Editing Do the Right Thing (section)

===Radio Raheem===
[[File:Radio Raheem's Boombox.jpg|thumb|Radio Raheem's boombox as seen in "Do the Right Thing".  Image courtesy of Smithsonian  [[National Museum of African American History and Culture]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Boombox carried by Radio Raheem in the film Do the Right Thing |url=https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2014.270.2 |access-date=2024-08-31 |website=National Museum of African American History and Culture |language=en}}</ref>]]

The character of Radio Raheem (Nunn) was the subject of much analysis.<ref name="WP">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/09/26/what-inspired-do-the-right-thing-character-radio-raheem-and-why-hes-still-relevant-today/?noredirect=on|title=What inspired 'Do the Right Thing' character Radio Raheem, and why he's still relevant today|last=Izadi|first=Elahi|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=20 January 2019}}</ref> In the film, Raheem recites a [[soliloquy]] on love and hate, an ode to a similar monologue delivered by [[Robert Mitchum]] in ''[[The Night of the Hunter (film)|The Night of the Hunter]]'' (1955).<ref>{{cite web|last=Beggs|first=Scott|title=10 Facts About Do the Right Thing|url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/554245/facts-about-do-the-right-thing-spike-lee|website=[[Mental Floss]]|date=July 21, 2020|access-date=February 26, 2024}}</ref> In this scene, he is wearing brass knuckle rings that say "hate" on his left hand and "love" on his right. Lee shoots this scene by having the camera replace the position of Mookie, opposite Raheem. Thus, Raheem breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the camera and the audience. This deliberate cinematography frames Raheem's monologue as a moment of sincerity and importance, resulting in the effect of Raheem commenting on black history and the struggle against racism in the real world, on the other side of the camera.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Palis |first1=Eleni |title=The Economics and Politics of Auteurism: Spike Lee and Do The Right Thing |journal=Cinema Journal |date=Winter 2018 |volume=2 |issue=57 |page=18}}</ref> Raheem poetically articulates the allure of both love and hate and the constant fluctuation that occurs between these two opposing forces. His monologue can be seen to reveal that the solution to such a nuanced historical issue as racism lies in the combined effort and fluctuation of both forces. In ''The Night of the Hunter'', a serial killer masking as a preacher (Mitchum) speaks of love and hate as an internal struggle within oneself. Raheem's performance of the same topic, however, is portrayed as an external struggle against the outside world.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Palis |first1=Eleni |title=The Economics and Politics of Auteurism: Spike Lee and Do The Right Thing |journal=Cinema Journal |date=Winter 2018 |volume=2 |issue=57 |page=20}}</ref>

Critic Ted Kulczycky comments on Spike Lee's use of direct address in Radio Raheem's soliloquy on love and hate as a "break from realism", thus creating an "atypical effect". Kulczycky cites the influence of [[Jean-Luc Godard]]'s film ''[[Weekend (1967 film)|Weekend]]''. Kulczycky describes Raheem's direct address as having the dual effect of reminding viewers of the constructed nature of the film, but also "fueling their involvement".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kulczycky|first=Ted|date=May 1996|title=By Any Means Necessary: Conflict and Its Resolution in Do the Right Thing|url=https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-30342053/by-any-means-necessary-conflict-and-its-resolution|journal=CineAction|volume=40}}</ref> The boombox prop used in the film is on display in the ''A Changing America: 1968 and Beyond'' exhibit at the [[National Museum of African American History and Culture]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Boombox carried by Radio Raheem in the film Do the Right Thing |url=https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2014.270.2 |access-date=2024-08-31 |website=National Museum of African American History and Culture |language=en}}</ref>