Do the Right Thing- Fight the Power

In last week’s class we watched the film Do the Right Thing.  This was one heck of a film, I have never watched a Spike Lee film before and have always heard people talking about how amazing his films are, and now I can officially say that I have given into the hype.  The multi-strand narrative format really made the film seem more dimensional.  I liked how Spike used Mookie to tell connect the characters in the film and to be the one that breaks the race barrier by working with Sal and his son’s.  One thing that I thought was interesting was that Spike Lee wrote, acted, directed, and produced this film, I wonder what filming was like? Anyways, I like the fact that this film addressed the political topic of racism and drew attention to tensions from both viewpoints.  Another thing that I found interesting was that this film was made around the time that the Rodney King Riots were going on, and really shone a light on racism and police brutality.  Many people say you shouldn't mix art and politics but I think that if it is done in a way that evokes discussion then it is absolutely necessary.  I feel that film is an especially great way to bring attention to a cause especially when the ones who are watching the film are unaware of the cause and or far from the cause.  A few months ago I watched an independent film called 5 broken cameras which was filmed by one man who recorded the daily occurrences in his town, and it really drew a light on the situation in Gaza that I was unaware of.  This film piqued my interest and I did more research on it independently.  For this reason, I think that film is a great outlet for politics to either inform or grow interest in a topic.