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Spike Lee’s film “Do The Right Thing”(1989) tells the story of [[the hottest day of the year]] in a Brooklyn neighborhood and the racial tensions that ensue.
<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/7C6QNWtw6J8QmIuA7WuG7lGgg8v2wYUzxl19YRDanFyJi8iUxs0psEjR3PTKvm0a3AsGqxN5Ja5N9Br5U8J1B1a-edrNXlBqHFrAaswsv_FoeWcOfz2fZqTK0WzytihyhbaAGwLZR7YXfgd1nlXy3Reyb0FZ5jdtTiArnRmgTemKz1Zh1rH4U0deHWammD6M5r2BvOWwj1k2yLt0N0zsnH_pYnh1UWrsbumHxkLMeSx90RcrLxwJlg1zLCAHKal701oXdemS1MqS9UbBZdkM73imTDKwWyTWgeUdA976yIzg3wdwV-0PSPtRrhG6k-Dp4JbYfRdby0CzKMLoJR3pu32gd0dihE0Xkd4SLQpEw4-r1--aUinAqWg2TTe-GxGALyEbrfgRFFjs3ptiA7dVrAeYGK0pxbeedG2L05sDnBwf5DlbBhBrV2IKDRQ34hoEGA9_H3Ce8yDvr3awcMDf3Kpx2huijY-Kj9bLEXRE3Z0c1bcCVALmEJk0hUhXsOpD3DFa8xmjqiyQ6w0c4n8wPRAMf6Wsu5raMZCxFzjy-Q8cM4Ez3BS9qeCUSmS__b7W707ZJpxD1uwR9B0PKHi67h0S0Phic6aryC1v-UO0LMIp_teN11BTAakPgiynVy6-AUWf0mQ2tuxkapIpXaqn8cA3aMDJuddWCKsnPPAFcY1WQnhc8lDEDDkMRWRDhGnIpMFBN3818LVcUhNSzzxDecAcK5AP5hk-j_A1hsWc6-s97vcS=w392-h550-no" width="" height="" alt="Two foxes">
Film Poster for "Do The Right Thing"
After its release in 1989 at the Cannes Film Festival it had received mixed reviews but received acclaim for not only its themes but its direction, cinematography, writing, set and clothing design. With [[Ernest Dickerson->Legacy]] as cinematographer, Ruth E. Carter’s costume design, and Lee’s vision from lighting to directorial style all come together to illustrate the heat and ever growing tension of a hot Brooklyn day. Warm colors of oranges, yellows, browns, and reds and their contrasting colors to further help create a hot summer. In comparison to its setting our characters are also dressed in vibrant colors. Something that both expresses the fashion trends of the 80’s/90’s but also a call to African cultures and their vibrancy. Lee’s use of low and high angled shots and the characters often breaking the fourth wall we get insight to their thoughts and we are allowed to feel for the film’s tension. Dickerson, having said to focus less on creating an imaginary world and more on creating an emotional response. Something that [[Eisenstein->Influences]] talks about with the audiovisual.
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From “Cinema and the Audiovisual Imagination” Spike Lee’s film is compared to Eisentstein’s ideas of the audiovisual. Eisentstein’s audiovisual being defined by the interaction of music, sound, and image. It could be that Lee was inspired by Eisenstein’s writings, as he did go to film school. Eisentstein often writing about the audiovisual of a play or opera. The way this film is set often feels like that of a play; the neighborhood as the stage. We see this practice from the beginning with Rosie Perez’ character dancing to “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy, this audiovisual hinting at the themes of the film much like an overture in a play or opera.
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Throughout the film we see moments of the audiovisual in both introducing characters who help carry the story and help create and make this neighborhood real. The only part of the film that isn’t carried by music is the ending. The scene being carried by the silence and then sounds of outrage of the neighborhood.
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“Eisenstein selected his actors according to the ideas their appearance suggested to audiences-he called this technique typage...Spike Lee uses typage too. In his commentary on his film, Lee asks, “What’s the difference between Hollywood characters and my characters?” He then answers his own question by stating his conviction that the characters in his film are true. By this affirmation he is making clear to us that they are not like the fake representations imagined by those who know nothing about black people other than the stereotyped with which they have grown up when watching Hollywood movies.” ([[Robertson 12->Sources]])This tying to the importance of representation and sharing narratives.
While in Film School Lee learned about DW Griffith. While DW Griffith had his place in film history. He also created “Birth of a Nation”(1915). He created a film celebrating racist ideals. Lee has said that with the viewing of this film he was appalled and felt alienated by Griffith’s depictions of minorities. [[This further creating the importance of why he should make films.->Legacy]] With this in mind Lee's film practice most importantly has influential ties to Oscar Micheaux (1920-1940's), the first significant Black filmmaker in the US. Micheaux went on to create film in which Black men and women held agency. He, would prefigure Black filmmakers including Lee. ([[Drake->Sources]]) [[As he would prefigure other Black filmmakers as well.->Julie Dash's statement rings true. While a lull in funding ultimately hindered what gets produced it didn't hinder Black Film Makers to create.]]
<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/IhrZ0N9GitfYws-wioJEJzdAPWfFsgzSTgfT5p5pBb4CWTAUgZFwG9-9reSaguQiM7IXFHlbEjcW19snkfC_Tw4RufHLMgiDZhQnVsHnfHae8g-sAaxkLo4iVjuLdgUgkUanfzeR7JyYby8xH9DlOwCrp18aA6t1ZZCnWQD-2kLoylLOGybu_rtAmoCgy43eomv9Ph7IlRcpoE64HkLKG1kLOVGiihtwtZfllR6AnM3krZTM1Ic03p1hKul3fA3eG1bLLtXjnCtfAeES-NDlchYmnMKB10Ofr3ZaWqZ5ZsE2PCjMcIy1HU3RH-xzp007WBOhKTjE2xF8UcifayJThFjdGVK9SDHj8VPl14AE2VWztEYD3EvufwnIJrEwz36Glyws454vrZuI3H4OlVvij1Ld6f5bASXVxEpr86kgDFNRKzOUpE3p-IyhzBNH0tXB3ps60W4cdvlKxK1V3QxMvcuzL5h6lRRL4uyiN_GzTnAtjg2Ms8bVz3TrnAiKO3QGejw7uneNkzaGac7sGZWNoUzjA78ZzdcJ8RiVbJCBGNhqW7H-_SzWyJX5aQOiGIs3QCSFZkNDlb1mSZf141JK9r809kRz-XOiUq0cxL3MwBsB8Pey529TMLnRxXlsoPVRXT3xBCqgJNQ9HfxHdq52pq7fKZ_L4KehfgW69vhZ47MbTFkK93pVwoQ=w400-h521-no" width="" height="" alt="Oscar Micheaux">
Oscar MicheauxAfter “Do the Right Thing”, a wave of Black film emerges. Narratives of the Black experience start to justifiably saturate media throughout cinema, television, and throughout genres.
Some examples include:
“Boyz in the Hood”(1989) John Singleton
“Devil in a Blue Dress”(1991) Carl Franklin
“To Sleep With Anger”(1991) Charles Burnett
“Daughters in the Dust”(1991) Julie Dash
“Malcom X”(1991) Spike Lee
“Deep Cover”(1992) Bill Duke
“Juice”(1992) Ernest Dickerson
This new wave of Black film paralleled to that of [[L.A Rebellion]]. Both aiming to create film that challenged the norm.([[Clark->Sources]]) It helped create a platform in which Black Cinema could thrive but because these filmmakers started to own their voices created a place in cinema in which a minority character had became a token. Minorites were to fit a narrative in which the white lense was key.
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"Driving Miss Daisy"(1989) Bruce Beresford, The film that won the Oscar for best Best Picture. In contrast to Lee's "Do the Right Thing"(1989), Beresford's film caters to a white audience.
“A big part of the problem, says Julie Dash, was that black cinema’s ascent coincided with Hollywood’s takeover of independent cinema as a whole. “It became a commodity that could be co-opted by the larger industry. We broke through, and once the curators of culture recognised that we were actively making films in our own way, it suddenly just slowed down to a halt. Funding ran out for pretty much everyone.” ([[Rose->Sources]])
This further brings in the conversation of who regulates distribution.
"It's about who is greenlighting those decisions and who is giving the okay for certain stories to be told," Smith says. "When a very narrow slice of the population is in control of power and has the ability to greenlight a project, then we are going to see products and stories that reflect that narrow worldview."([[Deggans->Sources]])
[[This view of who greenlights project also presents how capitalism takes its place in film. With entertainment, especially in Hollywood entertainment means profit.->2nd and 3rd Cinema]]
Sources:
Clark , Ashley. “A Short History of Black US Indie Cinema.” British Film Institute, Mar. 2014, https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/short-history-black-us-indie-cinema.
Drake, Monica. “Oscar Micheaux, Intrepid Creator of Films on Race.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Feb. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/obituaries/oscar-micheaux-overlooked.html.
Robertson, Robert, and Robert Robertson. “Chapter 1: Do the Eisenstein Thing.” Cinema and the Audiovisual Imagination Music, Image, Sound, I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd., 2015.
Rose, Steve. “Black Films Matter – How African American Cinema Fought Back against Hollywood.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 13 Oct. 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/oct/13/do-the-right-thing-how-black-cinema-rose-again.
Solanas, Fernando, and Octavio Getino. “Towards the Third Cinema .” Towards the Third Cinema , 1969, http://documentaryisneverneutral.com/words/camasgun.html.
Take, The. YouTube, YouTube, 14 Apr. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkvZqxjDjWk.
A group of Black filmmakers from UCLA.
Starting in the late sixties they continued on till the early 90's, their aim to challenge the norms of film in Hollywood. This in many ways tying to [[2nd and 3rd Cinema]].
<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/f8P9HTA0DEL8vbTxE5F_aVugoWjngqVZ8pa7aqjCmzfoJlSahL1dLXku2HzeSqvdNkKOEPYrgcLVnah1KK5XH6rIC1kgz3vTh1fRB1HC2hMh2Bp5ttucb9U7WYBw31oR7EHkJc7K8CjSdmfY4YCCK8y4Abg9F8iv6JKLnOmscuy5wP9InelnebeCb1dwD7erjjxPpa5gG4Q7eAQozsNMmGiV5k8H4l_gXiXLE-GNL9oSuAs6Fx4zEKGw7B3cpJtFS801LrJvJrNln4EMRsESBl2B_FmNj_XACdg8ketO3gXHGlWpHQI3qCekkgAfqCVuik1a86bleOPXnruZO3E_S6fD9ISo8H7i64fPOsjsmzDIiErI0nsCY1ILbOvPyy5lOm51FNLriL3IcGCltQyim87vXIWXhe0Zpt-vtKgt518AHDINJ6lobrFKqiSXC2JrGilOM2dOBmPK6FKgNICF7XSzw2mcdKL6nAd0nLHSfa_AfQMaewiyBQL9kw161WOVlH6zY9AU7yjVuRIbrZLCSWZjHrp98YM3rXF6KlCv4dPqUcy_7RVYh4laQ5q4XHAohkoEPI5MVO2tY7AyvRw9hC_UL_byUgcbF27JrjCQULp7NUqZE12UzSu4lGs3jMcFv02eO5H_fyypPkLQxZXN8RidIvDrCugSJi3w9aAdzB1KPb59p7UQWgU=w466-h273-no" width="" height="" alt="">
Filmmakers Gerardo Vallejo and Fernando Solanas, former president of Argentina, Juan Domingo Perón, and filmmaker Octavio Getino in 1971
Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino, were filmmakers from South America who wrote on Third Cinema and sought to create film that lived by that philosophy.
In their manifesto, “Towards a Third Cinema” they state, “..revolutionary films have been possible only in the liberated countries; without the support of revolutionary political power, revolutionary cinema or art is impossible…”([[Solanas,Getino->Sources]])
In relation to Spike Lee, Solanas and Getino speak on 1st Cinema and how commodity has and does exist to fill the needs of the film industry in America. But when someone looks out and greenlights a project, they allow the boundless truth to take hold. So, with the commodification of a minority character like in the late 90’s, a divide is created between what the needs of the greenlighters are and who their intended audience is. With Spike Lee's, “Do the Right Thing” and his legacy of film, he challenges 1st cinema. His contributions to film help create a new definition of what the norm could be and what should be talked about. So, [[Julie Dash's statement rings true. While a lull in funding ultimately hindered what gets produced it didn't hinder Black Film Makers to create.]]
Double-click this passage to edit it.Spike Lee came to the idea of this film after watching an Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode “Shopping for Death” in which characters discuss their theory that the hottest day of the year increases violent tendencies. Knowing Hitchcock as an influential director and a master of suspense/horror and with the themes of the Lee’s film, Hitchcock’s influence becomes clear. While Hitchcock deals with an imagined world of horror, Lee takes this idea from Hitchcock’s “Shopping for Death” and adds a true element of horror, racism.
Around the 80’s there was an increase of racial tensions due to wrongful deaths. While Lee definitely had cinematic inspirations it’s also clear that his subject matter speaks to the Black experience. Lee’s work reflects racial inequality in America and challenges the viewer to think about their place in racial dynamics. With the increase in racial violence this movie was inspired from and dedicated to Eleanor Bumpururs, Michael Griffith, Arthur Miller Jr, Edmund Perry, Yvonne Smallwood, Michael Stewart. All people who had died due to racial violence. In the famous ending scene we see characters from this Brooklyn neighborhood present their names and after the credits we see the dedication to them. Lee often mentioning how white people would ask, if Mookie had done the right thing at the end of the movie. In comparison to Black audience members who didn’t need to ask that question. ([[The Take->Sources]])
Mookie's reaction to Radio Raheem’s death is important but the manner in which Lee addresses how race influences our daily lives is also important. As throughout the film we see Mookie sort of take on this trope common in the 80's and 90's; the slacker. In comparison to <a href=https://homi.neocities.org/2019/t/Slacker_1990.html target=“_blank”>Slacker(1990)</a>, Lee's film, also dives into a day in the life of an urban city and it's people. However, like much of the 90's and the role of "the slacker" which often is painted as a non-chalant white male. Mookie's passiveness in "Do The Right Thing" is a product of the environment he lives in. It isn't so much that he is a slacker but that he carries an aura of dread. He understands that the color of his skin could dictate a fatal path and he means to survive and get by.
A few years after this release, in 1992 the LA Riots took place after the beating of Rodney King. This further illustrating the importance of what Lee’s film is addressing and how even after a prolific film and all of the conversations it ensued, racial violence still prevailed and is something we still see.
([[continued->Influences]])
We are witnessing an emergence of Black artist taking the narrative. Films like “Moonlight”, “Last Black Man in San Francisco”, “If Beale Street Could Talk”, “Fruitvale Station”, “Get Out”, “Us”, “Guava Island” and television shows like “Atlanta”, “Insecure”, “Pose”, “Chewing Gum”, and “Dear White People” to name a few, These pieces of media showcase the Black experience in an array of genres, themes, and identities. These narratives take their place in history as revolutionary works much like Lee's work.
[[Sources]]