Thursday, March 6, 2008

How Do You Do The Right Thing?


I recently started a netflix account, which I share with my roommate Reed.  Not only is it fun to get movies in the mail, but it also puts movies I want to see at top priority in our apartment.  We don't have to argue about which movie to watch because, hey, I just got RoboCop in the mail today, and we should watch it so I can send it back and get RoboCop2!

I actually haven't rented RoboCop, or its sequel.  Yesterday, I sat down with Reed, Ryan, Nate, and Kylee to watch Do The Right Thing.  I rented it because it was highly recommended to me on netflix, and I had wanted to see it for a long time.  I'm glad I did.  I t was a great movie, and I wish Kylee wouldn't have such a bad habit of falling asleep while watching movies, because she missed out.

Do The Right Thing is a film by Spike Lee about one hot day in urban New York.  It follows the lives of the people living on one city block as they try to survive the ever increasing heat and the increasing tension between peace and violence among the many races represented on the street.

The title is hard to decipher, just like the difference between right and wrong in certain situations.  This is pointed out at the end of the movie in the juxtaposition of quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X.  One man claims that we must strive to achieve peace and brotherhood; that the old tradition of an eye for an eye will not stand if we are to become a community.  The other man claims that passiveness is stupidity, and self-defense is intelligence.  The movie leaves it up to the viewer to decide which side they should take if they want to "do the right thing".

Thankfully, I haven't come in contact with much racial tension where I have lived, but I did have an experience yesterday.  I was at Panda Express when a customer in line began to scream at an employee about the origin of their name and whether or not she was "legal".  It reminded me that whether or not I choose to ignore racism based on my situation and surroundings, it still exists.  It's still a problem that needs to be overcome.  I have to agree with MLK, Jr. on this one.  Love will bring us together.

Do we mean that, or do we simply say it and act on the opposite?  There's a lot of love in this world.  There's a lot of hate in this world.  Love.  Hate.  Do the right thing.

1 comment:

kylee said...

I really will work on my habit. Please know it is never my intention to sleep through beauty.
I will borrow lots of energy for tonight's showing.

I appreciate your perspective on racism. As I try to not be around even a joking conversation about the seperation of race, I need to remember that I can't act like it doesn't exist and that it is not a problem just because I don't talk about it.
though I don't know what our role is in changing anyone's opinion but our own. so....?
I guess we can be aware, and try to in every individual situation do the right, loving thing.
see you blogger