Do The Right Thing | Why Mookie Broke the Window 

I felt he had to do something after seeing his friend die but didnt want another person to die but still had to get that aggression out. And the ending showed that no one came out a winner in the end after that senseless violence. Kind of like a warning lesson for the viewer. This movie shows and says alot. It is a essential piece of cinema that deserves a watch from everyone. Thanks for the video!

I love how Spike Lee left things open for interpretations and let people decide for themselves. That'a when you know someone has made a great movie.

Great movie, it's got that weirdly surreal Spike Lee feel to it. He's not my absolute favorite director of all-time, but this is definitely a A-tier movie. I actually always debated why he did that, but coming straight from Spike's mouth seals it. Grief will make you do some crazy things. Thanks for the video! This is definitely an underrated channel, but I see you taking off real soon!

I would have gave this movie a 10, it really showed how some situations make it hard to Do the right thing

Do the Right Thing is a truly iconic movie. One of the first films I watched that really felt like a honest discussion on race, instead of the superficial, ultra-simplistic version churned out by Hollywood. The opening scene, Radio Raheem's "LOVE-HATE" speech, the shouting slurs scene, and of course the iconic and ultimate gut punch of an ending. Fantastic video, man. Hope for further success from your channel. 😁

If Mookie didn't throw the trashcan through Sal's window, someone else was going to do it. I personally admire the two sentiments by Malcolm X & Martin Luther King 👑 at the end of the movie before they roll the credits.

This is the perfect summer movie. The heat is just so palpable. It really shows off Spikes talent.

Spike Lee would often say that a black man never asked him if Mookie did the right thing. I don't think that's because Spike Lee thought it was obvious whether or not Mookie did the right thing. I think it is because that question is not, actually, central to the point of the film, as so many people claim. I think the point of the film is to highlight the fact that police brutality is so normalized in our society that we -- especially white people -- would rather talk about whether or not a white man's property damage was justified than talk about the fact that a black man was murdered. We think of police brutality as just a fact of life, like a natural disaster, as something that just happens and nobody can do anything about, as just a plot hook on the way of telling a story about something else, and that says waaaaay more about society than our interpretations of Mookie's actions ever could.

I think this is spike Lee's best movie still powerful and sadly still very relevant I always felt mookie threw the garbage can through the window out of anger and frustration he just saw his best friend murdered and there was nothing he could do was it right that's one I'm still not sure I can definitely understand his frustration but that was the point of the whole movie I think not to provide answers but spark conversations

Truly one of the best films ever made. Its so beautiful and perfect and has such a tragic ending..."Always do the right thing son."

This channel is so underrated, keep growing 💯

I agree! The question of why he did it precedes the question of whether it was right.

Also,thank you for making this!!! I don't see nearly enough content on Spike's work!

I always thought he did it to channel his anger and everyone else's towards the shop in order to save Sal and his sons and despite what Lee may say, the editing certainly hints at that. Whatever the reasons, it's a great film.

My favourite scene of the movie is actually the exchange between lee and turturro about Prince. I think lee was a genius in depicting with a few strokes the complexity of systemic and institutional racism versus the 'natural' instinctive mistrust towards those who look different from us. It's not the same thing and those who justify racism quoting anthropology are in bad faith or don't understand what they are talking about.

What's interesting is the Da Mayor yelled at Mookie not to throw the trashcan, but Mother Sister wanted the place burned down. I'm with Mookie, not like he had a job to go back to anyway. Maybe it wasn't a purposeful diversion, but it likely saved a ton of bloodshed.

I seriously need to rewatch this movie. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about this!!! Hope you keep growing.

What Spike Lee is really saying is that Mookie cannot overcome his Racial Solidarity mentality, which is deeply Racist, since if a white friend had been murdered Mookie, the same person, the same character would not have broken the window. He was being watched by all the other black members of the community and the pressure to side with 'his own kind' and not someone outside his racial community, which is what he'd be doing as he knew his black friend who got killed ultimately got himself killed in many ways as his own Attitude and un-necessarily aggressive nature got him killed. He could not just say 'Ok, cool, I'll take down about 15 notches'. If so, he'd be alive, but nope he didn't. The cops weren't racist, the black man was who took actions and made choices that led to his own death, and we could call it 'suicide by cop', but in this case that probably is not the essence of why he made those choices. If Mookie's friend had simply followed the advise of Humongous from The Road Warrior who said 'Just Walk Away" and that would be the end of it, but nope he didn't. Plus he attacked a man in his own establishment, and if the situation were reversed and Mookie's friend had owned a restaurant and a non-black younger man had done that same thing the movie would have portrayed that young man is in the wrong, or would it show the older black man is in the wrong, clearly so? Also once the garbage can is thrown and the window broken, all that follows is NOT the right thing, was not justified, all the looting and destruction, as none of that was connected to true Justice, which if we speak of the dead black man would not do anything to make it balanced and "just". It would just allow mostly racist black people to Act the Fool, be Hateful and participate in a Race Riot that lead to "Hella Damage" mass destruction, and yet Race Hustlers would paint as justified actions. So this movie, is a racist movie, a Race Hustling movie, just like later movies such as Get Out and Us are Racist AF movies, no less racist than Birth of a Nation. They are all told from a deeply racist point of view.

I could watch these characters stand around and talk to each other for at least ten more hours

I remember clearly holding several perspectives on this question just after I originally saw the film (back in 1989) -- a film that I probably watched more times than any other -- that is, I did think Mookie was distracting the mob away from an eye-for-an-eye physical attack on Sal and his family (whether he himself fully realised that or not), but I also saw it as Mookie needing to vent his anger and frustration, while realising that he could no longer walk this tightrope between black and white and had to 'be a man' (as his baby mother kept saying) and take a firm stance, and so sever his dubious ties to his adopted father figure (Sal). Frankly, I was disappointed when Spike decided to clear things up. I believe a great work of art should not need its creator to pop up and inform us how to interpret it.

This is one of my favorite movies that I don't like to watch 😂 it's an amazing film and I tried to watch it again about a year ago but I just ended up becoming angry. It's triggering in a different way for me now. Watching it as a kid I really didn't have anything to relate it to in my real life. Now I have too much to relate it to.

It’s interesting to see how the film mirrors the beating of Rodney King by police. Even the killing of Latasha Harlins. I was shocked when I realized the film came out a couple of years before the L.A (uprising) riot. Now that’s something. This analysis was well done.

definitely one of my top 10 movies, gotta give it another watch! love this video, so excited to see more

I want to put in my two cents before continuing the video, stopping at when you ask the question: Did he do the right thing? I want to clarify that I'm not Black, but of very dark Brown skin. I'm of Salvadoran descent, and in the Brown community, there's a lot of anti Blackness. Ask any other dark-skinned brown folk, or even the lighter skinned ones, we grow up with the adults telling us "Don't go in the sun. You'll get dark(er)." I don't know what it's like to be a Black man, but I have had the prejudice thrown my way because some assume me to be Black. With that clarified, there's this unbelievable feeling of freedom, shackles broken, of weightlessness when Mookie throws the trashcan through the window. That physical exertion of rebellion, of communicating "I'm mad, I've been mad, and I've had it." The moment has never been about doing the right thing. It's not about justice, it's not about righteousness. Look at Mookie's eyes. They're basically dead and unfeeling. He's almost a robot, and that's what we are without emotions. Our body are basically computers that, if we didn't have this self-awareness, would just do what they need to survive. To me, that's what the scene is. It's just Mookie surviving, because if he doesn't break that window, what's going on inside will break him down. I've had those moments of rebellion against the law, sometimes, I was in the wrong, sometimes, I believe I was in the right, and other times, I felt I was within my humn rights to rebel, although within the context, maybe there were better decisions I could've acted on. Asking if it was the right thing to do is different from asking why Mookie did it, and I believe they are completely separate. To conclude, he wasn't thinking about right or wrong. He needed to do something, not necessarily break that window, but something to survive. It just happens that this is what ended up happening.

I came here from Fiq. Great analysis!

Great video-you got a new subscriber!

First saw this when I was 19 as a naive white kid that thought racism was a thing of the past, but my take away at the time was being upset with Mookie for inciting the riot that destroyed Sal’s I think I even used the phrase it wasn’t fair, watching it today I realize I completely missed the point I like the cops were valuing someone’s property more then their life.

Now, what if the Window were made of Plexiglass and the trash can bounced right off and knocked Mookie right the F Out. People Gather and look down on him stone cold knocked out laying there. Most of the people gathered are black, and one of the black people says 'Stupid (insert N-word") which is a term of endearment one black person says to another, or in this case, a derogatory term about the choices the black man made. The N-word is like the term Smurf that can be used interchangeably 'What up Smurf" 'Get Smurfy with it', 'I'm a real Smurf' 'Damn Smurf, you be rolling right, you know you got funky fresh style.'

The question of what is the right thing to do is not actually important and not the emphasis of the film. The question, if there is one, is only a vehicle to get the viewer to the message. Which is "yo! They're killing us out here!"

He probably threw it just to save Sal from getting killed.

fantastic video

Just subbed, thanks Fiq.

loved the movie, loved your analysis. thank you for this

When I saw this in ‘96 at 14 years old, I thought “why did he do that, that’s obviously not the right thing” but now I’m able to embrace the complexity of it.

Algorithm boost comment! Thanks for the video, I’ll have to go back and rewatch this film!👍

Love the movie, great video

Great video I was about 13, 14 years old when I saw the movie one of my favorite movies of all time imo can't wait for you to do Jungle Fever & many others✊✊✊

Please do a video on " Boyz in the hood " , " juice " , " poetic justice " , " Friday " , " clockers" , " crooklyn" , " set it off " and " jungle fever" : sidenote : good videos they're interesting

I saw this movie not long after having seen Car Wash for the first time, and it really struck me how similar the two films are. Both films take place mostly over a single day in a small area with shifting perspectives and lots of characters. Both films end with racialized violence that's left unresolved. Even the guy on the radio is similar. I haven't looked into it, but I'm certain it's intentional. And it's the ending that seems to change the message of each movie. In Car Wash, Abdullah is convinced not to destroy his boss' business, but in Do the Right Thing, Mookie does (partly) destroy his boss' business. Does this show a difference in what was considered culturally acceptable in films of the time? Did Abdullah have to be one lone angry Black man consoled by the kind and lovable father figure to make the film more palatable to white audiences in the 70s? Does the film make its themes more comfortable by acknowledging America's racial problems yet refraining from depicting a Black man taking decisive action, or is Abdullah's ultimate lack of agency itself a critique of racial dynamics in America? This is made more complicated by the fact Car Wash was written by Joel Schumacher, a white guy, and then significantly rewritten by director Michael Schultz, who is Black. On the other hand, Mookie does take decisive action, which is more uncomfortable, but the exchange with Sal after the restaurant's destruction ends amicably enough, which may also serve to soften the blow of the thematic material to white audiences. Either way, I think comparing Mookie breaking the window to Abdullah attempting to rob the car wash is fertile ground for exploring how racial segregation, oppression, and violence have changed in America and how depictions of the same in media have also changed. It also makes me curious how a film in the same pattern as Car Wash and Do the Right Thing made in 2022 would handle the same narrative climax.

This is a suggestion, but I wonder if you would ever do a video contrasting the themes both John Singleton and Spike Lee convey in their films. Idk why that was a random thought in my mind, but it would be great discussion. I feel that in a sense John Singleton was inspired/influenced by Spike Lee but the settings on some of his movies obviously took place in the hood. Just a random thought.

I believe he was cloned after filming do the right thing. Mostly because his screen charisma and creativity fell way way off after💯. I believe he broke the window because he realized how normalized he and his people was towards the occupation of other business owners in their communities. He also ingeniously showed the suble anger and frustration of the youths compared to the older ones. I can't begin to tell you how covertly spike told our struggle as a occupied nation of people.

People should check out The Pitfalls of Liberalism by Kwame Ture. It’s a great essay on violence and explores some similar themes as the movie

10/10 Do the Right thing is all about perspective. Love this movie as a child, love this movie TILL THIS DAY!!! Sal really should have heard what Buggin’ was saying. Sal profits off of the patronage of the hood. As a member of the community he should reflect SOME of his patrons. Without the neighborhood, there’s no Sal.

Its a great film but Mookie starting off what would be the destruction of Sals pizza & possibly Sal is disappointing. They are all flawed characters but it is the one point in the movie i cant forgive and feels cowardly Buggin out is mixed and feels the need to act out to prove himself Radio is mostly a good guy who was wrong and manipulated by Buggin in the moment Sal is a good man who not only lost his temper but let it get the best of him Pino is the mirror image of Buggin. The Mayor and Love Daddy are voices of conscience and hope Everybodies action even when wrong is forgivable. Mookie throwing that can reads as a betrayal to me & he shows no remorse beyond his impulse

My question has always been did Mookie do the right thing also this video has helped me answer that question.

I don't even know if the Right Thing exists here. Certainly, the Wrong Thing has already been done; how are you supposed to correctly react to your best friend being murdered by cops? I think Mookie was honest in his actions, and did what he felt he needed to do. Instead of arguing about it let's grab a broom and start cleaning up the aftermath, check up on the neighborhood, y'know?

Hell no, he was just looking for any excuse to burn down something

Comment for the algorithm and blood for the blood god

It’s. Alright do the boyz n the hood joint or above the rim

This video didn't need to be made for minorities. We all get it even if we don't agree with him.

why is everyone so wet and sweaty lmao

I hate that you didnt say why you think he did it. Literally the title of the video.

RADIOO!!!

agreed...this movie is timeless

cause it was the right thing to do

We have to consider a few other reasons why Mookie threw a trash can at the pizzeria. Lets take notice that there were other available targets like cars and Sal himself. But if we look over the course of events, Sal TOLERATED Mookie, tried to shoot his shot at his sister , Pino calling him a ni$$er to his face and the condescending remark about being " like family". Now i will point out Mookie wasnt a stellar employee as he would do the bare minimum to keep from getting fired . Mookie throwing the trash can could have been metaphoric to him rebelling against an Italian version of a plantation. Btw, Mookie never considered Sal a " friend". There are a few hints in the movie that points this out. Sal may have kept Mookie as an employee because he could use him a prop to keep a pseudo political image as a majority of his patrons were black american. Genius marketing ploy .

Im hard pressed to think of a film that isnt "Birth of a Nation" that makes the black community look worse than this film

The real thing we should be talking about: the murder of RR What we shouldn’t be talking about: The Hall of Fame

*HATE & EMBARRASSED* to admit this.... I'm 44 now and see the WORLD different. But back when the movie came out in 1989... I was only 12 years old, and I felt SORRY for the Italian family, and wasn't HAPPY they burned down the Pizza Store.

I agree, the only thing damaged is property & RR was killed, and in BS no black character owns anything in their own home

Mookie Actually Saved Sal and his Sons from the angry Mob of People outside after Radio Raheem’s Murder by the Police, by putting that trash can through the window he took the collected anger toward them off of them and onto the Pizza shop!! 💯