1) Relate what was
discussed in class or the text to the screening
Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” was a great piece that had
a lot of meaning to both Spike Lee as well as the black community. Lee grew up
in Cobble Hill Brooklyn and went to Morehouse College where he made his first
film. Lee started working in the film making industry writing and directing his
own movies that started as small budget pictures. His first feature titled, “She’s
Gotta Have It” was made on only a 175 thousand dollar budget. “Do the Right
Thing” was Lee’s third feature after “She’s Gotta Have It” and “School Daze”. “Do
the Right Thing” received great reviewers by critics as it did a great job of
showing that issues of racial discrimination and black identity still needed to
be dealt with.
2) Find a related
article (on the film, director, studio, actor/actress, artistic content, etc.)
and summarize the content. You may use the library or the internet.
The CNN article written by Todd Leopold takes a look back at
Spike Lee’s film, “Do the Right Thing” and how it is still relevant in society
today. The article starts off by discussing how the film originally impacted
viewers after it was first released in 1989. In 1989 many critics and movie
commentators believed that the film would cause trouble and riots, much like
the one happened at the end of Lee’s film. However that was not at all the
case; the film provoked talk among more urban communities and was seen as a
reason to start a change for many. One of the great things about the film is
that it is something that everyone in America can emphasize with, said Roger
Ebert. The last major point that the article drives home is that race issues
are still here in America, and even though we have a black president, racial
discrimination is not over in America.
3) Apply the article
to the film screened in class. How did the article support or change the way
you thought about the film, director, content, etc.?
This article from CNN definitely influenced and altered the
way I perceived Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing”. The first time I saw the film
I thought it was a little self-righteous of Spike Lee to make a film that
seemed to be promoting violence in urban communities. However, after watching
it a second time in class and reading the article, the film stands for much
more than that. The film explores how racial discrimination still is potent by
both blacks and whites in urban environments. Also the film does a great job of
exploring abuse of power and police brutality, which is shown in the film by
the NYPD. This is most definitely still a problem as there have been ongoing
cases in America about police brutality. Overall the article form CNN did a
good job of summarizing the movie but more importantly establishing the deeper
meaning of the film.
4) Write a critical
analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of
the screening, class discussions, text material and the article.
Spike Lee’s film “Do the Right Thing” is a great examination
of how New York City was culturally back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. The
film explores what it’s like in an urban NYC community on the hottest day of
the year. The film does an excellent job of conveying through pictures that it
really is the hottest day of the year; the warm bright colors used in the film
help portray how hot it really is outside. Because of the temperature, tempers
flare up and conflicts arise out of small issues such as a bike rider bumping
into a person of the street, and a pizza place only hanging up pictures of
famous Italian people. What makes the
film so powerful though is not just the small conflicts, it’s the racial
discrimination that arises from these small conflicts that show how people from
that time period are, and how they behave. Issues shown in the film such as
rioting is a product of the environment and how police choose to use force on
citizens. This is still an ongoing issue in cities in the United States today
and is the biggest reason why the film should be seen and understood by everyone.
CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 1) ( ) I have not handed in this
assignment for any
other class. 2) ( ) If I reused any information from other
papers I have written for other
classes, I clearly explain that in the paper. 3) ( ) If I
used any passages word for word, I
put quotations around those words, or used indentation and
citation within the text. 4) (
) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all
sources cited in the bibliography in
the text of the paper. 5) ( ) I have cited in the
bibliography only the pages I personally
read. 6) ( ) I have used direct quotations only in cases
where it could not be stated in
another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the
bibliography. 7) ( ) I did not
so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks
interpretation or originality. 8) ( ) I
checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully
transparent about the research and
ideas used in my paper.
Name: _Joe Katulak__________________ Date:
_2/24/15_________________
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