Movie Do the Right Thing

¶ … Right Thing

The first scene of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing presents Senor Love Daddy (Samuel L. Jackson) in his element as morning radio host. Shot in one long take, the scene begins with an extreme close-up (ECU) of an alarm clock bearing the time 8 AM, a large silver radio microphone, and Senor Love Daddy's mustached mouth; he is obviously an African-American male. In addition to the ringing alarm clock, his cry of "Waaaake up!" alludes to the potential of the film to awaken increased racial consciousness. The camera gradually zooms out to reveal more of his face. Senor Love Daddy wears dark sunglasses in which a reflection mimics a pair of eyes. Later, his word play cleverly coincides with the unique shot of his eyes, as he says, "I'z only play the platters that matter..."

In the background, soul music plays softly so that it does not interfere with Love Daddy's monologue. His words come out quickly, almost like a rap. The camera continues to slowly zoom out throughout the entire scene. Love Daddy dons a striped and brimmed cap; his shirt is equally as bright, almost like a Hawaiian shirt. His character is thus established as extroverted and somewhat outrageous as well as being proud of his race.

Filters on the cameras produce a reddish-brown hue that continues throughout much of the film and which symbolizes the heat and anger that characterize Do the Right Thing. Love Daddy proceeds with his clever wordplay and rhyming as the camera zooms out more; he pauses briefly to reach for a sip of coffee. At this point, the scene includes the long adjustable white handle of the radio microphone to the left and Love Daddy's torso to the right. A soft focus is used throughout the scene, creating a granular effect like the haze of a hot morning. The lighting is fairly dark but with considerable chiaroscuro and Love Daddy alludes to this interplay of black and white by saying, "Doing the yin and the yang..." The contrast of light and dark also corresponds to the overriding theme of race relations in the film.

The brightest items in this scene are Love Daddy's face, the poster of a black man behind him, and the handle of the microphone. As the camera zooms out more, the shot includes the five hats in the foreground, each with a completely different character. The lighting changes, growing brighter as the architectural elements of the radio building are revealed. The decor is art deco and includes large lettering designating the station. In the same pace used throughout the scene, the camera now pans left with a high angle continuous shot of the characteristically Brooklyn, NY neighborhood. The scene shifts greatly from beginning to end, as the shallow focus and close-ups in the radio station morph into high and widely shot views of the street.

Scene three of the film introduces Smiley, the speech-impaired, mentally challenged visionary character. The camera angle is very low, making Smiley's figure and that of the church behind him loom and tower. Placing Smiley squarely in front of the church, as if he is part of its construction, hints at the spiritual import of his words, which are ironically difficult to understand because of his stuttering. Here, Smiley directly introduces himself by saying, "My name is Smiley." His ethnicity is ambiguous; he has a beard and is fairly dark-skinned but does not appear to be of full African descent. Smiley embodies peace between various races and ethnicities.

The second shot in scene three focuses closely with a shallow focus on a photograph of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King together. Smiley marks an "X" next to Malcolm and a crown-shaped letter "M" near Martin Luther King, Jr. Smiley says they are both dead but that we still have to fight against "apart-hate." The final shot of that scene returns to the exact angle employed in the first, the low camera angle pointing up at Smiley framed in the church. The setting is outdoors, the lighting fairly bright, symbolizing the light of truth to Smiley's words. Moreover, the lack of noticeable color filters indicates the clarity with which Smiley speaks. Finally, all three of these shots involve no camera movement, either panning or zooming; his speech, however, is not as steady as the camera.