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)
Thank you so much for posting this! I kept reminding myself to get around to look for the significance behind the Tawana graffiti. I know we talked about it in class, but I wanted to read in depth about how it was significant to the movie that they show the graffiti in the background during certain scenes. This was very helpful