Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing is a 1989 drama
filmed in an African American neighborhood, Bedford-Stuyvesant, located in
Brooklyn New York. It was produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee who also
plays the main role as Mookie. The drama tells the story of a hot summer day in
an African American community that is filled with racial tension. The racial
tension in this community accumulates and leads into a tragedy with the loss of
an African American young man that went with the name of Radio Raheem. Spike
Lee’s mise-en-scene is viewed with the usage of the setting, actors, props, costumes,
and lighting. The mise-en-scene used in the movie helps propel the plot and
helps communicate emotional and intellectual significance of the message of the
movie about racism.
The
movie starts off with dim lighting on Tina who is dancing aggressively to the
song “Fight the Power”. She comes out in a costume of a boxer punching every
time the song says “Fight the Power”. With this scene, the movie is already
portraying the message of negative energy and anger. As the movie continues,
costume and lighting keep playing a major significance in Lee’s usage of mise-en-scene.
Mookie who works in Sal’s Famous Pizzeria as a delivery boy is introduced
wearing a Jackie Robinson’s Brooklin Dodgers jersey. Jackie Robinson was the
first African American man to play in the Major Leagues. He brought an end to
racial segregation in professional baseball. Mookie wearing Robinson’s jersey
symbolizes the action he made towards the end of the movie when he throws the
garbage can at Sal’s pizzeria to stop
the angry mob from attacking Sal and his sons after Radio Raheem’s death. Mookie
is the middle man between his people and Sal and his sons, an Italian-American
working middle class family. It was as if Mookie was trying to do the right
thing by stopping the segregation and the tension between Sal and the African
American neighborhood.
The
costumes used in Do the Right Thing
also portray the character’s persona and what role they play in society. For
example, Da Mayor, an old drunk, wears a wrinkled dirty suit which emphasizes
that he doesn’t have much money and also contrast the costumes with the younger
crowd in the movie. Sal’s sons wear a sleeveless shirt and gold chain which
indicates that they are an Italian-American working class family. Jade, Mookie’s
sister, wears large hats and elegant clothing with pretty shades of soft pink
which portrays her soft attitude and persona. This can also indicate that she’s
not a typical African American girl and doesn’t believe in racism this shows a
positive softer side to her.
Radio
Raheem’s jewelry portray a major role in the movie’s mise-en-scene. The "love" and "hate" brass
knuckles on each hand explained in
one scene, symbolize the struggle between the two forces in the
neighborhood. As Radio Raheem punches each hand infront of the camera it emphasizes
the anger he has against racism and wished it would be knocked out of the
picture. Another example of mise-en-scene is the costume worn by the white man
who runs over Buggin’Out’s Jordan sneakers. In that scene the white man wears a
Larry Byrd’s Celtic jersey. Byrd was a star white player in the Celtics
basketball team. Buggin Out is wearing Michael Jordan sneakers. At the time
Michael Jordan was also a star basketball player in the NBA, the only
difference is that Michael Jordan is African American. This example is not a coincidence.
Costumes are purposely used to emphasize the racial differences in the film and
describe the characters’ persona. These
are just some of the examples of the misce- en-scene Spike Lee uses in his film
Do the Right Thing.
