Essay about Do the right thing

Have you ever came across a conflict in your life where you had to make a quite difficult decision whether to challenge a person in power, an authority figure or someone who you have great respect for? I can say that I had experienced a time where I had to think about the decision I was about to make, should I do what’s right or stand up for myself? All the excitement started when one of my brother’s proposed to his girlfriend. They were high school sweethearts, dated all throughout high school, did every little thing together, and spent almost every night together. Couple years past by, six to be exact, and my brother finally decided she was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his

The word “violence” holds a powerful meaning all around the world today. Violence today is political. This is causing racial tension caused by prejudice and discrimination of a person. Flashback time to the 1980’s, where we are able to see when one of the best films were created. Do The Right Thing,1989 by director and actor Spike Lee, is a film that explores racial tensions in many different ethnic groups in New York. Racial tensions was prevalent in a multicultural mix of races such as; African-American/Black, Italians, Caucasian/White, and Asian communities. The main racial tensions in the film were Italian-Americans and African Americans. Spike Lee uses anger, violence, and fear in Do The Right Thing to represent discrimination and racial altercations.

In the film, Do the Right Thing, director Spike Lee presents the audience with the theme of racism. The title represents the everyday choices that we as Americans of various ethnicities, cultures, and race. Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing allows the viewers to decide for themselves the right thing to do about racism. Everyone has the choice to be accepting of cultures, or people different from them. The film portrays how an Italian American named Sal has a neighborhood pizzeria in Bedford-Stuyvesant, New York. The neighborhood is primarily African American, but there is a diverse amount of other cultures made up of, Hispanics, European Americans, also there is a store owned by Koreans. This film displays the discrimination between the races and how this can lead to violence.

Director and actor Spike Lee presents his "truth" about race relations in his movie Do the Right Thing. The film exhibits the spectacle of black discrimination and racial altercations. Through serious, angry, and loud sounds, Lee stays true to the ethnicity of his characters, all of which reflect their own individualism. Lee uses insulting diction and intense scenes to show how severe racism can lead to violence.

This movie Directed by Paul Haggis who also directed Academy Award Winning "Million Dollar Baby" and had also won an Academy Award for this movie as well puts a twisted story in this film. This movie is trying to symbolize what goes on in the world today in regards to racism and stereotypes. He tries to make a point on how societies view themselves and others in the world based on there ethnicities. This movie intertwines several different people's lives, all different races, with different types of beliefs. Such ethnicities include Caucasians, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Middle Eastern. This movie includes conflicts on both sides of the picture from cops and criminals as well

There are many films in this world that tackle the topic of race. It is an unfortunate truth that leads to many options when choosing a film to show to the students of Coe College. With a large majority of the students at Coe being white, choosing a film that addresses the themes of racism in the 20th century is something that can be a sensitive subject. It is the reason that a film that addresses tension among different race on a block in Bed-Sty is the most appropriate for the audience at Coe College. The film Do The Right Thing, directed by Spike Lee, challenges the characters in the film, along with the audience viewing the film to form opinions on sensitive subjects and to do the right thing in a difficult situation.Spike Lee uses the film, Do The Right Thing, to address racial tension in the 20th century through his use of color, camera framing and narrative.

At the beginning of the film, we are introduced to a wide variety of characters. Mayor, an older gentleman with a drinking problem, portrays neutrality in the film that is in sharp contrast to the racism and discrimination that is harbored in most of the cast. Throughout the story, Lee has a way of making this hatred between characters seem ridiculous to the point where it becomes humorous. Perhaps as a way to make the audience look at hate as a joke, and to see it that way in their own lives. However, slowly we begin to see that the hate towards others is stemming from frustrations within their own lives, and is taken out on others in increasingly more harmful ways. In the end, we see this escalating hate lead to violence and in turn to destruction for everybody.

Spike Lee and John Singleton write their films about inner-city violence and black youth. Although they grew up in different parts of the United States (John Singleton in Los Angeles and Spike Lee in New York) they have something to say to society. They both strive to expose the realities faced by African-Americans, especially those in inner-city ghettos. With Spike Lee starring as Mookie and John Singleton embodying Tre, both directors showcase their perspective on American society via their characters.

Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989) portrayed an important social problem of the time period – interracial rivalry. The movie was one of many ghetto action films made during the era. In the article “Producing Ghetto Pictures” by Craig Watkins, he says that the movies of the ghetto film cycle committed much of their storyline to that of the relationship between young, poor black males and the ghetto (170).

In spite of the fact that Do the Right Thing and Jungle Fever are both associated with social and political issues, they tend to navigate through various racial viewpoints using different cinematic elements. Spike Lee uses a variety of techniques in his film to bring awareness to events occurring in today's society. For example Do the Right Thing, is a film that tackles down the social issue of prejudice as well as the controversial issues between Italian-Americans and African Americans in New York City. The whole movie unravels around the “Wall of Fame” located inside Sal’s Pizzeria, which only features Italian actors. One day a local customer name Bugging Out, demands to have black actors, since after all the pizzeria is located within a black neighborhood. Soon enough the “Wall of Fame” becomes a symbolic representation of racism and hate which leads to a riot involving an explicit scene of police brutality. On the other hand Jungle Fever, tends to emphasise on the subject of interracial couples, as well as the controversy between Italian-Americans and African Americans and of course the usage of drugs. The movie is based on Flipper, an African American architect who has an affair with his secretary Angie, who is an Italian-American. The climax of the movie occurs when Flipper’s wife Drew, finds out about the affair and from then on society begins to reject Flipper and Angie because of social norms. Forcing them into a corner where they later learn that they were driven

In Spike Lee 's Do the Right Thing, the story takes places in 1989, another year in the long struggle for equality for African-Americans. The film portrays the racial tensions between locals of the neighborhood and an Italian-American family in the majority Black and Hispanic neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant (Bed-Stuy) in Brooklyn, New York. Spike Lee shows us what a day in the life of the Brooklyn neighborhood consists of and throughout the movie he portrays several different aspects of a modern urban neighborhood, using the many unique personalities of the characters in the movie.

Some racism examples from the movie and how we come across such situations in real life.

The movie demonstrates the lives of different individuals from diverse socio-economic classes, who face life changing situations in between their conflicting prejudices and stereotypes. Their stories intermingle during a two days’ span in Los Angeles: a black detective estranged from his mother; his criminal younger brother who is a gang member; a Persian-immigrant father who is suspicious of others; a hard-working Hispanic family man, a locksmith; the white district attorney and his exasperated, spoiled wife; a racist police officer who offends an African American TV producer and harasses his wife; and a non-racist police officer. Instead of labeling characters as victims and offenders, victims of racism are often shown to be prejudiced themselves in different contexts and situations. The racist comments and biased actions are often shown to be caused by unawareness and fallacy instead of someone’s hateful nature.

When comparing the similarities and differences between virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontology we find that they all deal with how one judge’s morality and ethics. These theories all include judging in different aspects, whether it is in the moment, what happens after, or over a lifetime. The ethics and morality behind these theories all deal with what is right, or what is best for the present, then separate paths as the theories work toward the future. With virtue ethics a person strives for excellence performing duties, and acquiring traits that others would admire. With utilitarianism a person makes

Peter Singer said; “If it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought, morally, to do it” (Famine, Affluence, and Morality). As human beings, we have a moral compulsion to help other people, despite the verity that they may be strangers, especially when whatever type of aid we may render can in no approach have a more significant consequence on our own life.