Do The Right Thing Movie Response

What similarities / differences do you see between Do The Right Thing and "How Bigger Was Born"?

In both Do The Right Thing and "How Bigger Was Born" society played a huge role in how the characters talked and acted. In "How Bigger Was Born" Richard Wright wrote, "I do say that I felt and still feel that the environment supplies the instrumentalities through which the organism expressses itself, and if that environment is warped or tranquil, the mode and manner of behavior will be affected toward deadlocking tensions or orderly fulfillment and satisfaction." (442) In Do The Right Thing Mookie's neighborhood seemed "warped and tranquil" because everyone knew eachother, giving it a small town feel. Mookie's street had citizens from all different types of racial groups which included: Asians, Italians, and African Americans. Their neighborhood was accepting of all races, which is why Mookie, an African American man, aquired a job working at an Italian pizzaria. There was never much violence towards the beginning of the movie because no one believed there was a need for it because they all got along. Bigger Thomas on the other hand, always felt a need for violence because he lived in a society where there was always prejudice towards his people. The Bigger Thomases Richard Wright knew always seemed to be rebellious and terrorized the people around them. Since Bigger's society believed all African Americans were rebellious "apes", he gave into what they believed and became that rebellious "ape". If Bigger had grown up in a society much like Mookie's he would probably see other races more as equals and not as competitors.


Personal Response

I believe that at the end of the movie, Mookie does do the right thing by throwing the garbage can. If he had not created a distraction, Sal, Pino, and Vito would have surely been killed by the angry mob of African Americans. I think that towards the end of movie Mookie was upset with Sal, but since he viewed him as family he still tried to save him. When he threw the garbage can, it did start a larger riot which ended in Sal's Pizzaria being burned to the ground but I think Mookie assumed something like that was going to happen anyway. By directing the angry mob's attention towards the garbage can, Mookie gave Sal and his son's time to flee the scene. In doing so Mookie was still respected by his fellow African Americans, but also got to save his friends.

Two Societies: Riots

Vaughn says of the riots, “I don’t think it was the call for Black Power that did it. I think it was the

lack of power that did it.” What does he mean?

Vaughn believes that the reason blacks rebelled and rioted against whites was not because of how much they wanted power, but was because they were keenly aware of how much more power whites had over them and wanted change. For example, the police force in Detroit whom was prodominately white abused their sense of power to terrorize black citizens. They made notorious "elite" teams called 'Tacs' whose only job was to strictly patrol black communities for prostitution and illegal drug and alcohol sales. "During these patrols, suspects were regularly harassed and beaten; in a few cases, blacks were even shot and killed." Because only whites were chosen to be put in a position of power, blacks literally could not even attempt to fight the laws from the inside. They rioted because it was the only way they could physically get their point across.