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Do The Right Thing - Criterion CollectionRating:
Release Date: 20 February, 2001 Retail Price: $39.99 OUR Price: $35.99 You SAVE: $4.00! Cast: Complete Cast (21 total) |
Do The Right Thing - Criterion Collection Reviews
Do the right thing...avoid this movie
I would not go so far as to say this movie is terrible. I would say it is self-important, immature, obvious, and overwhelmingly one-sided. It seems Spike Lee does not believe there are any white people alive who are not either stupid, racist, phony, or downright evil. I had a bad feeling about this movie as it started off with 4 1/2 minutes of a sleazy looking woman having a seizure accompanied by bad music. Then 4 minutes of an inane morning dj spouting a string of unconnected meaningless words. Lee had his moments, but it was pretty much a 2-hour music video.
Spike Lee doesn't mess with fantasy, only with reality and his reality is black and white. It is infact fantasy, and pure propaganda.
The "Crash" before the Oscar-winning 2005 version
This is seriously one of my all-time favorite movies.
It's set in late-1980s Bedford Stuyvesant, NY, and while the plot revolves around issues of Black and White racial tensions, it really has a more universal commentary -- not unlike the more rounded spectrum of 2005's "Crash."
You take a country like the United States with it's modern day de facto segregation, combine that with a pop culture that does just as much to confuse and misinform the masses about "the others NOT from their neighborhoods" and finally add all that to any hot, tense situation and what you get is this movie.
"Do The Right Thing" tells the story of one long, hot day in a predominantly Black neighborhood where underlying and neglected racial tensions with whites and Asians surfaces in much the same manner 2005's "Crash" brilliantly tried to portray.
Just because whites, blacks, hispanics, latinos, asians, persians, puerto ricans all co-exist and live together in the U.S. doesn't necessarily equate to equal opportunity, understanding and tolerance.
Bubbling beneath the surface, as this movie attempts to make a point of, is misunderstanding, miscommunication, resentment and for some even hate.
What happens when these kinds of emotions go unacknowledged and are suppressed rather than dealt with?
If you've seen "Crash," you've already got the answer.
Particularly given what was to come in real life in the U.S. in the following years after "Do the Right Thing" 's 1989 release -- namely the racially-charged 1991-92 Rodney King beating and trial verdict, the 1994-95 OJ Simpson trial saga ... and to a lesser extent, polarizing criminal trials with Michael Jackson and Kobe Bryant, this movie bravely speaks on that undercurrent of intolerance that continues to exist b/c in our politically correct world, society would rather pretend issues of race are no longer problematic.
This isn't your typical Hollywood-happy ending kind of movie.
Not recommended viewing for viewers who want to laugh and have a good time.
If you know Spike Lee's work, you know he makes movies with purpose and his own personal social commentary.
Expect "Do The Right Thing" to challenge individual perspectives on race relations and where this country is headed.
Excellent movie for debates, sociological analysis and appreciation of great dramatic acting.
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