I read an article that Rolling Stone published about the 25th anniversary of Do The Right Thing, and in it Spike Lee talks about how he wanted the audience to also feel the heat, both from the weather and the tension between the characters. He said “I wanted people to be sweating from watching this film, even though they might be seeing it in air conditioning … We painted that red wall. In many shots, our great cameraman Ernest Dickerson would put a butane lighter underneath the lens.” In almost every shot there is somebody sweating, fanning themselves, and complaining about how hot it is. The physical heat also relates to the heat between each racial group living in that part of the city, because as it gets hotter, the tension also starts to escalate.
Here is the interview by Rolling Stone if anyone is interested in reading it:
I found that article on google too. It was interesting to hear about Lee’s process and perspective of his film.
le. The heat outside and the racial tensions which bring up ‘heated’ issues play upon each other in the film. First, Lee is trying to bring up racial relations in New York, during this time period, which is heated. In addition, it is also set in the hottest day in the summer, 90+ degrees, affecting everybody and making them uncomfortable. Heat in the film is ironic because the setting and the characters play off of each other. The heat, as in temperature, and the heat in arguments and between characters both build up to a high. In the film, the high point for the characters is when the riot occurs at Sal’s and Mookie throws the garbage can inside. While, we see the heat affecting the characters during the day by their sweating, talk about it, and red shown throughout. The heat comes to high as the day comes to a close and darkness sets in.
The heat in the movie is helpful in getting Lee’s idea of racial tension and the hot summer day through. I felt like I was hot and sweating like the characters. It put the viewer closer into the movie and to the characters.
At first after watching Do the Right Thing, I was kind of confused. The first time we saw police officers in the film was when a white guy, in his convertible, was upset after getting wet from the fire hydrant. The officers paid almost no attention to this man’s complaints, and did nothing to punish the characters who had soaked the man. This interaction made it seem like the police officers got a long with the characters, and were almost on their side. The next time we saw the officers, there was a totally different vibe with both the officers and the three men in front of the red wall saying “what a waste”, with the brutality scene after that. I found it very interesting, yet confusing, that Spike Lee had shown these two different sides of the cops. Then I realized it was another way to show how the tension between characters increased as the heat did.