1989. A baking hot day in the Bed-Stuy neighbourhood of Brooklyn. People are on edge, tempers are frayed. A question in a pizza parlour leads to simmering anger which leads to race fuelled rage. Race fuelled rage leads to death. Death leads to righteous anger.
In your face. Roasting. Vicious. Fierce. Sweltering. Combative.
6 ways to describe Do The Right Thing and 6 ways to describe it's open credits. Rosie Perez flexing to Public Enemy just like director Spike Lee flexing against White America.
Elvis was a hero to most but he
But he never meant shit to me you see
Straight up racist that sucker was
Simple and plain
Motherfuck him and John Wayne
'Cause I'm Black and I'm proud
I'm ready and hyped plus I'm amped
Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps.
Lyrics calling out Elvis and John Wayne. Two of America's most beloved entertainers only dead a decade. A decade marked by horrifying racial incidents in New York City. The subway vigilante shooting by Bernie Goetz, the murder of Michael Griffith, the central park attack & the wrongful arrests that followed (only a month before this film was released). New York was on the boil and this film came right at the end of it all and begun in blistering fashion. Spike Lee has always been an unapologetic filmmaker and this is the moment he really made his mark.
A perfect start to a perfect film.
Previous pairings
Se7en
Mad Men
The Colour Of Money
Rules Of Attraction
Jackie Brown
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
Deliverance
The Omen
Copland
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
The Mission
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
Deliverance
The Omen
Copland
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
The Mission
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