This video was taken in 2013. Obviously it is a little theatrical but you can see the relevance of “Do the Right Thing” spewed throughout his poem. The pain that is felt throughout the movie is embodied in this poetry slam and sure “Do the Right Thing” was made almost 30 years ago but we have to ask ourselves how much did things really change. People will always have a skewed few of things that are “different” whether that relates to race, obesity, hair color, size, etc. However we shouldn’t need to “learn to deal” with this issue, we should be able to embrace it with open arms.

At the rate that racism is getting exposure in America it becomes obvious to everyone that it is slowly but surely dying out. Now don’t get me wrong there will probably never be a day where it does not exist and today we are not close by any means of it being gone. However it is certainly being throttled down, this upcoming generation and our generation have made great advances in promoting equality not just of race but of sexual orientation and most importantly a change in culture. People aren’t smoking cigarettes like chimneys anymore, vegetarians and vegans are more prominent than ever and healthy lifestyles are promoted across all fronts of society.

Even with all of these advances though you are left with this underlying feeling that there is more that we can do. That is accomplished through videos like the one above and “Do the Right Thing” not because they are making white people look bad. They are exposing what minorities have to go through on a daily basis and that alone is enough for people to take a look in the mirror and ask themselves.

“How:

Is anyone different in the end?

can I help?

can someone possibly go through that on a daily basis?

can you truly feel superior when you are smiting your fellow human beings?

and finally why should there be a difference?”

These are the questions these videos bring to the table.

Theo developed greatly throughout the movie, whether it be through emotional turmoil or catastrophic experience he went from a mentally and physically numb character to a man who would do anything to protect a baby that wasn’t even his.

The writer accomplishes this by establishing his initial numbness, ex: Baby Diego dies and he doesn’t seem to care, smokes and drinks throughout the movie, has little attachment to anyone besides Jasper, an old man in the woods who even he thinks is crazy.

Then as he is stripped down to almost nothing, and the people he loves most are taken away from him. His ex who hints at a future with him is killed within the first 30 minutes of the film and that is the first step of a long process which turns our once numb character into a vulnerable savior. Theo then loses Jasper in an attempt to free Kee from her many pursuers. This tears him apart and leaves him essentially grasping for any emotional stability he can, thus he latches on to Kee even more.

It became obvious that Theo was going to die before the movie ended when he had helped Kee birth the baby. It was then and there that he had fully opened himself to the world and had completed his growth as the vulnerable character. Then sadly, as cinema has proven time and time again, when a character completes their development, they either die, or begin a new life. In a dystopian London it is a pretty obvious choice for the writer to make.