Mookie, resembles the stereotype of an African American citizen at a first sight because of his appearance, concretely, his clothes and because he talks and sometimes acts like that imaginary African American. Furthermore, he does not have an aim or purpose in life and has a lack of ambition regarding his job, which he does in order to maintain himself and his family economically, this aspect is linked to the stereotypical character. Nevertheless, he is not totally violent, for instance, after Sal destroys Radio Raheem’s radio at the pizzeria and police come, he does not get in trouble, he stays out of it, even though, after the murder of Radio Raheem, he is the one who explodes and throws the can over the pizzeria´s window. What is more, he does not really make it in an aggressive way. Besides, Pino´s character is a totally stereotypical one, we can even say that he is the most racist person on the film and does not feel comfortable in the neighborhood, he even wants to move out. Searching into ‘Dead Man’ I can argue that the characters are nothing but plane. Nobody is pictures as an individual, he really does not care about fitting into the community. Before knowing his name, he is presented in a stereotypical fashion, as he is dressed with a dress. What is more, he is portrayed as a savage who threatens the white hero, and he serves as a healer and guides Blake to his destiny. Nonetheless, he names himself Nobody, which is not of course a Native American name, with this, the writer achieves his aim, for the viewer to pay attention to the character as an individual not as a Native American. Nobody changes his name in order not to be identical with his socially assigned identity. Additionally, Blake changes his way of life and goes against his own nature, he becomes what is said to be a Native American character, not literally, but in his actions, because he becomes a violent character and connects with nature and wilderness.

Likewise, the connotations of stereotypes introduced in each movie are distinctive, the stereotype´s connotation in ‘Do the Right Thing’ are more likely negative. For instance, the lack of ambition of Mookie that I have already mentioned, the violence and aggressiveness of Radio Raheem or even the racism of Pino. Whereas in ‘Dead Man’ Nobody for example is described as more attuned to their surroundings and more enlightened and happier than the white characters. This portrayal can be guessed to be a critic to the society because it pictures Native Americans in a positive manner, moreover, we can even say that the writer almost destabilizes stereotypes.

When it comes to the characters breaking the stereotypes, we can say that the examples given in the previous points prove the destabilization, but I would also like to add that Blake´s character, is completely converted into a new one, which does not fit the stereotype in all the possible aspects. In the case of Chicanas, apart from being victims of racism, they have also been victims of sexism. For this reason, one of the means to oppose and redefine their identity has been literature. We can clearly see this in the work of ‘How to Be a Chicana Role Model’ by Michele Serros. This literary text goes against the stereotypes of what is a Chicana supposed to be like. Moreover, in ‘Indian Radio Days’ by Leanne Howe and Roxy Gordon, the need to define the ethnicity of a Native American and the desire to know which stereotypes would define the character can be clearly seen in this extract: “Narrator: ‘If you aren´t an Indian, who are you? Can you tell us the name of your tribe?’. First character: ‘PEOPLE! It is important to remark that what has to be presented always, are individuals, not stereotypes’”. It is important to conclusively remark that what has to be presented always, are individuals, not stereotypes.

The use of stereotypes in order to challenge the society and to show that they have no importance is crucial in the literary texts and movies, for that purpose irony and humor are used in them. In ‘Dead Man’ the writer uses stereotypes as a joke, he tries to make the viewer understand that no matter to which race or ethnicity you belong, you can or cannot entirely fulfil the stereotypes. I believe Jim Jarmusch may have used some aspects to introduce the ridiculousness of such stereotypes because he sometimes tries to fit them into the surreal context of the film. Furthermore, in ‘How to Be a Chicana Role Model’ by Michele Serros both of them are really present, Chicana writers have used irony to break stereotypes, enabling them to argue about social issues in a less aggressive way and reach larger audiences.

Not to mention the multidirectional property, it is particularly present in the movies and various literary texts. In ‘Do the Right Thing’ Spike Lee represents racism among all the characters by means of their relationships and actions. The truth is that the characters are really complex when it comes to their race and ethnicity. In the film racism goes through all the possible directions. Spike Lee wants to show the world issues regarding racism and stereotypes through all the characters and by all the possible perspectives. Intersectionality is an overlap in oppression of minorities as the text ‘The Concept of Intersectionality in Feminist Theory’ by Anna Carastathis mentions, it also clearly explains that all kind of discriminations are linked, the identity markers cannot be examined separately.

All in all, we are creatures of routines and habits and have emerged to find patterns when sometimes they don’t really exist. Ask yourself, how often do we fit a stereotype and why?

Stereotypes are at the end constructed by the society and prejudices and even though they may sometimes be true we, people do not need to generalize them. Besides, I would even dare to say they play an extremely negative role in our community, and people of course do not need to feel as they are supposed to, as people suppose how they have to feel or even act. I would like to conclude the essay with this statement that remarkably represents the damage that stereotypes do in literature and films, but also in life: “A cinematic Indian is supposed to be a warrior. I haven’t been in a fistfight since sixth grade and she beat the crap out of me. I mean, I knew I could never be as brave, as strong, as wise or as visionary, as white as the Indians in the movies” (Sherman Alexie, 1998).

Throughout American history, there have been many significant events that have shaped America and where we stand today. Going back to the 1600s, this was the time that introduced slavery in North America as well as leading the concept of racism to form. Racism is a huge controversy in America and one of the big main ideas that have led America to shape our society socially, culturally, and historically. Looking into a deeper and broader perspective of racism, the word comes from the 20th century meaning the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. According to a source by Columbia University, racism is this idea that “… the practice of discrimination, at all levels, from personal abuse to colonial oppression. Racism is a form of practice which has been tremendously important in European society for several hundred years, important in the sense that it is an essential part of the way the European capitalist system maintains itself”. This gives an overall understanding of how different cultures have different cultural and social backgrounds. There have been many novels and short films produced and written throughout the years leading the main points to be about racism and equality. The film ‘Do the Right Thing’ directed and produced by Spike Lee, goes deep into the meaning of equality within colored individuals and takes racism into the heart of New York overlooking the lower-class standards. Looking into the novel ‘Invisible Man’ by Ralph Ellison, it dives deep into the concept of racism within the black culture and having the main idea on how certain individuals feel invisible within our society. Both of these films and novels overlook the overall theme of racism and how it shaped our society socially, culturally, and historically.

The idea of racism is a huge part of where Americans stand today leading two societies to feel like neither of them belong in certain places or cultures. America has two contradicting points of views based on the overall races between Americans and African Americans. Going into my first idea; looking at the historical background, racism came into America in the late 1600s leading the two races to form a controversy between the two. Racism led America to fall within our culture as well as our social standards due to the cultural differences each ethnicity has. Looking into racism in more of a social perspective within America, an article by the name of ‘The Social Construction of Whiteness: Racism by Intent, Racism by Consequence’ written by Teresa J. Guess states a main idea about the social standards of white individuals. Teresa states, “In Sociology, we find less scholarship about the role ‘whiteness as the norm’ plays in sustaining social privilege beyond that which is accorded marginalized others. In order to examine the historical black/white binary paradigm of race in America, it is important to understand its structuration”. This helps overlook the overall idea on racism within black and white individuals and the different structuralism that is behind it. Looking into the different cultural backgrounds between the two ethnicities, it gives America a split view on equality within the different cultural standards between Americans and African Americans. Cultural racism is a huge conception in America due to the cultural differences between discrimination within the two ethnicities. The main idea on cultural racism is the fact that many societies and groups have experienced racialization and how many cultural groups have separated from their cultural traits. Racism and the leading factors of the social and cultural standards behind it, show how far America has come with the controversies that come with it and lead us into the films and novels created behind it.

The first film we watched and analyzed was ‘Do the Right Thing’, which was directed and produced by Spike Lee. This film takes place in a pizzeria building in the heart of Brooklyn. The message this film conveys is racial discrimination within the characters of the movie who live and work in a low-class area of New York. This film is looked upon social class and racial morals through the interactions of others. The whole idea behind this film was to convey a special message about racism within different ethnicities as well as wise words from two very important black famous individuals, Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X. Martin Luther King Jr was a huge spokesperson about racial discrimination and justice within the black culture. In the film, the main characters struggle with feeling like they belong in the community ran by higher class individuals. This coincides with the idea of social and cultural standards within racism and how colored people feel invisible when it comes to a higher class of white individuals. At the end of the film, Martin Luther King Jr states, “Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. The old law of ‘an eye for an eye’ leaves everybody blind. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends by destroying itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers”. Equality was a huge theme in this film due to the amount of police brutality towards the black people and how things were not equal within the two ethnicities. Malcolm X beliefs and concepts on human rights focused on the civil rights movement. At the end of the film, Lee uses the quote, “I think there are plenty of good people in America, but there are also plenty of bad people in America and the bad ones are the ones who seem to have all the power and be in these positions to block things that you and I need. Because this is the situation, you and I have to preserve the right to do what is necessary to bring an end to that situation, and it doesn’t mean that I advocate violence, but at the same time I am not against using violence in self-defense. I don’t even call it violence when it’s self- defense, I call it intelligence”, which is by Malcolm X and what he believed in. ‘Do the Right Things’ film has similar point of views and outlooks on Malcolm X and what he believed in with viewing human rights and equality.

The second novel we read that helps look into racism is ‘Invisible Man’ by Ralph Ellison. This novel dives deep into the concept of racism and the black culture which helps point out the different cultural standards behind colored and uncolored individuals. ‘Invisible Man’ has a concept where the narrator who is the ‘invisible man’ is in a world where he doesn’t necessarily feel welcomed due to his race and color. The people in the novel who represent the white culture has this phenomenon where they make the black culture feel like they don’t belong where they stand which is the concept of the whole novel being the black narrator as the invisible man not feeling free. Racism has been a huge concept in American history having very negative views due to the way it makes different cultures look. In this novel, racism and discrimination is viewed negatively towards the main character as this man who can’t fit into society and feels as if he’s alone with no one who cares. Ralph Ellison has a point in the novel where it talks about the main characters invisibility and the symbolism behind it. On page 141 he states, “Your nobody, son. You don’t exist—can’t you see that? The white folk tell everybody what to think except men like me. I tell them; that’s my life, telling white folk how to think about the things I know about. But you listen to me: I didn’t make it, and I know that I can’t change it. But I’ve made my place in it and I’ll have every Negro in the country hanging on tree limbs by morning if it means staying where I am”. Overall, this novel helps show the negativity of racism throughout America leading another book/film to view it as a pessimistic view.

In conclusion, the idea of racism throughout American history has this unaffirmative view towards many books and films that have based their argument off of discrimination and racism. Both the novel, ‘Invisible Man’ by Ralph Ellison, and the film, ‘Do the Right Thing’ directed and produced by Spike Lee, come together to form this analysis that racism and discrimination within social and cultural aspects turns out to have this pessimistic view that allows the reader to form an opinion on the topic. Looking back at the film ‘Do the Right Thing’ and the novel ‘Invisible Man’, they both form this cultural view on the different cultures and how they don’t get along due to certain obligations. ‘Do the Right Thing’ looks upon social class and racial morals through the interactions of others and ‘Invisible Man’ has this idea where the narrator who is the ‘invisible man’ is in a world where he doesn’t necessarily feel welcomed due to his race and color. The connections both of these films and novels have towards the topic of racism is the view based off of the cultural backgrounds between colored and uncolored individuals and how they don’t fit into each other’s society. Both of these films and novels overlook the overall theme of racism and how it shaped our society socially, culturally, and historically through the interactions each production has on the main characters versus the overall theme of the story.

Spike Lee’s 1989 film ‘Do the Right Thing’ confronts the impossible nature of resolving racism in a society that is so divided by differences in ethnicities. Inspired by the Howard Beach incident in 1986, in which Michael Griffith is hit by a car while fleeing from his racist attacker, the film shows the breaking down of a community under pressure. ‘Do the Right Thing’ takes place predominately over a single day on a single block in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Spike Lee uses several stylistic techniques to develop tension and conflict throughout the film by pinning peace and conflict against each other; he juxtaposes characters representing multiples stances on both of those sides as well as using formal techniques of filmmaking to further enhance the dichotomy of his film. The film focuses on emotional and visual communication to create the sense of a ticking time bomb, in which the result will be a clashing of the conflicting activist arguments of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Lee seeks to show that violence begets violence but poses the question of how one should respond to senseless death and systematic racism.

Lee is constantly developing the tension in the film through his stylistic choices, keeping the viewer on edge from the opening credits of the film until the last radio broadcast. The film opens with Rosie Perez aggressively dancing in a boxing outfit to Public Enemy’s ‘Fight the Power’ – an important song to the film. This would immediately set an intense and violent tone for the film, but Lee juxtaposes this with a radio broadcast from Senor Love Daddy that conveys a peaceful and accepting tone. This sets up the main idea of peace versus conflict for the film and is the first example of juxtaposed characters used. The film relies heavily on camera angles to develop tension between the characters, with frequent use of high and low angle shots to show power dynamics, as well as canted angles to show conflict between characters. These camera angles give the film its nerve-wracking and intense nature. Implementation of high and low angle shots can be highlighted in the scene where Radio Raheem tries to buy a slice of pizza from Sal but because of his loud music, Sal refuses due to his distaste for the culture that the music represents, resulting in a yelling match between the two. Low shots are used on Radio Raheem, which make him take up most of the frame while also looking larger than his counterpart in the argument, this serves to show that he holds the power rather than Sal who is framed in high angle shots that make him appear smaller. Dutch or canted angles are essential to the film’s developing conflict, they serve to show the discomfort and anger in the neighborhood and highlights the confrontational nature of the film. Canted angles are a clear break from realism, one of several Brechtian techniques that Lee implements; the use of alienation by unnaturally slanting the shot reminds the audience they are watching a film. His use of canted angles reflects the fragmented atmosphere that develops throughout the plot. The camera angles become more aggressively tilted leading up to the riot. This gives the world of the film an unsteady feeling, as though it is ready to come undone with each subsequent conflict. The world seems wrong and off-balance because of the racial conflicts that seem to reach no resolution.

Lee is constantly showing a juxtaposition between characters in the community. From Mother Sister versus Da Mayor who serve to represent racial tensions in the neighborhood – as Da Mayor tries to be accepting while Mother Sister chooses to hold onto her prejudices- to Vito versus Pino- who are symbolic of the two sides of Sal. There is Radio Raheem loud and violent with his music as he imposes it onto others versus Senor Love Daddy who takes a more peaceful approach and often tries to ease tensions with his music. This juxtaposition relates back to the film’s main idea of conflict versus peace as the two characters have taken opposing sides. Radio Raheem’s position here is contradictory though, as he had previously stated in his monologue about love versus hate that love is the one to triumph which would appear to have him align with the side of peace rather than conflict. Lee chooses to create this contradiction because it serves his purpose of people not being black or white, rather as shades of gray; this is why there is no true hero of ‘Do the Right Thing’ and an inconclusive ending to the film – just as there is no answer as to align with peace or conflict.

Lee consistently encourages viewers to recognize the confrontational nature of the film. This is exemplified in the film’s infamous mid-film rant in which Lee uses another Brechtian technique, breaking the fourth wall, which forces the audience to remember that the film is a work of fiction meant to make them question their own reality. The scene is a visual and auditory way to draw even more attention to the developing tension in the community. It also adds another element to the idea of community that Lee has been developing- while on the surface the community may seem harmonious, when you explore further past the facade, the community is fractured beyond repair. This is mirrored in scenes where mood and tone change rapidly- often from light-hearted and funny to being on the edge of your chair tense. This shift most often comes from character interactions as a combination of their dialogue and body language. Camera movement is also used to highlight this, when tensions ease for a moment, like that of the scene where the neighborhood kids are playing in the water from an open fire hydrant, the camera moves freely simply capturing the action as it happens and mirroring the freedom of the characters. This is in strong contrast to many of the other scenes where choreography is carefully crafted; it is this contrast that highlights the tension of other scenes. That same scene of the fire hydrant quickly changes tone as the white man in his fancy convertible starts an argument. The return of tension is marked by the camera no longer being free, rather it is locked down in its position and back to the confrontational shot/reverse-shot editing style. The shifting tone plays a large part in the creation of tension, keeping the viewer on edge as to which encounters are going to result in a fight and which are going to pass by in unresolved conflict. Almost all of the interactions in the film end in unresolved conflict between the different races in the neighborhood. One scene that highlights this is when Radio Raheem goes to buy batteries from the Korean store. Lee uses canted angles again, as he usually does to show the tension between the characters in a conversation, but there is no outburst aside from a moderate amount of cursing. Radio Raheem buys his batteries and leaves with the racial tensions left unresolved. Lee does this in almost every racial conflict interaction in the film; he teases the viewer with conflict only to have it go unresolved. The constant repetition of the song ‘Fight the Power’ lets the viewer know the all the rising tension will lead to a conflict that does result in a fight but because of Lee’s constant teasing, the viewer does not know when. This echoes back to the main theme of the film: peace versus conflict. Whereby letting all the conflict end with no resolution, tensions only continue to rise but as seen in the climax of the film, violence also does not bring a clear resolution. Lee does not give a definitive answer of which side to be on because it is unclear which side is the ‘right’ side.

Lee ends the film with an inconclusive conclusion, where there are no answers to the questions posed in the film. The day ended in conflict and yet tensions did not ease, just as they did not ease when handled with peace; conflicts will continue to arise in the neighborhood because there was no resolution. Lee’s building of tension and conflict served to show that there is no definitive way to respond to racism except to continue to confront it. He implements stylistic techniques such as camera angles and Brechtian aesthetics to build tension and conflict in ‘Do the Right Thing’ to draw attention to the confrontational nature of the film’s story.