Do the Right Thing

Watching a film with "fresh" eyes--say, after not seeing it for 10 years or so--tends to peel away any shreds of nostalgia that might be lingering. And, typically, that yields some unwanted results. You start to notice the cracks, so to speak. However, after rewatching this, I can safely say that there are no cracks to be found, and this film rocks hard. After the year that Ryan Coogler has been having with Sinners, this film got me rethinking about his first film, Fruitvale Station. For the obvious reason, yes, but also for the subtle, less obvious reasons. The way this film depicts a community is almost unmatched in cinema. The way the film portrays a Bed-Stuy block that is undoubtedly tense but otherwise business-as-usual is compelling. When Mookie walks across the street, from Sal's to his home, where he takes a shower, he says hello to several different characters; Da Mayor is chillin on some steps, Radio Raheem is exiting Sal's after getting a slice, Buggin' Out does the little pepper shaker thing that everyone seems know know about--it all feels so confidently lived-in. ALL of the side-characters are instantly iconic; Smiley, Mother Sister, Señor Love Daddy, Sweet Dick Willie, Tina, Coconut Sid, Punchy, Ahmad, Ella, and Cee. The list goes on and on, but the point is all of these characters are more than just window dressing, they add life and texture to this film that all great filmmakers have and should take note of. Before Harlie and I started watching, I said to her, "You know, back in the day, this is what I thought--and hoped--living in New York would look like. This was my vision of it for a long time. Just vibrant street corners, interesting characters, a sprinkle of heated drama, but ultimately a community of people who cared about one another, underneath their differences." All that to say that around the 90-minute mark, when Sal's pizza starts to close up for the night, I got that sinking feeling in my gut, the same way I will anytime I watch this film. You only get that feeling when you've done everything up to that point right. And saying "right" at the end of that paragraph there brings up the next aspect of this film that remains timeless--the supremely adult complexity of what actually is the "right thing". When Da Mayor tells Mookie, "Always do the right thing," there's so much weight to a command like that--and so much ambiguity. Are any of these characters wrong for their actions? Certainly. Are some of them justified? Certainly. This also culminates in a cinematic representation of the very thing Radio Raheem tells Mookie in the street: "Let me tell you the story of Right Hand, Left Hand. It's a tale of good and evil. Hate: it was with this hand that Cain iced his brother. Love: these five fingers, they go straight to the soul of man. The right hand: the hand of love. The story of life is this: static. One hand is always fighting the other hand, and the left hand is kicking much ass. I mean, it looks like the right hand, Love, is finished. But hold on, stop the presses, the right hand is coming back. Yeah, he got the left hand on the ropes, now, that's right. Ooh, it's a devastating right and Hate is hurt, he's down. Left-Hand Hate KOed by Love." This static tension of Love vs. Hate is so wonderfully represented and, simultaneously, we're told that not only has life always been like this, but it may always continue to be like this... we just have to learn to do the right thing in the midst of the static. This is one of those films that invites so much discussion afterward. Harlie and I were entrenched in conversation post-watch. Was Mookie right for throwing the trash can into Sal's? Was Sal right for destroying the radio? Was Buggin Out in the right for wanting some black faces on the wall of Sal's? Is Sal in the right for insisting that the wall be representative of exceptional Italian Americans? Is ML right for his envy of the Koreans across the street? Is Da Mayor right for sticking up for Sal when the mob closes in? Rather than being a film that tries to "solve" racism, this is a film that asks a lot of questions--even subliminally--and invites the viewer to answer them themselves. It truly stands the test of time--I haven't even mentioned the STUNNING cinematography from Ernest Dickerson--and will be studied by curious minds for as long as minds are curious. 9.5/10