In "Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing," Marilyn Fabe argues that Spike Lee adopts film theorist and director Sergei Eisenstein's dialectical montage -- the juxtaposition of contrasting shots in order to bring the viewer to a new level of consciousness. Referring to Fabe's essay, describe two ways Lee creates dialectical conflict on the level of form, and two examples on the level of content. According to Fabe, what does Lee seek to achieve through his use of dialectical montage?
Do the Right Thing begins with a young Rosie Perez performing a dance to the film’s theme song, “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy. Here we can see an example of dialectical conflict on the level of form. In this number, the image of “a petite female performing a dance” is counterpointed by the angry male voices urging violence in response to racism in the song lyrics. The choreography of the dance conflicts as well as it is a combination of an aerobic workout session mixed with several shots of her punching her fists, as if in a fight. “Sometimes she looks angry, sometimes she looks sexy.” Spike Lee “fuses sensual entertainment and political threat.”
ReplyDeleteAnother conflict is constructed through Lee’s use of colored filters. He uses a red filter to transform a black-and-white background image into a sinister one, suggesting heat and blood. Red filters illuminating the background is contrasted with cool blue filters in successive shots. When Lee mixes red and blue, he creates a conflict of hot and cold tones.
Perhaps the most central clash of opposites on the level of content is between the characters Mookie and Sal. Throughout the film, Mookie serves as a keeper of the peace while protecting the pizzeria. When moments of racial tension flare up between Sal and his customers, Mookie smoothes the situations over. He goes as far as banishing his own friend from Sal’s Pizzeria for angering his boss by the insisting he include African-American pictures on his wall of fame. The fact that Mookie, who acts as a buffer between the conflicting parties, is the one who starts the riot at the end of the film makes a very strong impression on viewers because their expectations of who would start the riot clashes with who actually does.
The character of Sal is one who exhibits a great deal of conflict. At times, he is sympathetic and an appealing character to watch. He is tolerant of Mookie’s refusal to do chores such as sweeping up, because they both understand that there are limitations to Mookie’s position in Sal’s Pizzeria (minimum-wage, delivery-boy job with no future). Sal is genuinely affectionate towards Mookie, but he fails to realize the important role that Mookie plays as the mediator between himself (Sal) and the African-American customers that he needs in order to make a living. So while Sal is portrayted as being sympathetic towards Mookie, he’s also depicted as being exploitative and racist. He is constructed of many conflicting traits.
The goals Lee seeks to achieve through his use of dialectical montage are to raise consciousness about racism in America, pose the question of how black people should respond to racial inequality and physical oppression as well as to “liberate his audience from fixed stereotypical images of the conflict between black and white Americans and to open their minds to a more subtle awareness of racism in American society and the danger that racism poses to us all. “
Mike Albrecht
40303
IN Lee's film Do The Right Thing, there is a definite social consciousness that makes it way on to the screen. As Lee talks about in the interview that is represented in the Fabe writing, the film is about trying make people aware of a struggle that many African American's were apart of and went through. However, through the use of what is called the dialectical montage, Lee's wants to create more than awareness of this struggle and go beyond the justification of violence that he supports from the teachings of Malcolm X, is about creating a new level of consciousness in the theater for the viewers of the film. The use of the montage to shock the audience, placing contrasting images one after another calls for a new plane of existence for an audience. Lee makes it obvious to his audience that this world inside the frame isn't adding up and creates the awareness of a visual conflict through is form and content that is presented.
ReplyDeleteAt the very beginning of film, we become aware of this conflict of cinematic form by the juxtaposition of a beautiful woman dancing to Public Enemy. What we are hearing is very violent attempting to create strong animosity, but what we see does not match the emotion of the words. We are seeing something very sensual and free or possibly something that would create a feeling of pleasure or happiness. We then begin to have cuts of her looking upset and angry and perhaps she feels just as the song does. But we don't know because we still have shots that create a feeling completely unrelated to that. There is a conflict within a viewer that begins to develop about just how we should feel, should we be angry, should lust after the girl or simply sit back and watch. This conflict of form is taken a step further with the use of color filters of frames to create a new atmospheric effect that also is meant to create an awareness that this world is very different and indeed quite confused. Lee's mixing of different colored filters begins to create a very creepy atmosphere inside the film and doesn't do so to try and create a stereotype of how life is in the ghetto, but open the eyes of his viewers to how their prior knowledge and ideas, could in fact be incorrect.
As described in the Fabe article, Lee also makes use of the dialectical form through the content that is presented in the narrative of the film. Through the clashing of his characters Mookie and Sal, we become incredibly aware of the racial tension in the film. Mookie is essentially Sal's right hand man at this pizzeria, and Mookie is truly there to smooth over all the racial tension that comes into play on a daily basis. This then culminates is the end of the film, when Mookie destroys the pizzeria and the extreme violence that follows. We were aware of a tension prior to this however for Mookie, who played mediator to turn against his white bosses again creates a completely new feeling in the mind of the viewer, our perception of him could now completely turn 180 degrees and we now don't understand the character. For him to lash out at Sal, who is extremely tolerant of Mookie and his methods of working and smoothing over racial problems, isn't completely expected. Sal, who is tolerant however, is a racist. The same feeling we get from Mookie at the end of the film, can be applied to Sal. Sometimes are sympathetic, we begin to like the characters and understand them, but the end of the film is a curve ball that Lee intentionally threw at his audience.
“Do the Right Thing” by its very theme creates a juxtaposition of contrasts. It’s theme is race relations. So by it’s nature (And well represented in the picture above) we see the the image of a white man standing across from a black man. It especially in the image above we can tell by the way they’re standing that they seem confrontational. This is an example of dialectical montage in the way of form.
ReplyDeleteLee uses color very well in “Do the Right Thing”. There is heavy use of Reds and Hot colors which could be interpreted in many different ways. Some people may see that and think that it is because of the warm weather and maybe the hot colors are supposed to drive that point. An answer that takes some more time to dig through to find is that the film by its nature has a violent theme. The warm colors can give one the impression of anger or being hot headed. Either way the Red is symbolic of something bad. Like it is always in the back of the audience’s mind that there is danger around.
The Clash between the characters of Mookie and Sal is a great example of the dialectical form through the content. Sal doesn’t treat Mookie with the respect that he deserves. Mookie was the sort of character that sits in the back and sort of tries to fix everything. he doesn’t want a lot of conflict so there is a heavy sense of irony when he destroys the pizzeria in the end of the film. The person who was trying hardest to keep the peace was the cause of the worst of the violence in the film.
There is the fact that there is a difference between tolerating someone and being racist. Although Sal was tolerant of black people but he had moments where racism came through. Spike Lee does a great thing here by leaving his character a little open for debate on how racist he was. Lee shows here that racism isn’t so two dimensional.
Nick Aldrich
T.A. - Heather
Sev Anderson
ReplyDelete40303
Lee creates dialectical conflict on the level of form by using a systematic clash of opposites. An example is when Lee shot on location but had the space cleaned and the buildings repainted vibrant colors. Lee did not want to show black people in the context of trash, drugs, violence and prostitutes. Another example is through the use of optical shocks. The long shots, extreme close ups and smooth matches juxtaposed of Rosie Perez dancing, creates shocks of contrast. There is an abrupt change of her boxing on the right of the screen and then to the left that creates a shock, suggesting that she is fighting internally.
Lee creates dialectical conflict on the level of content by the clash between Sal and Buggin’ Out’s conflicting ways of seeing an issue. An example is Sal’s refusal of Buggin’ Out’s adamant request to hang pictures of African Americans on the restaurant’s walls, even though African Americans have made Sal’s business lucrative. By placing these two viewpoints side by side, Lee creates a dialogue that we are to contemplate about the deeper issues involved. Lee also creates dialectical conflict on the level of content through conflicts within individual characters. An example is when blatantly racist Pino admits to feeling embarrassed about working around black people all day. He sees this form of symbolic miscegenation a humiliation that he does not want to be associated with.
According to Fabe, through the use of dialectical montage, Lee achieves an effective political cinema. Lee wanted to force our minds into new pathways of understanding and to contemplate Martin Luther King and Malcolm X’s opposing views side by side. Lee does this by showing a photograph of both men smiling and shaking each other’s hands throughout the film, then showing the dialogue of each man’s viewpoint after the film.
Spike Lee's films throughout his career have been about race relations or other political issues, so it is no surprise that he implements this voice through dialectical montage in "Do the Right Thing." The way in which Lee uses this juxtaposing style to discuss racial relations is evident in his amazing use of colors throughout the film. For instance, when tensions are fueled or intense, there is a red hue to infer heat or blood. In the next shots, Lee then uses a blue filter to contrast the red. In this sense, the two colors clash and he implements the dialectical form. Another way in which Spike Lee does this through form is the opening montage of Rosie Perez dancing to Public Enemy's "Fight the Power." Through visuals, we see a young woman dancing in a provocative way and through sound, we hear a very powerful and charged protest song. Similar to the way Marxism and Hegelian contrasted in philosophies, so too do the images and sounds in this musical montage.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to content, this goes back to the earlier point of racial tension. As Fabe describes, throughout the entire film, we are presented with Mookie - the mediator between Sal and the African-Americans. Even though Mookie is usually a man of reason, he is eventually the one that starts the riot. Spike Lee presents this inner struggle in Mooke, since he was for the most part calm during the film. But as tensions grew, he completely switched and started what he was trying to avoid.
Further than the inner racial struggle, though, is the obvious juxtapositions of black versus white. Sam vs. Mookie. As displayed in the picture above, the two differing points of view or philosophy are at an immediate stand off. The picture above is perfect, for it is represents dialectical form through style and content. And as Lee states in the Fabe article, he was trying to “liberate his audience from fixed stereotypical images of the conflict between black and white Americans and to open their minds to a more subtle awareness of racism in American society and the danger that racism poses to us all." Through his brilliant use of the dialectical montage, he effectively yet subtly has a voice in the film and achieves his goal.
Gino Gaglianello.
From the beginning of the film, “Do the Right Thing,” it is apparent that director Spike Lee adopts Sergie Eisenstein’s theory of dialectical montage. This is especially obvious in the opening scene, which is itself; a montage. This scene shows a young girl in different settings, ranging from provocatively dancing to boxing on an urban street. Typically, in a montage contrasting shots are put together creating a somewhat jarring effect. Usually there is no traditional continuity between the shots. In Lee’s case, this is true with one exception. Lee uses match of action to move the character from shot to shot, creating some level of continuity. What is used as a dance move in one shot transforms into a punch in the next. Lee also uses color filters to give each shot a different mood and further contrast the shots. This conflict of from is an interesting way to capture an overview of the films theme in one scene.
ReplyDeleteMore so then the traditional montage, Lee makes greater use of its underlying idea of juxtaposition. In almost every element of the film, Lee has contrasting shots, ideas, and personalities placed next to each other. This is apparent in the way Lee depicts Radio Raheem. This character is most always shown from low angles and intense close ups, giving him the feel of a large intimidating figure. Also throughout the film Raheem is depicted as a bully. This personality is juxtaposed with the role of playing the victim of the story. Counter wise, Lee also makes the villain of the film [Sal] a relatively warm and relatable character.
These juxtapositions and several others within the film are meant to not only show the viewer that there is no clear cut good and evil, but more so to cause them some dilemma when deciding whether or not Mookies actions in the end of the film are just. In the essay, Lee’s complexity of characters and juxtaposition of personality traits within those characters is compared to the simplicity of those in D. W. Griffth’s, “The Birth of a Nation”. In the latter film the antagonist [African American population] are shown as an uncivilized and vicious mob. Whereas the protagonist, [the KKK] are depicted as the selfless and pure hero’s who come to save day. In “Do the Right Thing,” Lee works hard to avoid this simplicity and give his characters far more complexity. He does this though the juxtaposition of contrasting camera angles, shots, and personalities.
I think the use of dialectical conflict is portrayed strongly with-in the movie. The scenes of the girl in the opening scene when it becomes a montage of all these certain aspect of this girl. The conflict of the shots within each other give us a feeling that conflict is counterproductive towards more up beat scenes as when hes is boxing on the street. This forms a very interesting pattern of emotional and cultural aspects. The content of the story is strongly influenced by dialectic conflict. In the movie race is a very strong issue. The use of strong black and white figures in the movie make it very political statement. But as we see imagery in the way of being good looking or sensual makes the political statement stand out more. If you can show the viewer a movie with very moving beautiful shots and supercharge them with political tension you get this conflict. I think Lee succeeds with the use of this montage because he uses it to get multiple points across. Such as yes this is a very serious politically and racially charged movie but with the mix of montages representing more than one thing you can get your point across. Th use of dark red filters also makes the movie seem as if it was more serious yet the matter is not as evil as the film looks.
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ReplyDeleteDavid Busse
ReplyDeleteIn Spike Lee’s film “Do the Right Thing” he uses methods of juxtaposition and clashing of opposites originally created by Sergei Eisenstein. One way Spike creates dialectical conflict through form is in the opening scene. In this scene Tina is dancing while the song ‘Fight the Power’ by Public Enemy plays. This is an obvious juxtaposition of opposites. Dancing is often associated with grace, peace, love, and harmony while the song provokes the listener to be violent towards a repressive society. Even her dance is conflicting. It is a combination of an aerobic workout and fight moves. Gabe argues that Spike does this in order to set the viewer up for a movie containing many clashes of opposites. Another way Spike incorporates dialectical conflict into his film is through the environment. The movie takes place in a black ghetto. These areas are usually associated with trash, drugs, prostitution, shabbiness, and guns. However, in the film we only ever see a clean neighborhood. Spike did this to act on viewers’ pre-conceived notions that blacks live in dirty and sinful neighborhoods. “The bright colors of the neighborhood take on a metaphorical meaning, connoting life, vitality, and emotion” (Gabe). The audience is able to see a poor black neighborhood without all the negative stereotypes.
As far as content goes in this film, there is constant conflict between Mookie and Sal throughout the movie. Sal seems sympathetic towards Mookie, but that is just on the surface. “Lee makes it clear that aside from Mookie’s official job of delivering pizzas he functions as a go-between for Sal, smoothing over moments of racial tension that daily flare up between Sal and his customers” (Gabe). Besides being used to help keep black customers in check and being paid minimum wage, Mookie also has to deal with Sal’s racist son Pino. Mookie gets back at Sal by taking forever on deliveries, coming in late, and refusing to do work outside of delivering. A second way that content creates dialectical conflict in this film is through the motif of the picture of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X shaking hands. This film is based around conflict and the two men had opposing ideas of how to deal with oppression. It begs the audience to contemplate their opposing views. No where does the film ever explicitly say who was right in any conflict, but it does (hopefully) make the viewer think critically about race relations in America and how to deal with these conflicts.
According to Fabe, Spike was attempting to bring to the surface racial tensions and lack of justice in America and throughout the world towards the black community. The constant conflict throughout the film acts as a way to show people who may think racism is a thing of the past that it is still alive and well. Spike's main goal was to open up a dialogue about racism in America and for a discussion of the opposing view points of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
Scott Holewinski
ReplyDeleteSection 40303
One way Lee creates dialectical conflict on the level of form is by creating optical shocks. The opening sequence shows Rosie Perez in profile on screen right as she shadowboxes. The image abruptly cuts to Perez, still shadowboxing in profile, but this time on screen left; this juxtaposition of images shocks the viewer’s thinking—she is fighting herself. According to Fabe, this conflict of images prefigures tensions of other characters throughout the film, as well as individual characters’ own inner conflicts (195).
Another way Lee creates dialectical conflict on the level of form is through the use of mise-en-scène. Fabe states that the authentic atmosphere created by shooting on location conflicts with the film’s look (196). The location of Bedford-Stuyvesant was cleaned up. Trash no longer lined the streets. The buildings were freshly painted in bright colors, which, as Fabe indicates, gave connotations of life and vitality in the neighborhood (196). A dialectical conflict occurs when expectations of ghetto stereotypes clash with the film’s mise-en-scène.
One example of dialectical conflict on the level of content is the clash between Mookie and Sal. Mookie acts as a mediator to smooth over racial tensions that occur between Sal and the African-American patrons who frequent his pizzeria. In the film’s climax, Mookie starts the riot by throwing a garbage can through Sal’s window. The expectations of who will start the riot conflict with who actually starts it (200).
Another example of dialectical conflict on the level of content is Sal’s inner conflict. He acts affectionate and understanding towards Mookie, but at the same time is exploitative and racist toward him. Sal never fully admits Mookie’s role as mediator and pays him low wages. Dialectical conflict occurs with Sal’s conflicting traits.
Through dialectical montage, Lee seeks to bring viewers to a new level of awareness concerning racism in America. He wants viewers to ask how they “should respond to racial inequality and physical oppression” (Fabe 192). By using dialectical montage, Lee allows viewers to hold conflicting and opposing views at one time—to make them think and “do the right thing”.
Lee creates dialectical conflict on the level of form right away in the opening sequence by having a ‘petite female performing a dance,’ while the soundtrack is ‘angry male voices urging violence in response to racism,’ according to Fabe. The dance itself has conflicting images. Perez is sometimes dancing sensually, and sometimes as if she were in a fight. Fabe says that this ‘fuses sensual entertainment with political threat.’
ReplyDeleteLee also uses color filters—red for heat or blood, and blue for a cool feel—creating a contrast throughout the film. At some points he mixes the two, making a conflicting hot and cool.
Dialectical conflict in content is felt throughout the film in a few ways. Sal is tolerant of Mookie’s insubordination and tardiness, but is also shown as racist and exploitative by paying Mookie a minimal wage and never acknowledging the importance of the black people in the neighborhood to the survival of his business. Mookie serves as a mediator between Sal and the neighborhood kids and gets along with him well. Conflict comes at the end when we see Mookie is the one to start the riot, though. He throws the garbage can through Sal’s window.
The viewer can come out of the film with mixed emotions or opinions about each character, because they have admirable qualities, but at the same time display negative character traits. This is the way people are in real life. Lee making these choices for his characters should be something that more filmmakers do, rather than having straight black and white lines drawn between who is good and who is bad in the film.
Westley Ferguson
ReplyDeleteThroughout Do the Right Thing, there are several ideas of how form is represented in the film. One thing was that Perez’s movements seemed to join the shots together as well as her costume seemed to change dramatically compared to the background. This type of transition created a shock like effect, which was to make large contrast change between the shots. Another conflict that created this effect was the use of changed color filters. Sometimes Lee would actually use both red and blue filters to achieve the feel of hot and cold tones in the film.
The content of the film seems to hold racial tension that seems to hold conflicts between a few characters. Though Mookie’s job is to deliver pizzas, he also stands beside Sal to smooth out when racial tension arise from their job. Even thought Sal pays Mookie a very low wage, he doesn’t really understand that Mookie plays a vital role as a mediator between Sal and the African-American customers, which Sal’s business rely on.
Lee wanted to achieve a different aspect of these clashing cultures. Lee didn’t want to make a bias film, but instead make something more understanding to show how the society interconnects with another. Lee takes us on a completely different path on how we view the struggle. Lee’s use of dialectical montage brings a different approach on how the audience is seeing the image and how they take it in to understand the concept and meaning of racism all around us.
Section 804 40303
ReplyDeleteIn “Do the Right Thing,” Fabe states that Spike Lee is mirroring situations from real life racial discrimination and hate crimes. The story is based on a hate crime where a group of whites ended up chasing three young blacks down the street with bats and one man in panic ran on an expressway. He was hit by a car and killed, while none of the whites were charged for his death. Lee takes this situation and heightens it with showing images of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. and saying that one was for peaceful solution and one for a necessary solution to stop the discrimination sooner. Although these two figures want the same solution, they have opposite views how to get there. Lee is stating they are both necessary.
For Spike’s level of content, he uses Rosie Perez dancing and fighting in the opening in a smooth yet rough way. She goes back and forth through the fighting and the dancing to convey the message of the movie. She has smooth movements and can be sexy, while she can turn to fighting herself in jagged movements. This is foreshadowing to the next content of conflict being that the races in the movie are fighting each other, yet at the same time fighting within their groups and even with themselves. Even though the group may look to be together and united, the people aren’t sure about being united with their own selves.
Lee is most importantly trying to achieve informed citizens. This is what is happening at the time, this is what our governments and police are doing about it. If we don’t like it, and know it’s wrong, than we need to do something ourselves about it. He’s trying to evoke the importance of this grave situation.
In "Do the Right Thing," Lee presents the viewer with a myriad of both visual and theoretical juxtapositions, which stand to solidify the intrinsic struggles, paradoxes, and dichotomies of race relations as they apply to his characters in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Contrasts between black and white, love and hate, peace and violence, right and wrong, man and woman, truth and perception, justice and bias, as well as general double-standards for behaviour are recurring themes in most racially charged, political films and literature. Although in some cases the comparisons are more subtle than others, the basic purpose tends to be the same; to challenge the perceptions of the viewer and help them to consider the issue on a higher philosophical plane.
ReplyDeleteLee creates visual dialectical conflict within the film through the dance scene in the opening credits. Here, Rosie Perez dances to Public Enemy's "Fight the Power." Some of the juxtapositions here are more superficial: she's a woman dancing to aggressive male vocals, her routine switches between (sometimes overtly sexual) dance moves and shadow-boxing sequences. On a more subconscious level, the use of discontinuities in editing (jump cuts, change of clothing, location, distance, etc.) contrast Perez with herself. This not only allows us to see her as a "pure symbol of the creative and destructive energy of black youth" (due to her many incarnations), but also, because (as Fabe points out) she appears to be fighting herself, she becomes a symbol of the inner struggle that many of the film's characters endure. Another sharp visual contrast comes from the neighbourhood itself. In reality, Bedford-Stuyvesant is not the most glamorous of places, and Lee chose to "clean up" the area by removing garbage and painting houses before shooting. The falsely positive visual representation is juxtaposed with society's stereotypical assumptions about life in the black ghetto. This forces viewers to face their preconceptions head on. At the end of the film, his choice also creates a striking comparison between the neighbourhood before the death and rioting and after, when "all that conspicuously absent garbage from the streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant reappears with a vengeance."
Lee presents more dialectic contrast through the content of the story. The character Mookie, for example, is full of internal struggle. He strives to keep peace within the pizzeria, even at the expense of his African-American friends, and has a generally pleasant relationship with his boss, Sal. However, as tolerant as he may seem, inside he finds it hard to deal with the obvious racism surrounding him and the unfair treatment of himself as an employee. At the end, this psychological conflict comes to a head, as Mookie's frustration bursts and he incites the destruction of Sal's pizzeria. Sal's character also presents an interesting contrast. Residing within a grey area, he is at once tolerant and biased. On one hand he comes across as both an affectionate employer, but on the other he takes advantage of Mookie and many of his actions are lined with a subtle racism. It's Sal's racist tension which leads to his destruction of Radio Raheem's boom box (the precipitating event which sets off the film's climactic chain of events).
All of these contrasts are meant to challenge the viewer's conventional notions of race relations, and force them to expand their conciousness, thus seeing things from another plane entirely. The issue is not cut and dry, but it is a complicated mix of struggles that blur the lines between good and bad, right and wrong, peace and violence. In "Do the Tight Thing," we are able to see the struggle from the symbolic, the political, and the personal perspectives.
The end of the film presents us with the epitomizing theoretical juxtaposition: the contrast between Martin Luther King's idea of non-violent resistance and Malcolm X's support of violence in self-defense. Lee leaves viewer with challenge to their own idea of what "the right thing" really is.
Rachel Sherinian
40303
In “Do the Right Thing”, Spike Lee adopts Sergei Eisenstein's dialectical montage in many different ways in order to force the viewer to think more critically of the images presented onscreen. One example of a way Lee creates dialectal conflict in terms of form is by his use of jump cuts, extreme close-ups on different body parts, and the abrupt changes in costume and background when showing Rosie Perez dancing during the opening sequence of the film. The juxtaposition of this sequence helps create shock and the feeling that Perez’s character is at war with herself, not unlike other characters in the film. Another example of how Lee creates dialectal conflict with the use of form is by his use of spatial distortions with the use of extreme high, low, and Dutch angles. Fabe describes how Lee, in a particular scene, shows Da Mayor with the use of an extreme high angle in order to show him as a small man and to show Mother Sister’s disapproval for him. In contrast, Mother Sister is shown with the use of a low angle in order to give her a sense of high power.
ReplyDeleteLee creates dialectical conflict on the level of content by making the character of Mookie be the one to start the riot instead of Buggin’ Out. Lee plays on Mookie being the peaceful, calm character and Buggin’ Out being the more disruptive, violent character. The viewers then do not expect Mookie to be the one to start the fire at his employer’s business. Another example of when Lee creates dialectical conflict by using content is when Sal and Buggin’ Out argue about who should be placed on Sal’s Wall of Fame in the pizzeria. Sal only wants to display Italian American celebrities but Buggin’ Out insists that he should also place African Americans on the wall since the majority of his customer’s are African American. Here Sal’s latent racism is present, perhaps, and Buggin’ Out’s need of representation is also present. Lee presents us with both of the character’s arguments and does not present one as correct.
According to Fabe, through his use of dialectical montage, Lee seeks to make his viewers aware of racial tensions present in American society without the need to represent stereotypes that are largely present in other films. He also makes it possible to show both sides of the racial tension by showing how the actions of the opposite character’s framework shape the end scene of the film. According to Fabe, Lee also is successful in establishing the “helplessness and vulnerability of even the most powerful black man in the face of institutionalized white power”.
According to Fabe's essay, Spike Lee creates dialectical conflict on the level of form in many ways. One example is in the opening credits of Do the Right Thing. Rosie Perez (A petite attractive woman) dances to "Fight the Power", a song by Public enemy. Fabe refers to Perez as being "not as a character in the narrative, but as a pure symbol of the creative and destructive energy of black youth." in this sequence, which in itself is
ReplyDeletea conflict. The way in which her dance is both an aerobic workout and a fight shows us conflict. The way in which the sequence is cut; She throws a punch wearing one outfit and seems to react wearing another, gives the impression that she is fighting herself. Another example that fabe gives on Lees use of dialectical conflict on the level of form is the set. Lee used an actual place rather than a Hollywood set to give a better feel of authenticity. However, the buildings were brightened, and the streets were cleaned.
Fabe also refers to Lees use of dialectical conflict on the level of content. One example being Mookie and Sal. Mookie is a conflicted employee who manages to maintain (or tries to maintain the peace between Sal and the rest of the comunity. He is clearly dicouraged with his job, but he continues to try to do what's right. At the end it is Mookie who throws the trash can and ignights tha riot. Mookies friend Buggin' Out is the one who has an ongoing grudge throughout the movie and so we would expect him, not Mookie, to start the violent uprising. Fabe states "It is the clash between who we expect to start the riot and who actually starts it that forces us to think.
Another example Fabe sets is the conflict between Sal and Buggin' Out regarding Sals wall of fame and the ethnicity of the people portrayed on it. Sal makes the point that it is his pizza shop and he can do with it and decorate it as ha sees fit. On the other hand, Buggin' out makes the point that the clientel/paying customers are in fact not of Italian decent, but of African American liniage and should be recognize and apprieciated for their patronage. They both make a compelling arguement that is left to the viewer to decide is right or wrong.
According to Fabe Lee has accomplished the most controvercial film of 1989. In using dialectical conflict he has forced us to question out opinions about the issues of race and racism. She stated that it was intentional for the stereotypical scary black man to be the victim at the end. Lee makes a point about the racial tention between whites and blacks. Radio Raheem stops his abussive behavior toward the Koreans when they return the favor, yet when he fights back against the "White power" he is killed. According to Fabe, Lee has given us a film that is left to interpretation, a film that doesn't tell us what is right or wrong, but gives us plenty to talk about for a very long time.
In Do the Right Thing, there are many ideas of how different types of form are represented in the film. An example is that the movements of Perez brought the shots together. Her costume also seemed to change in a very dramatic way in comparison to the background. A transition of this type has created an effect, which was to make contrast seem larger and change between each shot. One more example of conflict that was created is this effect of the use of changed color filters. Lee uses both red and blue filters to achieve the feel of warm and cool tones in the film.
ReplyDeleteThe content of the film seems to have a racial aspect that seems to bring up conflicts between a few characters. Delivering pizzas is Mookies job and he also stands beside Sal to help out when the racial aspect arise in the workplace. Even though Sal pays Mookie a very little, he does not get that Mookie plays a vital role. Mookie is considered a mediator between Sal and the African-American customers. This is what Sal’s business depend on.
Spike Lee wanted to portray a different aspect of these clashing cultures. The last thing Lee wanted to make was a bias film. Instead, Lee makes something more understanding to show how the society comes together with one another. Spike takes the viewer on a whole new and different path on how we view this type of struggle. Spike Lee’s use of dialectical montage brings a different approach on how the audience is seeing the image. He also brings forth how we take it in and understand the concept and meaning of racism.
Scott Weidner
I emailed you my post because it was too long for Blogger.
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