Do the Right Thing*

• 1989 ----- color ----- 120 min ----- laserdisc
• (Written and directed by Spike Lee; with Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Spike Lee, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, John Savage) Do the Right Thing has been variously hailed as the most insightful view of race relations ever to hit U. S. screens or condemned as dangerous agitprop, but its timeliness--and ability to strike nerves--has never been questioned. The action takes place on the hottest day of the summer on a block in Brooklyn's Bedford-Styvesant. It is now a Black and Latino neighborhood but two of the local businesses aren't--Sal's Famous Pizzeria has been on the same corner for year, but the grocery store, run by a Korean family, is new. From these simple elements the viewer experiences feelings during the film that demand to be discussed long after the screening is over. [Funded by the Department of Comparative Literature] (Restricted to use on University of Washington campuses only)
• Topics: (American Ethnic Studies, Community Life, Discrimination, Motion Pictures: Features, Sociology)