Do the Right Thing (Analytical Commentary)

Film is a moving painting and all the parts in the scene, from the shading to the objects in the foreground, tell more about the story than what words and actions describe. All the objects and all the lighting within a picture can be approached in two ways. There are those who will look at a great painting like Guernica by Pablo Picasso and will see it for face value. Guernica certainly does show the ugliness of the bombing of Guernica, Spain but there are other parts of the picture that shows the chaos in a more rich and deepening way (i.e the use of black and white in the picture).

Do the Right Thing utilizes mis en scene in a unique way. The objects, the lighting, the colors all not only enhance the story but rather support the theme of the story and show it in a more true light (pun intended). At the beginning of the movie the audience hears the song "Fight the Power" by Public Enemy while the actors are dressed in boxing clothes. These boxing clothes are just one of the many objects that come up in the movie later. It creates a scene where there is an angry aura just around these people. The music and the clothes all reveal more about the theme later.

The next time the audience hears "Fight the Power" is when we see Radio. Radio is a central part of the whole story. Radio initiates the overall climax of the movie and he represents the theme of the movie. On Radio's left hand is a radio playing the tune "Fight the Power" and for most of the movie he doesn't say a word. At first I didn't see what his role was in this whole movie but the one thing I noticed was that his theme song (pun intended) was "Fight the Power".

Delving into the movie more the audience gets to know Radio more via his rings. On one fist he has a ring that says love and on the other it says hate and as he leaves the conversation from Buggin' we see that he grabs the radio and plays "Fight the Power" with the hand that has the hate ring. The whole connotation with Radio is that through the jewelry on his body we see the dichotomy between those that choose pacifist protesting and aggressive protesting. He tells the audience of the "the story of 'Right Hand, Left Hand.' It's a tale of good and evil."

The next part is the symbolism of the heat and water. Throughout the story line, the bright colors enhances the view to make the scene look even more hot than it should be. The heat raises the tension and there is more anger in the air. Later in the movie there is a scene where the hydrant is taken apart and the water comes forth from there and everyone unites. There is a point where there is laughter and everything seems to darken and cool down. This is seen both in the attitude but also within the colors of the scene itself. Then Radio comes and everyone suppresses the water from him as he moves by.

As Sal's restaurant burns, Smiley comes into the building and puts a picture of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. The photo is not only a symbol of victory since now there is a picture of two famous black men on the wall but it is also a symbol of unity among people. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King represent two very different approaches of protesting and two very different ideas. The two of them being chummy in one picture is a great symbol of unification.

That is very unlike the symbol of adversity that is upon the Wall of Fame. There is a picture of Mike Tyson on one side of the boxing ring (remember that boxing symbolism is prevalent throughout this movie) and some other white guy on the other side of the ring. This is definitely the symbol of adversity and the camera always cuts to that picture whenever referencing the Wall of Fame.

As the symbols progress they get more intense and the tension thickens as the day grows hotter (until finally Sal's building bursts into flames producing the most heat and therefore the most tension). The whole theme of this movie is that there is a war between hate and love and there is always a side that we must choose. At the end there are two quotations, one by Malcolm X and the other by Martin Luther King. Choose your side on this one.