The one thing that really intrigued my about Do The Right Thing (Lee, 1989), was the Cinematography in the scene where Radio Raheem tells “the story of love an hate”, specifically the actor Bill Nunn’s bodily movements in his performance and blocking within the film’s mis-en -scéne.

When Radio Raheem begins his monologue he holds up his right fist where the “Love” ring is when he says “let me tell you the story of love and hate” and then his left fist where the “Hate” ring is when he says the word “hate”. I think that was a intelligent movement on his end because not only does it engaged the viewer, but it also provides viewers with visual aids of love and hate and further shows their relationship when Radio Raheem depicts the relation between the two with both his fists. It is clear from the beginning here that bodily movement is integral in this scene.

I also thought it was really interesting that Lee decided blocking wise to position Radio Raheem in the middle of the frame facing the camera. This suggest that there is an interesting hybrid between graphic blocking and social blocking. This is so because While Mookie is not in the frame, the audience understands that Radio Raheem is talking to Mookie, which gives the viewers this impression that while according to the story line Radio Raheem is talking to Mookie, Radio Raheem is actually speaking to the audience.

Above all, this scene stuck out to me the most in the film because of its strategic use in both blocking and the actor’s performance, specifically with bodily movement.

In an interview about his film Do the Right Thing [Lee, 1989], Spike Lee made some interesting points regarding both the criticism his film received and the film’s relevance in today’s society. He explained how many critics seemed to misinterpret the message of his film, with their remarks often reflecting racist views. This also gives us the chance to take note of the important role that media can play publicizing important social questions in an accessible medium. Lee had a lot to say about the misguided criticisms that followed the release of Do the Right Thing. Critics seemed to ignore much of the film’s important social commentary about racism and mistreatment of minorities, while focusing on the potential backlash from blacks who could have found the film offensive. In reality, these reactions themselves demonstrate some of the same elements of intolerance and prejudice that Lee aimed to address by making the film.

Do the Right Thing  was released twenty six years ago, but it could have been released yesterday and it would still be just as relevant. There are some disconcerting parallels between the death of Radio Rahim in the film and the recent death of Eric Garner. Both Rahim and Eric Garner were choked to death by New York police who used excessive force to subdue unarmed individuals. Though both men were arrested for breaking the law,  race played an undeniable role in their untimely deaths. We can’t necessary understand the mindsets of the police officers who killed Eric Garner. He did have an extensive criminal record and was clearly resisting arrest. However, we can take note of the role that civilian-recorded video of Garner’s death has played in igniting social critique and awareness in situations like these.

With the increase of portable video cameras in recent years, we have seen that it does not take a multi-million dollar film to have an impact on society.  The cellphone videos of Garner’s death allowed for an unfiltered and largely unbiased window into the events that occurred. As we’ve recently discussed, film and media are a means of  transmitting information in a way that transcends most barriers. Regardless of your race, language or social views, concrete video of an event can have an enormous impact on how it is interpreted. As  screens and video-recorders continue to saturate our society, we can expect the dynamics of crime, news, and politics to change. The actions of both criminals and authorities will be under increasing scrutiny in years to come. Its too early to say what impact this technological expansion will have in enforcing accountability for crime and punishment. However, if we remain aware of the inherent power that media has, perhaps progress can be made in moving towards a more tolerant, informed, and responsible society. The unbiased nature of raw video is a potent and invaluable tool.

While watching the first few minutes of Amelie today I was struck by how each character specifically Amelie’s parents were gender stereotyped. Within the first few minutes the male and female roles within the household were quickly uncovered.  The bio of Amelie’s father expressed his likes and dislikes including his tool box and the bio of her mother paralleled organization with the organization of her purse. This immediately set’s up these character’s as the typical gender stereotypes. Next, when the fish commits suicide Amelie’s mother is the dramatic one–screaming, while her father is the proactive parent coming to the rescue. Lastly, Amelie’s father hides his emotions within a shell failing to give his daughter the affection she needs. This is a very typical trait when stereotyping the male gender.

I am glad that Spike Lee called these authors out for what they said in the newspaper articles. It was not right of them at all to only bring up how Mookie broke a white person’s property and not mention how the NYPD killed a black man. Lee has a reason to be frustrated. It is crazy to think even 25 years later things have not changed and racism is still a major problem in some parts of the country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawana_Brawley_rape_allegations

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/04/justice/new-york-brawley-settlement/

I know that we mentioned Tawana briefly before watching Do the Right Thing, but I thought than an interesting piece of mise-en-scene in the film was the graffiti shown in the background of all of the scenes and how they linked the events of the film to real life new stories. The most noticeable of these was “Tawana Told the Truth!”, written in white graffiti on the red wall behind Mookie and Jade (his sister) when he asks her not to visit Sal’s pizzeria.

I’ve posted a few links to Wikipedia and news articles on the Tawana Brawley case (including where she is now), and even though the subject matter is rough, it is pretty interesting to see how it was woven into the scene. For those of you who don’t know, Tawana was a teenager in the late 1980’s who accused six white men (including a few policemen and an attorney) of sexually abusing her and leaving her in an alleyway with racial slurs written on her body. It was eventually ruled that Tawana had fabricated the stories and staged the scene (her motives were unclear, though there are various possibilities).

During the trials, Tawana’s story gained mass support from the African American community, especially in Hollywood, where actors like Bill Cosby advocated for her and tried to raise legal funds for her trial. It was an important incident of racial tension, dividing various communities across the country, and Spike Lee may have included this to showcase the real-world prevalence of racism through a “fictional” film. It also gives a small insight into Mookie’s protectiveness for Jade (a character he still sees as innocent) as he tries to warn her about Sal (whose intentions, he believes, could be similar to the alleged intentions of Tawana’s “attackers”).

Color Symbolism:

White Graffiti (stands out against the red, a symbol of innocence and purity)

Red Wall (common throughout the film, magnifies heat and anger, symbol of racial tension and violence)

I found the technique of including the viewer in the movie to be a particularly effective way to deliver his message. This is seen when the camera rushes up to each individual as if it was a child running up to talk to somebody, only to hear very exaggerated and overblown racism from each diversified minority present in the movie. This method of speaking directly to the camera, is accentuated by the lack of visual effect in the frame while each character is talking. Where other scenes showed the same settings with a lot happening in the background or a multitude of visual variety, these “call-out scenes” did not boast any of the same visual appeal. They were made so the viewer was focused on the slurs and anger directed from one character toward the others.

After reading the Foreword by Martin Scorsese in Stephen Apron’s Age of Image, Scorsese made some really powerful statements that made me look at Spike Lee’s film Do the Right Thing in a different way. Scorsese talks about how every element in a film is “counted” and more importantly how filmmakers are storytellers. Films are meant to be “read and attentively and lovingly returned to and studied.” This is exactly what Spike Lee presented to his audience. He tells us a story that deals with racial tension through music and colors. Then, at the very end, two quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X appear. Both historical civil rights leaders with two different points of view. I felt that Lee was asking us to think about which point of view way was right or wrong, just like how when reading books they put your mind to the test. Sometime people tend to just watch movies and once they are over they don’t think about them. Scorsese was absolutely right, movies are definitely meant to be studied to unfold deeper meanings and this is exactly what I did after watching Do the Right Thing. 

The song fight the power that was continuously being played through out this film. Possibly stood for more than just fight the power of the government and police officers. Could it have also been giving hints about stoping the power that racism holds as well. The reason I say this is because almost every time this song was being heard it was in a moment where racism was a part of. The main example was in Sal’s when the huge fight happened, but it also happened in the scene with the Boom Box battle where some things were said by the hispanic group after they  had lost.

I found Spike Lee’s ‘breaking of the fourth wall’ particularly effective. Having the actors speak directly at the camera puts the audience in the direct line of fire of the onslaught of verbal abuse the various characters dished out. Spike’s use of this cinematic effect is very different from what I am used to. Typically, in the shows or movies I’ve seen, the breaking of the fourth wall is used for either comedic effect or to explain something. These types of uses acknowledge that the audience is someone watching a screen. Spike Lee’s use, however, pulls the audience into the film to experience racial aggression first hand.

Something that is interesting to point out is that Radio Raheem is somewhat of a racist like Sal.  Sal, for example, only has famous white people’s pictures hanging on the wall in his restaurant because it is his property and he can do what he wants with it; while Radio Raheem on the other hand only plays “Fight the Power,” by Public Enemy, on his radio because it’s his radio and he can play whatever he wants.  This shows that Radio Raheem is a racist because he only plays one kind of music, like Sal having only pictures of white people.  As a result, there are people who react to this.  When Radio Raheem and Buggin Out go to Sal’s Pizzeria to demand that he put some pictures of black people on his wall is also when Sal tries to get Radio Raheem to turn his music off, only one of them succeeded though.  Once Sal destroys Radio Raheem’s radio it marked the downfall within the community and the destruction that was to come.  But, when Radio Raheem dies is when the real chaos happens causing everyone to go crazy and revolt against each other eventually resulting in the Sal’s Pizzeria being destroyed.  The fact that Radio Raheem is never coming back is just like Sal’s Pizzeria never being the same even though it can be rebuilt.  His death also marked the end of all trust between the community and between races.