r/communism • u/Anasnoelle • 1d ago
Thoughts on the movie Do the Right Thing
I watched it yesterday, I rent my movies from my local library I never pay for them especially with the ongoing genocide knowing that most production studios support the Zionist entity. I thought that the black power movement was actually very negatively portrayed in the movie. I find that there is very few Hollywood movies than positively portray the struggle for black liberation and the black experience in Amerikkka. Most movies tend to place white people in the role of the white savior (The Help, The Blind Side, etc are good examples of this). I think Boots Riley’s work is great and I really like The Color People. If any of you have watched Do the Right Thing let me know your thoughts.
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u/SpiritOfMonsters 10h ago
Haven't watched the film, but I found The Spook Who Sat by the Door to be great in its characters as well as its portrayal of the black liberation movement. It's utopian in an adventurist way, but I think that's probably the best kind of perspective a film from the time could have taken since it doesn't capitulate to the civil rights movement. Conversely, Uptight was weighed down by taking the perspective of a snitch, who's the least interesting kind of person, ending up a boring melodrama that has to justify his actions and condemn revolution.
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u/carllobo 1d ago
First off, it's one of my favorite movies. Top 6 in my world for the whole production of the thing, the story telling, the characters, the music. A superb movie.
Politically, however, it's pretty sparse. There is a complication involved with it all, the black nationalism, patriarchy and the racism that goes with that, the reaction towards Asian immigrants in the black community........I suppose that complication is best portrayed in the scene where everyone gets their turn saying racist things about the group, until the DJ tells them to cool out.
But ultimately it's a pretty facile piece of work when it comes to exploring those dynamics. Pretty surface stuff. And nowhere close to introducing a Marxist analysis of racism. Don't even try it.
Great movie, pretty lame politics.
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u/PrivatizeDeez 15h ago
The art itself is what we should judge from more dimensions than just the political or dialectical.
It's funny to write this out considering Spike Lee himself said his explicit purpose for making the film was to engender discussions about race (politics) in the U.S. between people who wouldn't normally discuss it. So even the creator of this 'art' disagrees with your tepid thought. Of course, Spike Lee wanting 'debate' about race in the U.S. is evidence as well of his liberalism. You don't even have to have watched the film to determine that it is not good based on how he himself has talked about where it came from.
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u/Anasnoelle 1d ago
I am not so sure if Do the Right Thing portrays the black power movement positively. I would recommend Sorry to Bother You and The Color Purple.
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u/Top-Main1780 5h ago
One of the best there is. Funny and sad and honest, with lots of interesting ways to try and unpack its themes. There is certainly an indictment of American systems and cultures of valuing property over humanity.
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