After watching Do the Right Thing (1989), I feel somewhat confused. I feel like the message of anti-racism got lost in the chaotic shuffle that was the end of the film. The majority of the movie, in my opinion, was a comedic and lighthearted portrayal of the race relations in American cities. The characters were constantly arguing, but never in a way where I felt like something violent was going to happen. I found myself disappointed and even a little angry at the way things turned out for everyone in the end. I believe Sal over-reacted by smashing Raheem's boom box, but Raheem never should have barged into the store. The police were obviously out of line in killing Raheem. I just don't see why everyone so easily turned on Sal, someone they had known for a long time and who they knew had no negative feelings about them. Mookie I feel did the most unpredictable thing by throwing the trash can through the window of the pizza shop. He figuratively lit the match that started the angry mob. And he did this after Sal told him he would always have a place at Sal's pizza shop. And Mookie and Sal weren't even enemies at the end of the movie. I guess if Spike Lee was meaning to make the ending chaotic and hard to understand, he did a good job.
Review of Do the Right Thing
