I think it shows that people of color only claim blacks when it’s convenient for them. He didn’t get along with them in the movie till they were burning buildings. 💀 It happens all the time! 🙄
none of your damn business Koreans didn’t migrate to the East coast. They’re out west. Vietnamese are mostly in the south part of the country. East coast have Chinese.
This would have been hilarious if Mookie picked up the trash can, threw it in the window and everyone got silent just stood there staring at him awkwardly like "why did you just do that?"
@@icomeiraveilove8154 Buggin Out and everyone else went to Sal's all the time. They saw who was on the wall and didn't care. Buggin Out only started making a big deal out of it after Sal was a jerk to him over the cheese. He was looking for an excuse to complain.
Many years later, Michael Browns suicide by cop and the rioters that followed re-created the entire scene. Brown even looked exactly like Bill Nunns character. So these questions are more than answered now. I very much liked the four movies of Spike Lees that I've seen. I have no sympathy for rioters or Michael Brown, though.
basically. This film isn't asking you who did the right thing, it is criticizing choices and making everyone think which is also why people have so many different opinions about this film. It doesn't help to try and convince who you think did the right thing because the right thing would have been avoiding everything- the violence, the tension, the hate, discrimination and all racism.
Wrong. In an interview someone asked if mookie ‘did the right thing’ and spike Lee laughed and said “only white people ask that.” I think you know what he means by this.
She was crying No No No because they were using fire water hoses to spray black folks and that brought back bad memories of back in the day when they use to terrorize my people with high pressured water.
This is one of those movies that you have to keep away from stupid people. Not trying to be condescending, it's just the truth. I mean, holy shit, the comments on this video.
Hey now, kid, the on line double racist name you posted with, would put you in that same category. It's just the truth, I mean, holy shit, Hypocrite much?
Hanno the Phoenician You would be right, if that was the case. But the reason my name is that way is because I'm both white and Asian. So... no, I'm not a hypocrite. But good try, kid.
An open question near the end of the film is whether Mookie "does the right thing" when he throws the garbage can through the window, inciting the riot that destroys Sal's pizzeria. Some critics have interpreted Mookie's action as an action that saves Sal's life, by redirecting the crowd's anger away from Sal to his property, and others say that it was an "irresponsible encouragement to enact violence". The quotations by two major black leaders used at the end the film provide no answers: one advocates nonviolence, the other advocates armed self-defense in response to oppression. Spike Lee has remarked that only white viewers ask him if Mookie did the right thing; black viewers do not ask the question. Lee believes the key point is that Mookie was angry at the wrongful death of Radio Raheem, stating that viewers who question the riot are explicitly failing to see the difference between damage to property and the death of a black man.
As a white person myself, I (and most others) are fully capable of seeing the difference between destroying property and the police killing people. We just don’t see how burning someone’s store to the ground is going to solve the issue of police violence. Violence directed towards the authorities makes sense, since they are the ones responsible, but burning Sal’s store - and the store of the Korean couple - solves absolutely nothing. People’s livelihoods shouldn’t be destroyed because a crowd is angry and too scared to target the people actually responsible. Mindless violence with no purpose and no potential to even do anything good is never acceptable.
As a black man, I was thoroughly disgusted by Mookie’s actions throughout the entire film. He was a deadbeat bum, and the lousiest worker possible. And yet, with all of the disrespect that Mookie gave Sal, Sal not only paid him very well (for the inner city), but Sal even said that he considered Mookie family. So what did Mookie do when Sal and Vito, who Mookie supposedly considers a friend, were in need? Well, Mookie did exactly what Pino said he would - stabbed them in the back. He first skirted away, and then he initiated the riot. And for what? Over the man who nearly murdered Sal in front of Sal’s own restaurant? Watching Raheem in this movie made me relive every last iota of shame that coursed through me during the Rayshard Brooks debacle. I remember wanting to bury my head in the sand and forget to come up for air when there were riots in honor of Rayshard Brooks. Riots which included the burning of the Wendy’s the incident took place at, very similar to what happened here. Raheem, like Rayshard in real life, demonstrated that he would have killed those he was up against if he had the chance. They got handed Uno Reverse cards by fate, and I feel sympathy for neither.
@@theopportuneson699 Not trying to argue against your entire point, I just wanted to state that personally, while watching the film, I felt like even though Sal said out loud that he considered Mookie 'family', his actions constantly gave me a different feeling, like the way he talked about black people etc.
@@theopportuneson699 Can only imagine the shame I would feel to be part of a community that regularly aped out and burned down its own neighbourhoods, local businesses and what have you. And them doing all that over the deaths of criminals and deviants, whom this community lionised over the colour of their skin, not the content of their character. I would want to leave that community and disinherit it entirely. Its values, its heroes, its causes. Move away and set down roots in a place that isn't a shithole filled with garbage people. Hope you are out of it, man. Really do.
when i was watching this movie this scene really moved me. I watched with my film class and everyone in the room was just completely engrossed during this scene. There is so much going on and Spike Lee did such an awesome job of capturing this tension. I don't even have words to describe how amazing it is.
I couldn't stop crying this entire scene. Every character was so unique, had their own personality. You felt like you knew and grew up with everyone. Hearing Sal tell his son that everyone in the neighborhood grew up on his food and how much he loves everyone felt so real, and seeing everything go so horrifically wrong at the end was so genuinely heartbreaking. I still debate over whether or not anybody did the right thing. This movie is a masterpiece.
They didn’t do the right thing. Burning down his business wasn’t going to bring Radio Raheem back. They were willing to ruin their own neighborhood due to ignorance from both sides. I had to learn that more and more as I watched this movie.
R I P Bill Nunn as Radio Raheem 1953-2016 ,Show the love 🌈🥺✌️💕to Ruby Dee ,Ossie Davis and Paul Benjamin who did well in this 1989 Classic directed by Spike Lee who was brilliant Starring in this ,Hard to believe born 50 years ago i was just 16 when i watched this and in October of this year saw it again in Cineworld in Fountainbridge , Edinburgh during Black History Month ,Highly recommended,love the fact this is also the first time i heard of Samuel L Jackson and Martin Lawrance and Rosie Perez who were brilliant also in this ❤
In this moment i have tear in my eyes, (i just finished the movie) that moment of "i saw them grow" come to me to the end of the movie. So real. The problem it wasnt him, the problem was the stupid people, the problem is the stupid people! Why can't be you nice?
I just looked at the episode when he did it.....I always have to find out what the reference are that Martin used lol....when he did it I was like huh lol glad I found it
Despite what a lot of people here thinks, Mookie did not throw the trashcan to save Sal, but because he was angry that Radio Raheem died. This is not my interpretation, it's Spike Lee's own words.
I look at it as punching a wall. Yeah it sucks and you shouldn't do that but I'd rather people Punch a wall or throw a garbage can rather than hurt people any day of the week. Plus he didn't partake in the looting itself.
Deep down, I think Mookie respected Sal and while he didn't fully blame him for Radio Raheem's death, he felt that Sal's Pizzeria would be forever tainted by what happened so to spare Sal any more physical harm, he diverted everyone's anger toward the restaurant. Plus Mookie took no part in the looting and destroying of Sal's. He may have hated to bring it to this but he did what he had to.
I wonder if Spike Lee feels validated, but also discouraged all at the same time , 30 years later and this film could be made today in a climate that oftentimes feels no different than before. 😞
TBH, with cancel culture and ever increasing easily offended people in today's climate, I'm not sure Spike Lee could even be allowed to release a film like this in 2020 or 2021. I would say he probably feels both validated and discouraged.
It's not like this behavior was something new. This is a repeating observable pattern within that community. Spike Lee was only basing it on reality. It's an embarrassing trend that has been occurring for generations. Recent years have only highlighted the basic facts.
@@Riles3152 this movie is easily translatable to now. Black male leads fat white capitalist antogonist exploited female costar. Yeah that movie could be made today.
@@igorivanov299 No, its a repeating observable pattern within your community. Its an embarassing trend that been occuring for generations. Recent years have only highlighted the basic facts, fail harder.
@@capncake8837 It almost did, except they didn't let their businesses get looted and burned down. They started squeezing off rounds at anyone who got too close
Something that gets overlooked in this scene is right before Mookie throws the can you can hear Da Mayor (Ossie Davis) scream "No!" off-screen. Interesting choice by Lee to add that, especially considering how much he stands by Mookie's decision to do it. Is this commentary on the generational views toward violence and the futile efforts of rioting? Does it underscore the apathy of alcoholism? Personally I think while Lee/Mookie ride with Malcolm, Da Mayor was the voice of King.
When I first saw Mookie grab the trash can, I thought he was going to slam it on the ground to silence everyone and then start monologuing about how this pointless conflict took the life of his friend.
I love how almost all of you (white and black) don't understand this scene, or movie. Sal is wrong, Mookie is wrong, everyone is wrong. No one does the right thing.
Attmay ya, except when Sal opened his restaurant it was an Italian neighborhood. Over the years the blacks moved in and the white Italians moved out. Sal really wasn't a bad a guy, but it's probably no use explaining that to you. Sal's was stubborn, he could have de-escalated the entire situation by putting pictures of a few "brothers" on his wall.
Ian Victorine Someone has a brain... It's really not that difficult to understand. It actually kind of speaks for society, where so quick to pick sides, we ignore the initial point of the movie. Pure ignorance...
Sal is an Italian-American who is proud of his heritage. The wall-of-fame only consisted of Italian-Americans as a tribute to his culture. That is no way racist towards African-Americans, as it also does not include any other race, only Italian-Americans. Radio Raheem did not deserve to die at the hands of the racist police officer, but the way he behaved in Sal's restaurant was unwarranted.
One of the more reasonable takes I’ve seen regarding the situation. The only issue I have is that it really wouldn’t have killed Sal to put two or three Black people of note on the wall. I don’t agree with how Buggin’ Out went about the situation at all, but he did have a point. Most of Sal’s clientele is Black. And Sal was under no obligation to open or keep his business in a predominantly Black neighborhood. Adding photos of Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan, and Diana Ross for example would have taken nothing away from his Italian-American pride. In fact, one of the people on his wall, Frank Sinatra, was famous for refusing to perform in establishments that did not cater to Black people. If one of his heroes could be so broad-minded, so could Sal.
When the Korean says "You, me, the same" I get to the verge of tears... It's so sad the way he sounds as naive as a child... and yet he is right. The only person right in the whole freakin' movie. I live in Brazil, have nothing to do with any of this US-racial segregation, and it makes me cry.
+Daniel Rosa you have nothing to do with crime filled favelas full of people of color and those inconvient natives sitting on the gold you need to exploit. just like the usa help them with somebody elses money.
+Daniel Rosa You know Brazil is really racist, right? The only difference is that for some reason oppressed minority groups in Latin America keep quiet about their struggle.
aboutashow I've lived here my whole life, been abroad for quite a while, and I can tell you: I've never seen a place where people are so willing to let go of their origins and willing to mix as in Brazil. There may still be judgement based on color, but Brazilians don't dress up differently because of color, don't speak differently because of color, don't walk differently because of color (they might do so on social condition). And people don't give a damn where you parents' parents came from - it never alters by any degree how people see you as 100% Brazilian.
That's fine if people are willing to mix- though one could argue it's an attempt to rid oneself of black characteristics- but that doesn't mean that racism is not a problem in Brazil or the majority of Latin America as a whole. There is no such thing as a country devoid of racism. Absolutely nowhere. Also, I don't see how willingly abandoning your background is at all a good thing.
Decades later, and people still don't realize this movie is not supposed to be realistic, it is an allegorical fable, and the actions of Mookie, Sal, the mob and the other characters needs to be viewed through the lens of symbolism.
how very wrong you are. These scenes are quite realistic. Ever hear of the LA riots? If anything this movie foretold the future of life in contemporary America, between all races. Make no mistake everybody hates everybody all people need is a reason.
I know right? they shoulda just not gave him business opened a soul food restuarant and ate there...but member..the one who actually committed assault was radio and his death was from self defense..they had him at when he smashed the radio coulda had the italian guy jailed and fined..now they just get insurance money and that community still remains miserable and filled with angry self destructive ignorant people.*****
Yes Sal should have called the cops instead of hitting his radio with a bat. But you can't equate that to going into a guys business blasting a radio and yelling at him, then assaulting him and then trashing his store and burning it down and act like its the same level of wrong doing. Breaking a stereo isn't even remotely close to as bad as what they did to Sal.
Am I the only person that thinks Mookie wasn't doing this as an attack on Sal? I read it as Mookie redirecting the crowd's anger towards the property rather than Sal, possibly saving Sal and his sons from being mobbed. In its own warped and complicated way, I thought Mookie did the right thing, even if it may not have been the "best" way. This is why the ending is brilliant, it doesn't give the easy answers
Lol I'm replying 5 years later I'm not sure if you'll see this but you're definitely not the only one. I also think that Mookie did the right thing even though he did destroy Sal's hard work. Honestly, though, I'd rather destroy a building than murder a person.
Right Vandalizing a Property is Not the Apporiate Message wanna send to Concide Hate need a Powerful Counter like Love or Compassion, Hate is a Cancer that Destory's the Most Beautful thing's & Makes them Wrapped an Twisted.
@@theopportuneson699maybe don’t fight with the cops and attempt to take the cops tazer. But it’s actually even easier, don’t get high/drunk and pass out in the Wendy’s Drive Through.
I've always considered the ending to represent how all these characters can't really escape what society expects them to be. In a perfect world, Sal and Mookie would live happily ever after, but they're fucked by outside forces. Sal is frustrated by his son's anger/embarrassment, Mookie is outraged at the cops killing Radio Raheem - in the end, both are forced to choose what "family" they're more a part of. IMO the title is somewhat ironic and meant to represent what a grey area right/wrong is.
Why would it? It's not like anyone really wants change. They just want to be angry. They want their violence to have a justification no matter how small and petty. Doing "The Right Thing" isn't on anyone's agenda, just "The Thing That Makes *ME* Feel Better."
Well, Brooklyn's currently in flames thanks to George Floyd's Radio Raheem-style murder. And people are complaining about property damage rather than human life. I'd say this film is way too accurate in its subject matter....
Rioting isn’t the way to go about this. It only brings attention to the issue so that maybe we can get change. If we want change we need get organized and start programs. Not only that, just because some ppl are mad about their businesses being destroyed, doesn’t mean they don’t care about Floyd.
MF BOZO AKA Reptilian Lizard yea just so you know the civil rights act of 1968 wasnt passed until the non-peaceful protests that happened after MLKs death
Isn’t it the point that neither side is completely right: They shouldn’t have attacked and destroyed the pizza place, and Raheem could’ve been restrained more easily without being killed?
I think this scene has relations to the quotes at the end. M L King says violence cause violence, but at the same time, Malcom X quote gives the other edge, when you are attacked you can't help to act in self defence. You can't do the right thing cause theres no right thing to do, its a paradox that exist due to society and historical racism.
@@jaysmith3173 No, we not screwed. Theres no right thing in that situation. We should avoid putting people in a situation where theres no right thing to do.
Sal collects a big insurance check and moves out of that neighborhood - leaving the burned out building for the residents to look at for years. Next the Korean moves out thinking he's next. Nobody wants to move in next to a burned hulk and the people that stay then wonder why the neighborhood lacks services and property values go down and down...
Nope, a Black business cleans the place up and moves in, and if the Koreans move then another Black business takes that spot, people will continue moving in the neighborhood that will have services and high property values, fail harder.
@@neoneherefrom5836 If you watched the movie and read the 2 Ending quotes, they describe the movie very well. The point of the movie is about talking and dialogue instead of anger, violence and monologue.
@@MasterDragonPaladin Sounds like you only took MLK's quote into consideration. The point of the movie is to simply show what happens when powerless voices go unheard.
Maybe Mookie's motivation is intentionally unclear because you, as the audience, are supposed to decide for yourself what it means...same with the title..you are supposed to decide what the right thing is...Lee chooses not to spell it our for you
Yes I'm thinking the same thing. Mookie by starting the riot destroying Sal's took the laser off Sal and his sons. Also along with the Mayor getting their ass out the way.
Yeah I don't see why a lot of people don't get that. You know I've always wondered what became of Sal and his sons after this, I think Sal deep down may have been prejudiced, and I don't think Mookie was entirely wrong about Sal liking his sister, that scene was there for a reason. His older son (Pino) thought himself as racist but Mookie proved him wrong, I think the older son was just taking it out on black people since he was forced to remain at the pizza shop by his dad, in fact he may be actually thankful to Mookie for destroying it. The younger son (vito) might actually become prejudiced as a result of what happened though
In the 25th anniversary edition there's a bonus disc with an alternate ending where Sal and Mookie get high on MDMA and dance to Fight The Power whilst praising the sick skills of Terminator X and Chuck D. They proceed to rearrange the entire pizzeria with pictures of Jackie Robinson, Dr King, Marvin Gaye and Mr. fuckin' T.
he did do the right thing- it was either sals life or the pizza shop. mookie chose to distract the crowd and direct their anger towards the shop itself instead of sal.
i really dont understand the point of destroying sal's. the cops killed radio raheem. Nd radio was gonna kill sal. All sal wanted was for radio and buggin turn off the music, but instead they made tensions rise and escalate. Sal is generally nice to the community and even enjoys being in the neighborhood. Was it simply because he was white? Cuz thats racist and all that does is just create more division and hatred. I honestly dont see how destroying sal's was doing the right thing at all.
Well, you pretty much got the point of the film. It's the line of the Korean guy that makes this scene poignant, not the black people destroying Sal's business, because it shows that their hate and violence truly was unjustified. As others have said, the crowd would have just killed Sal instead if Mookie had not thrown the trash can.
I honestly blame Buggin' Out's stupid ass for all this. Even though this situation might have been inevitable, but he didnt have to get everyone gased up like that.
Alfa&Omega 00000 not if there are already clientele inside and it wasn’t patronage. It was for protest. It could have simpler while Sal had the neighbourhood on his side. Let’s talk this over with the mayor or something. Or go ahead and boycott the pizzeria. But he thought too much of himself and equated it to being robbed or something. That he was better than the people who ate at his place. Displaying his alleged pride on having people grow up on his food as patronising hypocrisy. In a certain way the Mayor and Mookie protected Sal and his sons from more violence at yet another black person getting murdered by the police. Which still happens today. This movie was shot in the wake of zero tolerance and a black women getting killed by the police
When I was watching the film I viewed the pizzeria being used as an object for racial tensions that have been building for quite some time in the community. Not as a scapegoat for the Sal and family. But I do find it ironic how Mookie helps burn it destroy it after Sal calls him a son.
It's not the point that it was OK to burn down Sal's. The point was that Sal's was the center of that neighborhood. It was the place that all of them loved, while also being the place where they saw one of them die. Because of that, the image of Sal's would be tarnished forever. It would never be a part of the community ever again. So in their minds ( especially Mookie's ), the place had to go.
Mookie didn’t even care for his own child but we’re supposed to believe he had the foresight to deduce that the heart of the neighborhood would forever be tarnished? Yeah, ok.
2:06-Sadly, in real life three years later in 1992, Koreans would feel the same kind of terror, as rioters in LA destroyed Korean business for the murder of Latasha Harlins by a Korean store clerk. Rioters didn't just express there angry towards white people for the Rodney King verdict, but took it out on everyone else who had ever hurt or killed black people. That's why we shouldn't loose are tempers, and treat everyone, no matter what race they are, with the same rights, and all of us will get along.
@Well now, looky what we have here but what's not crazy is burning down black neighborhoods destroying local businesses just like in the film and plunging the very communities that you're fighting for into further debt and ruin? Stfu
When I first watched this movie I thought what happened to Sal was extremely unfair. Now, a few years later I feel like i understand this scene, nobody did the right thing.
Why isn't this movie played in schools? This type of problem has always been relevant, and now look at Baltimore. I believe Sir Samuel L Jackson said it most eloquently: "YOOOOOO! HOLD UP! TIME OUT. TIME OUT! Y'all needa take a chill! Ya need to cut, that, shit, out! And that's the double truth, Ruth!
Man they don't wanna show it in schools cos they say movies like Do the Right Thing is too sensitive and it's not approved in schools, but they show movies like 12 Years a Slave and Schindler's List to history classes when they show violence and cruelty in both movies. That's some hypocritical shit right there y'all
Looting and burning down a family owned restaurant as a retaliation to someone else killing a member of your community just perfectly encapsulates what goes on in todays world. Bravo Spike. Whether you intended on it or not but your movie really really captures how people feel about the inner city black communities just from the brief shots of Sal and his family overlooking what happened to their shop.
I love this movie, this scene, this director so damn much. "I'm BLACK!" I love it. They're both non-White immigrants but even within that struggle there are separations and different levels of oppression. "Open your eyes!" They're both right.
I don't think anyone had a right to trash the Italian guy's business. They could have just taken their business elsewhere to avoid his 'pizza-oppression'
I remember the controversy this film provoked back in the day. Critics were afraid that this film would spark riots around the country. Thirty-one years later, we had a real life Radio Raheem situation and it was the death of Rayshard Brooks that incited eerily similar unrest. Do the Right Thing didn't inspire riots, it merely predicted them.
I mean there was civil unrest and ruining before the movie, and many times between the movie and brooks. So you can't predict something that's already happened and will always happen. But ok
If you ask me, the root cause of this whole thing was Sal charging too much for extra cheese. It was bad economics. The extra cheese couldn't have cost him nearly as much as he charged for it, so people didn't buy it and got angry because they couldn't get it. Yeah, I know, that's way overly simplistic.
+William Brennan Everyone assumes it's an additional two bucks for extra cheese when I suspect that it's two bucks for a slice that requires additional toppings such as extra cheese. In reality it's because Buggin' Out was a rock-throwing hothead who was so full of himself that he interpreted an Italian man's display of Italian celebs on the wall of what's technically an Italian restaurant as bigotry. The cop who choked out Raheem may have been the immediate cause of his death but Buggin' Out was the ultimate cause.
***** Manslaughter, not murder; remember that Raheem was trying to strangle Sal at the time. And Buggin' Out got the ball rolling on the events that led up to it.
***** Yes they did, but only because he was trying to strangle someone else to death over a radio that he insisted on blasting at max volume in an enclosed space Just Because. In the immortal words of Larry Wilmore, black manners matter.
"You, me, same! We same!" That sentence has a strong meaning.
Agreed
Means we're all bastards
lmao we all the same until it comes to making that money
Plot twist you mei was his name.
I think it shows that people of color only claim blacks when it’s convenient for them. He didn’t get along with them in the movie till they were burning buildings. 💀 It happens all the time! 🙄
Gotta admit, Korean dude was ready to go out like a G for his family and his business
He probably didn't have insurance...
Remember the roof top store owners during the Rodney king riots.
The Mom holding her daughter and he's out there to cut anyone in half with that broom.
he was a man, sticking up for his family
@@incarnateTheGreatI thought that was her son.
1989 Movie: Leave the Korean alone man, he's alright
1992 Riots: Hold my beer
2019, someone would've been taping this on a cellphone and putting it up on here.
sha11235 , taping?
Watch and learn
none of your damn business Koreans didn’t migrate to the East coast. They’re out west. Vietnamese are mostly in the south part of the country. East coast have Chinese.
1992 L.A: Now drink it for Latasha
This would have been hilarious if Mookie picked up the trash can, threw it in the window and everyone got silent just stood there staring at him awkwardly like "why did you just do that?"
They'd have done the right thing then
🤣
@@NoName-hg6cc no
*Credit rolls
“Wow. That’s low, Mookie. Real low.”
*everyone shakes their head and walks home disappointed*
Y'all know, this movie was released in 1989, and this is happening in real life in 2020. INSANE WORLD...
Facts tho
I thought of this movie when it happened
TR3ECO GAMING Same! I watched this in my anthropology linguistics class called Language and Cinema back in Fall 2015.
In reality it went differently..not screwed with the Italians
That’s why I’m here watching.
If only Sal had let Buggin' Out put some extra Parmesan cheese on his slice.
He would have noticed it anyway.It's right on da wall
@@icomeiraveilove8154 Buggin Out and everyone else went to Sal's all the time. They saw who was on the wall and didn't care. Buggin Out only started making a big deal out of it after Sal was a jerk to him over the cheese. He was looking for an excuse to complain.
Had nothing to do with the permesan. Had everything to do with the pictures on the wall...if you watched it ?
@@f.mazz.459 Child....I saw it in the theater when it came out and many, many times since then. It's a JOKE !
Extra cheese is two dollars.
"You, me. Same."
I think that line sums up the moral of this film.
How's life, 7 years after your comment 8-)
@@RobertoRodriguez-gn3tt and one year after yours?
@@00goop43 haha, good man. You?
@@RobertoRodriguez-gn3tt yeah, good too. And hi to whoever finds this years later.
@@00goop43 hello! I'm a year early but still
"20 years later they still ask why mookie threw the trash can and not why the police killed radio raheem"
So tell us then... it is still in discussion
***threw
Many years later, Michael Browns suicide by cop and the rioters that followed re-created the entire scene. Brown even looked exactly like Bill Nunns character. So these questions are more than answered now. I very much liked the four movies of Spike Lees that I've seen. I have no sympathy for rioters or Michael Brown, though.
Hanno the Phoenician the racism is strong in this one Jesus all you missing is a klan hoodie(but you probably already have one 😂)
JukainPwnsSurvives ; Wow, what a whack job ROTFLMAO!
Nobody "Did The Right Thing". I think that's the point
Mookie did
What did Sal and them do that was wrong? They did literally nothing but hang up pictures of Italian guys.
basically. This film isn't asking you who did the right thing, it is criticizing choices and making everyone think which is also why people have so many different opinions about this film. It doesn't help to try and convince who you think did the right thing because the right thing would have been avoiding everything- the violence, the tension, the hate, discrimination and all racism.
The point is that no one really knows what the right thing is and if the right thing actually exists.
Wrong. In an interview someone asked if mookie ‘did the right thing’ and spike Lee laughed and said “only white people ask that.” I think you know what he means by this.
Love how much discussion this film sparks over 30 years later. Really one of the best ever.
I am not a Fan of Andy Warhol.
"Yo Sal, I got something for you man!"
*throws trashcan*
"Ah, Mookie, you found my trashcan."
@Shan Chaudhry u can't just automatically think somethings hate
Best cartoon ever.
Thought no one would have nailed the Critic quote here. Nicely done.
@@arielrivera748 Critic fan! Right on!!
Now go get you're shinebox!
I never understood why the old lady was yelling "burn it down burn it down" then like 30 seconds later she was screaming "NO! NO!"
Because she realized later it was wrong.
Seriously though 😂
At first she was pissed off but then she realized the horrible things that had happened as a result of all of the anger.
She was crying No No No because they were using fire water hoses to spray black folks and that brought back bad memories of back in the day when they use to terrorize my people with high pressured water.
Why would she condone the burning of Sal's? Sal never refused to serve any black customers. His business was open to all.
You know why you're here.
stfu
Because I'm trying to put this in a video
Film class final
@@heyryanisonx3141 hey how did that final go
@heyryanisonx3141 college really is brainwashing you to be a mindless lib
This is one of those movies that you have to keep away from stupid people. Not trying to be condescending, it's just the truth. I mean, holy shit, the comments on this video.
Attmay Thanks for proving my point.
Hey now, kid, the on line double racist name you posted with, would put you in that same category. It's just the truth, I mean, holy shit, Hypocrite much?
Hanno the Phoenician You would be right, if that was the case. But the reason my name is that way is because I'm both white and Asian. So... no, I'm not a hypocrite. But good try, kid.
I know
exactly
This is literally Minneapolis right now
Sad. It's so infuriating.
JP-Ultra Nah chill with that, it’s my city we need justice and then peace
All around the whole U.S.
This is the end of the good day of earth..........
@@Shadow-co4rz ,Wouldn't happen in the deep South...
An open question near the end of the film is whether Mookie "does the right thing" when he throws the garbage can through the window, inciting the riot that destroys Sal's pizzeria. Some critics have interpreted Mookie's action as an action that saves Sal's life, by redirecting the crowd's anger away from Sal to his property, and others say that it was an "irresponsible encouragement to enact violence". The quotations by two major black leaders used at the end the film provide no answers: one advocates nonviolence, the other advocates armed self-defense in response to oppression.
Spike Lee has remarked that only white viewers ask him if Mookie did the right thing; black viewers do not ask the question.
Lee believes the key point is that Mookie was angry at the wrongful death of Radio Raheem, stating that viewers who question the riot are explicitly failing to see the difference between damage to property and the death of a black man.
As a white person myself, I (and most others) are fully capable of seeing the difference between destroying property and the police killing people. We just don’t see how burning someone’s store to the ground is going to solve the issue of police violence. Violence directed towards the authorities makes sense, since they are the ones responsible, but burning Sal’s store - and the store of the Korean couple - solves absolutely nothing. People’s livelihoods shouldn’t be destroyed because a crowd is angry and too scared to target the people actually responsible. Mindless violence with no purpose and no potential to even do anything good is never acceptable.
As a black man, I was thoroughly disgusted by Mookie’s actions throughout the entire film. He was a deadbeat bum, and the lousiest worker possible. And yet, with all of the disrespect that Mookie gave Sal, Sal not only paid him very well (for the inner city), but Sal even said that he considered Mookie family.
So what did Mookie do when Sal and Vito, who Mookie supposedly considers a friend, were in need? Well, Mookie did exactly what Pino said he would - stabbed them in the back. He first skirted away, and then he initiated the riot.
And for what? Over the man who nearly murdered Sal in front of Sal’s own restaurant? Watching Raheem in this movie made me relive every last iota of shame that coursed through me during the Rayshard Brooks debacle. I remember wanting to bury my head in the sand and forget to come up for air when there were riots in honor of Rayshard Brooks. Riots which included the burning of the Wendy’s the incident took place at, very similar to what happened here.
Raheem, like Rayshard in real life, demonstrated that he would have killed those he was up against if he had the chance. They got handed Uno Reverse cards by fate, and I feel sympathy for neither.
@@theopportuneson699 Not trying to argue against your entire point, I just wanted to state that personally, while watching the film, I felt like even though Sal said out loud that he considered Mookie 'family', his actions constantly gave me a different feeling, like the way he talked about black people etc.
@@theopportuneson699 Can only imagine the shame I would feel to be part of a community that regularly aped out and burned down its own neighbourhoods, local businesses and what have you. And them doing all that over the deaths of criminals and deviants, whom this community lionised over the colour of their skin, not the content of their character.
I would want to leave that community and disinherit it entirely. Its values, its heroes, its causes. Move away and set down roots in a place that isn't a shithole filled with garbage people. Hope you are out of it, man. Really do.
Is that why riots have been happening? Cause people disagree with this kind of reaction?.lol
Asian man: "I'm black!!"Robin Harris: "where you black at?!"gets me every time hahahahaha
The Korean guy was no real victim.
@@valuecalc what did he do?
Robin Harris was a damn nut rest in peace brother
when i was watching this movie this scene really moved me. I watched with my film class and everyone in the room was just completely engrossed during this scene. There is so much going on and Spike Lee did such an awesome job of capturing this tension. I don't even have words to describe how amazing it is.
My film class was just watching this.
This is probably Spike Lee's best movie
Inside man
Summer of Sam
Absolutely his best
Bamboozled I dig more :)
Malcolm X in a nutshell.
Mayor the only one who actually did the right thing
Yes. He was the only character in the whole movie that I liked.
I couldn't stop crying this entire scene. Every character was so unique, had their own personality. You felt like you knew and grew up with everyone. Hearing Sal tell his son that everyone in the neighborhood grew up on his food and how much he loves everyone felt so real, and seeing everything go so horrifically wrong at the end was so genuinely heartbreaking. I still debate over whether or not anybody did the right thing. This movie is a masterpiece.
They didn’t do the right thing. Burning down his business wasn’t going to bring Radio Raheem back. They were willing to ruin their own neighborhood due to ignorance from both sides. I had to learn that more and more as I watched this movie.
R I P Bill Nunn as Radio Raheem 1953-2016 ,Show the love 🌈🥺✌️💕to Ruby Dee ,Ossie Davis and Paul Benjamin who did well in this 1989 Classic directed by Spike Lee who was brilliant Starring in this ,Hard to believe born 50 years ago i was just 16 when i watched this and in October of this year saw it again in Cineworld in Fountainbridge , Edinburgh during Black History Month ,Highly recommended,love the fact this is also the first time i heard of Samuel L Jackson and Martin Lawrance and Rosie Perez who were brilliant also in this ❤
In this moment i have tear in my eyes, (i just finished the movie) that moment of "i saw them grow" come to me to the end of the movie. So real. The problem it wasnt him, the problem was the stupid people, the problem is the stupid people! Why can't be you nice?
“It looked fly when spike lee did it in the movie” 😂
^martin Lawrence
Lol radioooooo!!!!
I just looked at the episode when he did it.....I always have to find out what the reference are that Martin used lol....when he did it I was like huh lol glad I found it
Despite what a lot of people here thinks, Mookie did not throw the trashcan to save Sal, but because he was angry that Radio Raheem died. This is not my interpretation, it's Spike Lee's own words.
He couldve beaten Sal tho, he went for the material instead. In the end the outcome was the same regardless.
Truth. I never saw it as anything else.
I look at it as punching a wall. Yeah it sucks and you shouldn't do that but I'd rather people Punch a wall or throw a garbage can rather than hurt people any day of the week. Plus he didn't partake in the looting itself.
Deep down, I think Mookie respected Sal and while he didn't fully blame him for Radio Raheem's death, he felt that Sal's Pizzeria would be forever tainted by what happened so to spare Sal any more physical harm, he diverted everyone's anger toward the restaurant.
Plus Mookie took no part in the looting and destroying of Sal's. He may have hated to bring it to this but he did what he had to.
I wonder if Spike Lee feels validated, but also discouraged all at the same time , 30 years later and this film could be made today in a climate that oftentimes feels no different than before. 😞
I'd assume he's feeling smug about it, that's the only emotion that I've ever seen him display
TBH, with cancel culture and ever increasing easily offended people in today's climate, I'm not sure Spike Lee could even be allowed to release a film like this in 2020 or 2021. I would say he probably feels both validated and discouraged.
It's not like this behavior was something new.
This is a repeating observable pattern within that community.
Spike Lee was only basing it on reality.
It's an embarrassing trend that has been occurring for generations.
Recent years have only highlighted the basic facts.
@@Riles3152 this movie is easily translatable to now. Black male leads fat white capitalist antogonist exploited female costar. Yeah that movie could be made today.
@@igorivanov299 No, its a repeating observable pattern within your community. Its an embarassing trend that been occuring for generations. Recent years have only highlighted the basic facts, fail harder.
Rest in Peace, Bill Nunn. You will be missed.
It always disturbed me how they were gonna burn the Korean family’s shop for no reason
Just Cause they(Rioters) were in a State of Chaos/Hostlity/Anger Burning Sal's just seems Vindicative what the Korean Family do to them anyway 🤷♂.
Then it happened in real life in 1992.
Thats what these black people do, they have no working brains and they only want a reason to loot
@@capncake8837 It almost did, except they didn't let their businesses get looted and burned down. They started squeezing off rounds at anyone who got too close
@@markl5562Thats why I love east asians so much. Us other asians need to learn from them. 😂
Spike Lee is a genius now that I look back on this movie. His directing style is poetic.
That film really should've gotten a nomination for Best Picture.
No
@@deadschooled shut up
Not three days later everyone in the neighborhood was complaining about how there wasn't anywhere nearby to buy pizza and calzones.
THIS
Just in Human Nature Destory Something & short while thereafter yearn for it SMH.
Yup
@@Frosty98206particular kind of humans have this nature!
Can
Something that gets overlooked in this scene is right before Mookie throws the can you can hear Da Mayor (Ossie Davis) scream "No!" off-screen. Interesting choice by Lee to add that, especially considering how much he stands by Mookie's decision to do it. Is this commentary on the generational views toward violence and the futile efforts of rioting? Does it underscore the apathy of alcoholism? Personally I think while Lee/Mookie ride with Malcolm, Da Mayor was the voice of King.
When I first saw Mookie grab the trash can, I thought he was going to slam it on the ground to silence everyone and then start monologuing about how this pointless conflict took the life of his friend.
And that would've been the right thing.
Same.
I think the fact he didn't was better choice at portraying the message.
i thought he was going to hit Sal with it
I love how almost all of you (white and black) don't understand this scene, or movie. Sal is wrong, Mookie is wrong, everyone is wrong. No one does the right thing.
Da mayor did the right thing by getting sal Vito and piano to safety ..or they would have been beaten and stumped to death by the angry mob
Attmay ya, except when Sal opened his restaurant it was an Italian neighborhood. Over the years the blacks moved in and the white Italians moved out. Sal really wasn't a bad a guy, but it's probably no use explaining that to you. Sal's was stubborn, he could have de-escalated the entire situation by putting pictures of a few "brothers" on his wall.
Ian Victorine The only wrong thing Sal did was lose his temper. Destroying the store was uncalled for, Sal had no blame on his hands.
Ian Victorine The only wrong thing Sal did was lose his temper. Destroying the store was uncalled for, Sal had no blame on his hands.
Ian Victorine Someone has a brain...
It's really not that difficult to understand. It actually kind of speaks for society, where so quick to pick sides, we ignore the initial point of the movie. Pure ignorance...
0:02 my reaction to some of the comments on this video
Amen man
1:23 my reaction
Polítics in a nutshell
I love the discussions, though
OMG EPIC!
2020 and still relevant
The moral of the story? Never ever open up a pizzeria in Brooklyn 😆
And if you do remember, black is right and white is putting out the fire
Sal is an Italian-American who is proud of his heritage. The wall-of-fame only consisted of Italian-Americans as a tribute to his culture. That is no way racist towards African-Americans, as it also does not include any other race, only Italian-Americans. Radio Raheem did not deserve to die at the hands of the racist police officer, but the way he behaved in Sal's restaurant was unwarranted.
One of the more reasonable takes I’ve seen regarding the situation. The only issue I have is that it really wouldn’t have killed Sal to put two or three Black people of note on the wall. I don’t agree with how Buggin’ Out went about the situation at all, but he did have a point. Most of Sal’s clientele is Black. And Sal was under no obligation to open or keep his business in a predominantly Black neighborhood. Adding photos of Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan, and Diana Ross for example would have taken nothing away from his Italian-American pride. In fact, one of the people on his wall, Frank Sinatra, was famous for refusing to perform in establishments that did not cater to Black people. If one of his heroes could be so broad-minded, so could Sal.
Had Sal said that, Buggin' Out might have listened.
The fact that they're not going to have any pizza anymore as the real shame
The consolation is the owner will probably open up his next restaurant in a place where people are less explosive and impulsive.
Don't worry, Sal's ain't real
To be fair though people were on his side until he drops the N bomb
Abraham well they’ll figure something out as they even decided to rob Sal too
@@kasikasivendjinn5345 To be even more fair, Sal was called a guinea first, and that is a racial slur
When the Korean says "You, me, the same" I get to the verge of tears... It's so sad the way he sounds as naive as a child... and yet he is right.
The only person right in the whole freakin' movie.
I live in Brazil, have nothing to do with any of this US-racial segregation, and it makes me cry.
+Daniel Rosa you have nothing to do with crime filled favelas full of people of color and those inconvient natives sitting on the gold you need to exploit. just like the usa help them with somebody elses money.
Um... Wha--?
I said *US* racial segregation (which is of its own _very_ specific kind).
...?
+Daniel Rosa You know Brazil is really racist, right? The only difference is that for some reason oppressed minority groups in Latin America keep quiet about their struggle.
aboutashow I've lived here my whole life, been abroad for quite a while, and I can tell you:
I've never seen a place where people are so willing to let go of their origins and willing to mix as in Brazil.
There may still be judgement based on color, but Brazilians don't dress up differently because of color, don't speak differently because of color, don't walk differently because of color (they might do so on social condition).
And people don't give a damn where you parents' parents came from - it never alters by any degree how people see you as 100% Brazilian.
That's fine if people are willing to mix- though one could argue it's an attempt to rid oneself of black characteristics- but that doesn't mean that racism is not a problem in Brazil or the majority of Latin America as a whole. There is no such thing as a country devoid of racism. Absolutely nowhere. Also, I don't see how willingly abandoning your background is at all a good thing.
Decades later, and people still don't realize this movie is not supposed to be realistic, it is an allegorical fable, and the actions of Mookie, Sal, the mob and the other characters needs to be viewed through the lens of symbolism.
nope
choking a guy to death almost over a fucking radio is not the right thing to do.
how very wrong you are. These scenes are quite realistic. Ever hear of the LA riots? If anything this movie foretold the future of life in contemporary America, between all races. Make no mistake everybody hates everybody all people need is a reason.
*****
people who came in blasting a radio cussing him out for a damn wall..they provoked it and again it was property he destroyed.
I know right? they shoulda just not gave him business opened a soul food restuarant and ate there...but member..the one who actually committed assault was radio and his death was from self defense..they had him at when he smashed the radio coulda had the italian guy jailed and fined..now they just get insurance money and that community still remains miserable and filled with angry self destructive ignorant people.*****
Yes Sal should have called the cops instead of hitting his radio with a bat. But you can't equate that to going into a guys business blasting a radio and yelling at him, then assaulting him and then trashing his store and burning it down and act like its the same level of wrong doing. Breaking a stereo isn't even remotely close to as bad as what they did to Sal.
Am I the only person that thinks Mookie wasn't doing this as an attack on Sal? I read it as Mookie redirecting the crowd's anger towards the property rather than Sal, possibly saving Sal and his sons from being mobbed. In its own warped and complicated way, I thought Mookie did the right thing, even if it may not have been the "best" way. This is why the ending is brilliant, it doesn't give the easy answers
Lol I'm replying 5 years later I'm not sure if you'll see this but you're definitely not the only one. I also think that Mookie did the right thing even though he did destroy Sal's hard work. Honestly, though, I'd rather destroy a building than murder a person.
Spike Lee went on record saying mookie through the trash can because radio Raheem died
Spike lee is on record saying that that is the case. Mookie did the right thing, assuming you believe human life has more value than property.
@@plotfi1 sal didnt kill anyone dumbass
@@sabrinahardin9115 I think the black crowd would rather destroy Sal's building than beat up Sal and his sons, too.
For those wondering why Mookie threw the trash can, it was because he was mad. He needed no other reason
And he was wrong
Because he was stupid
@@NoName-hg6ccwell he already should be in home, he was disagree with Sal about let clients in when the bussiness was already closed.
He basically made things worse
Only love can conquer hate. They didn't do the right thing.
Right Vandalizing a Property is Not the Apporiate Message wanna send to Concide Hate need a Powerful Counter like Love or Compassion, Hate is a Cancer that Destory's the Most Beautful thing's & Makes them Wrapped an Twisted.
Well the question should not be why Mookie started the riot, but why was Radio killed by a police officer?
Alfa&Omega 00000 whatever the answer does not explain why the police murdered Radio.
This is literally happening this very minute in Atlanta Wendy’s...
When I just watched this movie for the first time, I felt like I was watching Rayshard Brooks all over again in those final thirty minutes.
@@theopportuneson699maybe don’t fight with the cops and attempt to take the cops tazer. But it’s actually even easier, don’t get high/drunk and pass out in the Wendy’s Drive Through.
2018 and this is relevant af
Who cares? Stupidity sees no time limit.
S Ali 2020?
I've always considered the ending to represent how all these characters can't really escape what society expects them to be. In a perfect world, Sal and Mookie would live happily ever after, but they're fucked by outside forces. Sal is frustrated by his son's anger/embarrassment, Mookie is outraged at the cops killing Radio Raheem - in the end, both are forced to choose what "family" they're more a part of. IMO the title is somewhat ironic and meant to represent what a grey area right/wrong is.
“It looked fly when spike lee did it in the movie”
I don’t know why but the Korean family always cracks me up. They are straight up OG’s
Till this day , and nothing has changed
Why would it?
It's not like anyone really wants change. They just want to be angry. They want their violence to have a justification no matter how small and petty. Doing "The Right Thing" isn't on anyone's agenda, just "The Thing That Makes *ME* Feel Better."
You can hear the old man in the background yelling no before he does it.
Well, Brooklyn's currently in flames thanks to George Floyd's Radio Raheem-style murder. And people are complaining about property damage rather than human life. I'd say this film is way too accurate in its subject matter....
Rioting isn’t the way to go about this. It only brings attention to the issue so that maybe we can get change. If we want change we need get organized and start programs. Not only that, just because some ppl are mad about their businesses being destroyed, doesn’t mean they don’t care about Floyd.
Did you not catch the end? That was Sal's life. That's why he threw the last 500 dollars he had.
I bet Ben don't own any property.
MF BOZO AKA Reptilian Lizard yea just so you know the civil rights act of 1968 wasnt passed until the non-peaceful protests that happened after MLKs death
Isn’t it the point that neither side is completely right: They shouldn’t have attacked and destroyed the pizza place, and Raheem could’ve been restrained more easily without being killed?
I think this scene has relations to the quotes at the end. M L King says violence cause violence, but at the same time, Malcom X quote gives the other edge, when you are attacked you can't help to act in self defence. You can't do the right thing cause theres no right thing to do, its a paradox that exist due to society and historical racism.
@fede edelstein If there really is no right thing then humanity is screwed.
@@jaysmith3173 No, we not screwed. Theres no right thing in that situation. We should avoid putting people in a situation where theres no right thing to do.
fede edelstein but isn’t that a huge problem when there is no right thing to do?
@@jaysmith3173 Yes, that what Im saying. Society should move towards not generating those moments
The right thing would have been not killing Raheem, not burning the places , turning off the radio, ACCEPT THE OWNER TO PUT WHATEVER PICTURE HE WANTS
Sal collects a big insurance check and moves out of that neighborhood - leaving the burned out building for the residents to look at for years. Next the Korean moves out thinking he's next. Nobody wants to move in next to a burned hulk and the people that stay then wonder why the neighborhood lacks services and property values go down and down...
Nope, a Black business cleans the place up and moves in, and if the Koreans move then another Black business takes that spot, people will continue moving in the neighborhood that will have services and high property values, fail harder.
@@pilot8220and then you woke up.
Minneapolis
1:23 “John your line was ‘Stay out of his pizzeria you ingrates!”
Next day, all these people are gonna complain about how there's nothing to eat around.
I'm not gonna sit here & lie that's my favorite Spike Lee moment
Robin harris looks down at the korean and goes "Where u black at" lmfaoooo 2:16
This is hitting differently after George Floyd. Rest in power
Minority Arts Appreciation Society ikr
@@beediverse9086 mookie & his trash can got the party started
AshTheFlash100 oh and what exactly do you think the point is?
@@neoneherefrom5836 If you watched the movie and read the 2 Ending quotes, they describe the movie very well. The point of the movie is about talking and dialogue instead of anger, violence and monologue.
@@MasterDragonPaladin Sounds like you only took MLK's quote into consideration. The point of the movie is to simply show what happens when powerless voices go unheard.
Maybe Mookie's motivation is intentionally unclear because you, as the audience, are supposed to decide for yourself what it means...same with the title..you are supposed to decide what the right thing is...Lee chooses not to spell it our for you
Mookie did do the right thing. If he didn't throw the trashcan threw the window, Sal and his sons would've gotten their asses beat.
Yes I'm thinking the same thing. Mookie by starting the riot destroying Sal's took the laser off Sal and his sons. Also along with the Mayor getting their ass out the way.
Yeah I don't see why a lot of people don't get that. You know I've always wondered what became of Sal and his sons after this, I think Sal deep down may have been prejudiced, and I don't think Mookie was entirely wrong about Sal liking his sister, that scene was there for a reason. His older son (Pino) thought himself as racist but Mookie proved him wrong, I think the older son was just taking it out on black people since he was forced to remain at the pizza shop by his dad, in fact he may be actually thankful to Mookie for destroying it. The younger son (vito) might actually become prejudiced as a result of what happened though
you can tell that he was thinking about that when he was rubbing his face
*****
link or it didnt happen
*****
you cant trust wikipedia, people edit wikipedia all the time, I edit to put in false information that sounds real into wikipedia before
Its as if this movie predicted the 92 koreatown riots and 2014 ferguson riots
"Always do the right thing." - Da Mayor
"You do what you gotta do." - Sal
In an unjust world, there is no such thing as “doing the right thing”
In the 25th anniversary edition there's a bonus disc with an alternate ending where Sal and Mookie get high on MDMA and dance to Fight The Power whilst praising the sick skills of Terminator X and Chuck D. They proceed to rearrange the entire pizzeria with pictures of Jackie Robinson, Dr King, Marvin Gaye and Mr. fuckin' T.
+fleedermouse God I wish this was true haha.
But not a pizzeria , he semi- rebuilds a Soul Food joint ..You know with the remnants smell of burned ashes still around.
Strange. In the alternate ending I saw, Sal disowns his son to go bang Mookie's sister while Mookie is in the same room getting blown by Rosie Perez.
@@browsertab Mookie would call bullish on that one if he was real.
he did do the right thing- it was either sals life or the pizza shop. mookie chose to distract the crowd and direct their anger towards the shop itself instead of sal.
i really dont understand the point of destroying sal's. the cops killed radio raheem. Nd radio was gonna kill sal. All sal wanted was for radio and buggin turn off the music, but instead they made tensions rise and escalate. Sal is generally nice to the community and even enjoys being in the neighborhood. Was it simply because he was white? Cuz thats racist and all that does is just create more division and hatred. I honestly dont see how destroying sal's was doing the right thing at all.
Well, you pretty much got the point of the film. It's the line of the Korean guy that makes this scene poignant, not the black people destroying Sal's business, because it shows that their hate and violence truly was unjustified. As others have said, the crowd would have just killed Sal instead if Mookie had not thrown the trash can.
good point. i ddnt think of it like that.
Would Sal rather lose his store or his life. That’s why Mookie did what he did.
The greatest scene in cinema history
Not even close
This scene makes you wonder who's the oppressor.
makes you wonder if you're a clueless whitey
@@blackinton2526cry bud
Remember when Martin did that on the Martin show
I honestly blame Buggin' Out's stupid ass for all this. Even though this situation might have been inevitable, but he didnt have to get everyone gased up like that.
thecrimsonwitch no one agreed with Buggin out TIL
sal revealed what he really thought about the neighbourhood
Alfa&Omega 00000 no justification to use violence. Just like he held back his son from using the baseball bat.
Still post capitalism to hold objects in such high regard incl your pizza parlours latifundium
Alfa&Omega 00000 I remember him saying you people
Alfa&Omega 00000 not if there are already clientele inside and it wasn’t patronage. It was for protest. It could have simpler while Sal had the neighbourhood on his side. Let’s talk this over with the mayor or something. Or go ahead and boycott the pizzeria. But he thought too much of himself and equated it to being robbed or something. That he was better than the people who ate at his place. Displaying his alleged pride on having people grow up on his food as patronising hypocrisy. In a certain way the Mayor and Mookie protected Sal and his sons from more violence at yet another black person getting murdered by the police. Which still happens today. This movie was shot in the wake of zero tolerance and a black women getting killed by the police
When I was watching the film I viewed the pizzeria being used as an object for racial tensions that have been building for quite some time in the community. Not as a scapegoat for the Sal and family. But I do find it ironic how Mookie helps burn it destroy it after Sal calls him a son.
It's not the point that it was OK to burn down Sal's. The point was that Sal's was the center of that neighborhood. It was the place that all of them loved, while also being the place where they saw one of them die. Because of that, the image of Sal's would be tarnished forever. It would never be a part of the community ever again. So in their minds ( especially Mookie's ), the place had to go.
Mookie didn’t even care for his own child but we’re supposed to believe he had the foresight to deduce that the heart of the neighborhood would forever be tarnished? Yeah, ok.
The more things change the more they stay the same
Crazy how 1989 predicted 1992
31 years later..... Nothing's changed
The Korean saying he's black has more truth to it than you know.
2:06-Sadly, in real life three years later in 1992, Koreans would feel the same kind of terror, as rioters in LA destroyed Korean business for the murder of Latasha Harlins by a Korean store clerk. Rioters didn't just express there angry towards white people for the Rodney King verdict, but took it out on everyone else who had ever hurt or killed black people. That's why we shouldn't loose are tempers, and treat everyone, no matter what race they are, with the same rights, and all of us will get along.
"A riot is the language of the unheard"
The language of the herd
@Well now, looky what we have here then I guess it's up to good decent folk like Kyle Rittenhouse to stop it
@Well now, looky what we have here but what's not crazy is burning down black neighborhoods destroying local businesses just like in the film and plunging the very communities that you're fighting for into further debt and ruin?
Stfu
@Well now, looky what we have here By not rioting, we can at least behave like civilised human beings.
I'll tell you when I rob and loot your property
The way Spike squeezes his nose between his hands in the opening shot there.
I hope they show this in theaters to celebrate 25 years this year
When I first watched this movie I thought what happened to Sal was extremely unfair. Now, a few years later I feel like i understand this scene, nobody did the right thing.
Good ol Martin Lawrence ... making his debut!
Why isn't this movie played in schools? This type of problem has always been relevant, and now look at Baltimore.
I believe Sir Samuel L Jackson said it most eloquently: "YOOOOOO! HOLD UP! TIME OUT. TIME OUT! Y'all needa take a chill! Ya need to cut, that, shit, out! And that's the double truth, Ruth!
My teacher showed us this movie. We even had a debate about it. About if it was right for Mookie to trash Sal's pizzeria or not.
+Adrian Esteves This was showed in my college :)
Good movie that inspires thinking
Man they don't wanna show it in schools cos they say movies like Do the Right Thing is too sensitive and it's not approved in schools, but they show movies like 12 Years a Slave and Schindler's List to history classes when they show violence and cruelty in both movies. That's some hypocritical shit right there y'all
I took a film class this semester, and this was one of the films we had to watch. Gotta say, it was pretty intense.
+Adrian Esteves actually im watching this in my film class right now
Big Smoke: "All you had to do was put brothers on the wall, Sal!!"
All Raheem had to do was to turn his radio off
@Alejandro brunner they who?
@Alejandro brunner Sorry not meant for you.
You mean black people? Not all people are the same
Looting and burning down a family owned restaurant as a retaliation to someone else killing a member of your community just perfectly encapsulates what goes on in todays world. Bravo Spike. Whether you intended on it or not but your movie really really captures how people feel about the inner city black communities just from the brief shots of Sal and his family overlooking what happened to their shop.
I love this movie, this scene, this director so damn much. "I'm BLACK!" I love it. They're both non-White immigrants but even within that struggle there are separations and different levels of oppression. "Open your eyes!" They're both right.
Cristin Owens , the racial tension was too high.
I don't think anyone had a right to trash the Italian guy's business. They could have just taken their business elsewhere to avoid his 'pizza-oppression'
I hate Mookie when I saw that he betrayed Sal, Sal said he was like a son to him
I remember the controversy this film provoked back in the day. Critics were afraid that this film would spark riots around the country. Thirty-one years later, we had a real life Radio Raheem situation and it was the death of Rayshard Brooks that incited eerily similar unrest. Do the Right Thing didn't inspire riots, it merely predicted them.
Rayshard brooks fought the cops got himself shot
I mean there was civil unrest and ruining before the movie, and many times between the movie and brooks. So you can't predict something that's already happened and will always happen. But ok
So that was what Martin was talking about when he busted the radio station window after getting fired. "Looked fly when Spike did it in the movie"
RIP Sal. The Pizzeria mourns for you.
The really stupid thing about this part before the cops show up is that tomorrow where will they go for pizza?
They just saw someone, a Black man, murdered by the police. They can get pizza somewhere else. They can’t bring Radio Raheem back.
2 years later in real life Crown heights had a riot
Perfect is right. One of the best endings ever. I was blown away, still am
Revenge for Radio Raheem 0:31
Yep.
No one did
the right thing.
They tried to rob
and vandalize
my inheritance,
what was intended
to redress an old wrong.
If you ask me, the root cause of this whole thing was Sal charging too much for extra cheese. It was bad economics. The extra cheese couldn't have cost him nearly as much as he charged for it, so people didn't buy it and got angry because they couldn't get it.
Yeah, I know, that's way overly simplistic.
+William Brennan You totally nailed it
+William Brennan Everyone assumes it's an additional two bucks for extra cheese when I suspect that it's two bucks for a slice that requires additional toppings such as extra cheese.
In reality it's because Buggin' Out was a rock-throwing hothead who was so full of himself that he interpreted an Italian man's display of Italian celebs on the wall of what's technically an Italian restaurant as bigotry. The cop who choked out Raheem may have been the immediate cause of his death but Buggin' Out was the ultimate cause.
+blackjac5000 You're exactly correct.
*****
Manslaughter, not murder; remember that Raheem was trying to strangle Sal at the time. And Buggin' Out got the ball rolling on the events that led up to it.
*****
Yes they did, but only because he was trying to strangle someone else to death over a radio that he insisted on blasting at max volume in an enclosed space Just Because. In the immortal words of Larry Wilmore, black manners matter.
Greedo Shooting First in Star Wars is more controversial than the whole movie of Do the Right Thing!!!!!!!!
The power of a Pisces mind♓️🔥🥶
I think the scene proves who the real villains here were, Envy and Pride...
Sal could of played the penguin