Cinema Seminar:
Do the Right Thing

Taught by Amy Corbin, Ph.D.
Professor of Media & Communication and Film Studies, Muhlenberg College

Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989) heralded the arrival of a major American filmmaker and ushered into Hollywood a new wave of African American directors such as John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood), Carl Franklin (Devil in a Blue Dress), and Kasi Lemmons (Eve’s Bayou). It has come to be recognized as a modern classic, joining the National Film Registry in its first year of eligibility and earning the 24th spot on Sight and Sound’s decennial critics poll of the greatest films ever.

One of the elements that makes Do the Right Thing so remarkable is its incongruity. For example, the title provocatively gives us a moral instruction, but the movie refuses to reveal what the “right thing” is. It features some of the vilest racial invective ever heard in a studio feature, yet the film powerfully undermines, and lays bare the corrosive nature of, racism.

In one sense, the film is rooted in realism—inspired by racially charged violence in 1980s New York City and filmed on location. But Lee also employs a full range of cinematic tools to visually and symbolically express the characters’ conflicts and the social forces that oppress them, transforming its Brooklyn block through lens filters, set design, stark camera angles, and more. Lee’s screenplay, direction, and a terrific ensemble cast bring to life characters who feel simultaneously real and allegorical.

Join us to explore the film that inspired Roger Ebert to write: “Most movies remain up there on the screen. Only a few penetrate your soul.”