MovieChat Forums > Do the Right Thing (1989) Discussion > Wait, were we supposed to think that Moo...

Wait, were we supposed to think that Mookie did the right thing?


Because holy shit, Spike Lee's mind must be wrapped in upside down world.

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There was nothing right about Mookie starting a riot.

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The thing is, no one did the right thing, despite the old head telling Mookie to always do the right thing. But no one ever does.

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Spike Lee seems to think so...

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Oh I didn't know he had said that Mookie did the right thing. To me, that's not how it was portrayed.

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Mookie was no better than most of these characters but....With that being said, he may have saved Sal, Pino and Vito from a further ass kicking from the crowd.

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Did Spike Lee say this? I'd be interested if he came out with a judgement call on the movie.

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I seem to recall that Spike did come out and say something recently about how Mookie or Raheem or one of these guys were the ones doing the right thing - which surprised me because his film seems to spread the blame around and accuse everybody (and just the heat of the day) with jacking up tensions - implicating everybody for being at least a little bad. We get this from the two quotes at the end and from Samuel L. Jackson's "You gotta cool that shit off!" line. I think (or thought) he was advocating a careful consideration of when, and how, to use force or rhetoric, not advocating a riot...

That said, I can't seem to find the quote. The closest I found was from wikipedia, referencing the DVD commentary or something: "Viewers who question the riot are explicitly failing to see the difference between damage to property and the death of a black man."

If that's the quote, then sure, Spike raises a good point about how people respond to things like this.

Regardless of Spike's feelings, though, I think this film is a great movie and points out the dangers of pervasive, racist attitudes.

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The riot wasn't going to bring anyone back but may have saved Sal and sons. I don't have a problem with Mookie's action of breaking the window but he does a lot of other dick moves.

I agree, there is more than enough blame to go all around. Some of it isn't even racial, just people pushing each others' buttons and then playing the victim when others lash out about it.

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Spike raises an awful point in that quote.

One, it's wrong to damage the property of people who aren't even responsible for that man's death. Two, time and time again we see how these riots lead to people getting hurt. Spike should probably just shut up.

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The crowd was going to zero on on the pizza family. Mookie threw the garbage can threw the window to save their lives. Deflection.

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Spike Lee said that was not the reason.

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Good question by OP 7 months ago. Probably couldn't imagine how relevant it is. The answer is yes. When the cops kill an innocent, is the right thing to report that to the cops? This was the film of the year in 1989 and now more relevant than ever! Anyway here's a good video that addresses it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkvZqxjDjWk

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👍

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I don’t know what Spike wanted us to think but I don’t think Mookie did the right thing.

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