Racial Prejudice as a Means of Violence
“My people, my people, what can I say; say what I can. I saw it but didn’t believe it; I didn’t believe what I saw. Are we gonna live together? Together are we gonna live?”
-Mister Senor Love Daddy
Spike Lee’s film Do the Right Thing is a masterpiece in that it captures both the love and hate eminent in a community at the very end of the 80’s era. New York is already known as the melting pot center of the U.S, it is diverse and that is a part of why it is so beautiful. However, Spike Lee’s film touched upon microaggression and prejudice not just between black and white but between all ethnicities in the community. However, Spike Lee exaggerates the stereotypes of his characters in order to show the racial prejudice eminent in every ethnicity and race presented in the film. The Italians are prejudiced towards the blacks and vice versa, the Puerto Ricans are prejudiced towards the Koreans and vice …show more content…
This scene disrupts the continuity of the film which is mostly long scenes with a jump cut into the montage, which may show how quick people are to jump to conclusions and judge people different from them. The montage shows Mookie insulting Italians, Pino insulting black people, Stevie insulting Koreans, Sonny insulting Jews, and Officer Long insulting Puerto Ricans. This scene also breaks the fourth wall in that each character was looking directly into the camera. This setup was effective because it makes the viewers reflect on their own prejudices and feel a more personal connection to the theme. On another note, what I find interesting is that each character at the end felt rage due to the unjustified death of Radio Raheem and participated in the riot, but these are the same characters that played a role in the racial prejudice inherent in the
“My people, my people, what can I say; say what I can. I saw it but didn’t believe it; I didn’t believe what I saw. Are we gonna live together? Together are we gonna live?”
-Mister Senor Love Daddy
Spike Lee’s film Do the Right Thing is a masterpiece in that it captures both the love and hate eminent in a community at the very end of the 80’s era. New York is already known as the melting pot center of the U.S, it is diverse and that is a part of why it is so beautiful. However, Spike Lee’s film touched upon microaggression and prejudice not just between black and white but between all ethnicities in the community. However, Spike Lee exaggerates the stereotypes of his characters in order to show the racial prejudice eminent in every ethnicity and race presented in the film. The Italians are prejudiced towards the blacks and vice versa, the Puerto Ricans are prejudiced towards the Koreans and vice …show more content…
This scene disrupts the continuity of the film which is mostly long scenes with a jump cut into the montage, which may show how quick people are to jump to conclusions and judge people different from them. The montage shows Mookie insulting Italians, Pino insulting black people, Stevie insulting Koreans, Sonny insulting Jews, and Officer Long insulting Puerto Ricans. This scene also breaks the fourth wall in that each character was looking directly into the camera. This setup was effective because it makes the viewers reflect on their own prejudices and feel a more personal connection to the theme. On another note, what I find interesting is that each character at the end felt rage due to the unjustified death of Radio Raheem and participated in the riot, but these are the same characters that played a role in the racial prejudice inherent in the