There have been few filmmakers who have been famously angry about racial injustice quite like Spike Lee. He is an artist whose 40+ years of telling stories has reflected the frustration of the Black community in America. As a result, he’s a divisive figure, unafraid to share his opinion on aggravations no matter how minor, if just to develop a more fulfilling conversation. After all, he won an Oscar in 2019 for BlacKkKlansman (2018), which ended with the death of Heather Heyer at a Unite the Right event. He doesn’t just want to use his anger as a tapestry, he wants to confront the injustice in hopes for change.
That explains why this past week saw the release of a new short, in some ways an expansion on one he made in 2014. The 2020 short, titled 3 Brothers, finds him using the visual essay format to show parallels between his own film Do the Right Thing (1989), where character Radio Raheem died by police brutality, and the deaths of Eric Garner in 2014 and recently with George Floyd. They share the commonality of dying at the hands of a cop, choking them to death while they remain defenseless and yelling “I can’t breathe.”
To put it simply it’s a powerful short, but also one that’s completely uncomfortable no matter how you slice it. It’s watching three Black men die without any further commentary. Even then, Lee’s parallels are painfully obvious, reflecting anger that has been caught on camera for over 30 years. The fact that this is far from the only examples is unfortunate, as Radio Raheem’s fate was modeled off of the death of graffiti artist Michael Stewart, who was choked to death by a cop in 1983.
With thousands of protestors marching now internationally for police reform, it makes sense that many are revisiting Do the Right Thing to cope with their own frustrations. It’s a very angry movie and one whose provocation is as much in the film as the racial bias of the audiences watching it.
What makes the film especially timeless isn’t just that it has an unfortunate similarity to Garner and Floyd’s deaths. It was the depiction of a variety of factors boiling underneath the surface. There’s a discussion of heat, causing people to grow easily agitated. Arguments break out, with Lee as a director often filming these voices yelling at the camera. It’s an engagement with the audience that is meant to provoke, reflect anger. Anyone who sees the film and says “relax” is clearly missing the point. These may be micro-aggressions, but they’re still aggressions that fester inside of us.
When Da Mayor tells the passive character Mookie to “do the right thing,” there is a question that informs the entire story. What is the right thing? The answer seems easy on paper: treat others with respect. However, what if the world is wrong? There are constant arguments throughout the film, some ranging from things as simple as ruining a good pair of expensive sneakers, to how white police officers seem to control a neighborhood that is a Black community, managing to marginalize a place that shouldn’t belong to them, instead enforcing their own paranoia through antagonistic behaviors.
Doing the right thing is difficult when so much of temptation is asking you to do differently. Even to be passive when injustices take place feels wrong, as it just means that you’re capable of allowing more injustices to pile up.
As Radio Raheem would put it, there are two hands: Love and Hate. They’re static, constantly at odds with each other, fighting for dominance in the world. How do you find answers when nobody wants to listen to each other?
It’s not a clear cut answer, as everyone has their own personal burdens. That is why some may find the ending to be a bit staggering. Following a film that has been largely vignettes about a day living in Bedford-Stuyvesant, it seems alarming that a protest would break out. It’s what has made it one of the more controversial films of all time. It’s also why many consider it among the greatest films of the decade, helping to cement Lee’s legacy as an essential Black filmmaker with his ability to confront difficult subject matter along with some of the most nuanced portrayals of African Americans throughout history.
What is probably the biggest controversy of all comes during the aforementioned riots. It’s where many people begin to question the title. After all, a riot is theoretically the wrong thing to do. Lee himself has claimed repeatedly that only white audiences ask him if Mookie did the right thing by inciting the riot with a trashcan through the window. What should be a conversation of human life is instead focused around property damage. The fact that characters would destroy their community is seen as the most offensive act of all, that Mookie vandalizing is somehow the film’s “right thing” question.
Compare that to how certain news outlets have reported protests in the past, suggesting that they are “thugs” and “looters.” In The Justice for George Floyd Protests, we’ve seen this debate come up again as conversation rises up about why cities like Minneapolis, MN have burned down Target stores. How could they destroy their community? Thankfully there’s been counterarguments made about how buildings can be resurrected, but Floyd is gone. Not until Jesus starts performing Lazarus miracles will that be the case. The anger is logical.
That is why a lot of people probably forget about Radio Raheem outside of his memorable Love/Hate monologue. The conversation has been so much about Mookie and the trashcan that they forget what the real inciting incident was. Following Sal smashing Radio Raheem’s boombox, a fight breaks out at the pizzeria that spills into the streets. As the cops show up, they immediately target Radio Raheem, not caring who was actually guilty. It’s at this moment that it becomes clear how much profiling remains a problem. Watching Radio Raheem choke to death at the hand of a white cop is purposely uncomfortable. We’re supposed to feel anger, giving in to human instinct.
Mookie throwing the trashcan wasn’t to distract the fight from Sal. That’s too convenient. If we know anything about Lee, it’s that he’s anything but. He’ll end a film making you feel guilty if he has to. It was the action of a man whose passive actions weren’t enough. It was a fit of anger inside of him that rises up because he watched his friend die. Anyone who has been privy to the concept of loss share this inability to properly express themselves in a civil way. You do good for so long that when the bad punishes you, there is no way to deal with it.
How you respond to the third act of Do the Right Thing will determine how you feel about George Floyd right now. If you look at the title and think about Mookie, then your interests are unfortunately tied to property damage. If you look at the title and think the cops murdering Radio Raheem, then you’re closer to the point.
Lee has been very clear about how much this conversation annoys him because for decades it has only been white people asking him about Mookie. The film is so intent on highlighting police brutality in Black communities, and yet so many miss the point. Even as the post-riot scene finds characters name-checking similar deaths. There’s Eleanor Bumpurs, Michael Griffith, Arthur Miller Jr., Edmund Perry, Yvonne Smallwood, ad Michael Stewart. For them, Lee has made this film.
Once you stop and listen to what Lee has to say about why he made this film, you begin to understand his anger. While the white audiences who may have been uncomfortable with the film get to walk away and return to normal lives, Lee’s desire to paint a different kind of realism that happens in America has caused a conversation to rise. It’s because of Do the Right Thing that so much has entered the zeitgeist.
While I’m sure that many in the Black community during the 1980s would remember Michael Stewart and the other names, it was important for Lee to use his platform to immortalize the injustice. I guarantee you that these names would be footnotes otherwise, eventually fading with the acts of police brutality being forgotten. Good cinema gives permanence to the reality that is necessary, allowing us to safely engage with the difficult subject matter. It creates moments that are now documented, letting the world know that this happened. Lee’s whole career has been that way. You see it again in BlacKkKlansman, and with Da 5 Bloods (2020) later this month you see him exploring Black soldiers during the Vietnam War.
These stories wouldn’t exist otherwise, or at least not in a way that mainstream audiences would find reputable. It’s a miracle that Lee’s anger has eventually become accepted, and I thank him for constantly looking at the injustice and forcing his audience to ask what we’re looking at. Why was this considered acceptable? Do the Right Thing is the epitome of this trend because it captures humanity on such a personal level, reflecting divides both minor and major, where it’s symbolized by Magic Johnson and Larry Bird basketball jerseys, or how the pizzeria doesn’t have any Black celebrity photos on the wall despite being in a predominantly Black neighborhood.
Cinema can be studied in capturing a moment, bringing to life emotions significant to that moment. The debate around it can also reveal plenty about how society saw itself. As you’ve seen, the debate over Radio Raheem vs. the trashcan shows that we all see art differently even if the creator’s intent is for the former. The fact that theatrical screenings had to be supervised by cops due to worries of Black people rioting over the confrontational imagery shows how racist stereotypes informed the public’s consciousness, meaning that nobody would directly confront the subject unless they looked past these other distractions. The sad truth is that this hasn’t gone away in recent years, as the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton (2015) received similar treatment… and all without a single incident to prove the racists right.
Even if Do the Right Thing is an angry movie, it’s a statement of compassion. Everyone in this film just wants to be treated fairly. Let a Black community embrace its own identity instead of allowing outside forces to control it. These are things that matter when discussing freedom in America. The simple feeling of being safe is necessary if we plan to get anywhere, and the death of Radio Raheem should’ve been a fluke after this. The change should’ve been made to make everyone feel safer. But as 3 Brothers will quickly tell you: that’s not the truth, Ruth.
Even if you are someone who asked the question “Did Mookie do the right thing?” I want you to take this opportunity to open your mind. Do not close your ears because you like your interpretation better. Understand that Lee was going for something different. Understand what Radio Raheem meant not just as a character, but a bigger symbol of Black men and police brutality. When looking at art, don’t be afraid to listen to voices that aren’t your own.
More importantly, don’t stop at Do the Right Thing. Much like the white perspective, Black filmmakers have differing opinions regarding race relations, and they’re usually in favor of similar goals: safety and compassion. You don’t have to watch films solely about racial injustice. That is only one aspect of Black America. Watch the comedies, the love stories, the horror movies. Open yourself up to what they have to say. You don’t have to like it all, but once you begin listening, there is a chance for that compassion to start entering your life.
I feel the need to share this news in light of The George Floyd Protests because it’s so easy to see this all as Mookie throwing a trashcan. It’s easy to see this all as a blight on your now burned down local pharmacy. It’s easy to ignore the bigger point about why people are out there peacefully protesting, and that only reaffirms bias we already have. Take a moment to listen, understand where they’re coming from, and know that there’s frustration in a moment of hopelessness. You can disagree on what it all means, but once you understand and accept the differences, then we can start doing the right thing.
In 1989, Lee wanted to start a conversation and some have chosen to overlook the point entirely. In 2020, I can only hope that those who ignored Radio Raheem now understand the bigger symbolism. Talk to people, understand the images that you’re looking at. Choosing to ignore them won’t do anymore.
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