Editing Do the Right Thing

{{short description|1989 film by Spike Lee}}
{{About|the film}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Do the Right Thing
| image          = Do the Right Thing poster.png
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Spike Lee]]
| producer       = Spike Lee
| writer         = Spike Lee
| starring       = {{Plain list|
* [[Danny Aiello]]
* [[Ossie Davis]]
* [[Ruby Dee]]
* [[Richard Edson]]
* [[Giancarlo Esposito]]
* Spike Lee
* [[Bill Nunn]]
* [[John Turturro]]
* [[John Savage (actor)|John Savage]]
<!-- Per billing block -->
}}
| music          = [[Bill Lee (musician)|Bill Lee]]
| cinematography = [[Ernest Dickerson]]
| editing        = [[Barry Alexander Brown]]
| studio         = [[40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks]]
| distributor    = [[Universal Pictures]]
| released       = {{Film date|1989|05|19|[[1989 Cannes Film Festival|Cannes]]|1989|06|30|United States}}
| runtime        = 120 minutes<!--Theatrical runtime: 120:10--><ref>{{cite web |title=Do the Right Thing (15) |url=http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/do-right-thing-1970-2 |publisher=[[British Board of Film Classification]] |access-date=January 19, 2015 |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305091611/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/do-right-thing-1970-2 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $6.2 million
| gross          = $37.3 million<ref name="Numbers">{{cite web |title=Do the Right Thing (1989) - Financial Information |url=http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Do-the-Right-Thing#tab=summary |website=[[The Numbers (website)|The Numbers]] |access-date=April 24, 2012 |archive-date=April 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419072237/https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Do-the-Right-Thing#tab=summary |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Mojo">{{cite web |title=Do the Right Thing (1989) |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0097216/ |website=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=October 25, 2008 |archive-date=March 31, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180331064114/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=dotherightthing.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

'''''Do the Right Thing''''' is a 1989 American [[Comedy drama|comedy-drama]] film produced, written and directed by [[Spike Lee]]. It stars Lee, [[Danny Aiello]], [[Ossie Davis]], [[Ruby Dee]], [[Richard Edson]], [[Giancarlo Esposito]], [[Bill Nunn]], [[John Turturro]] and [[Samuel L. Jackson]] and is the feature film debut of [[Martin Lawrence]] and [[Rosie Perez]]. The story explores a [[Brooklyn]] neighborhood's simmering [[Ethnic conflict|racial tension]] between its [[African Americans|African-American]] residents and the [[Italian Americans|Italian-American]] owners of a local pizzeria, culminating in tragedy and violence on a hot summer's day.

''Do the Right Thing'' premiered in the [[1989 Cannes Film Festival|42nd Cannes Film Festival]] on May 19, 1989, and was released in the United States on June 30, 1989, by [[Universal Pictures]]. A critical and commercial success, the film received accolades, including [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nominations for [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]] and [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]] (for Aiello's portrayal of Sal, the pizzeria owner). In 1999, it was selected for the [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]], citing its preservation as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9912/nfb.html|title=Preserving the Silver Screen (December 1999) - Library of Congress Information Bulletin|website=www.loc.gov|access-date=2020-04-27|archive-date=April 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414042353/https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9912/nfb.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Complete National Film Registry Listing|url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|access-date=2020-06-08|website=Library of Congress|archive-date=May 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507094100/https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2022, the film was ranked the 24th greatest of all time in ''[[Sight and Sound]]'' magazine's [[The Sight and Sound Greatest Films of All Time 2022|decennial poll]] of international critics, programmers, curators, archivists and academics.<ref name="SAS">{{cite web |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=December 1, 2022 |title=The Greatest Films of All Time |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/greatest-films-all-time |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201223655/https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/greatest-films-all-time |archive-date=December 1, 2022 |website=[[Sight and Sound]] |location=London |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |access-date=August 21, 2023}}</ref> It has since been featured on many other lists of [[List of films considered the best|the greatest films of all time]] by numerous critics.<ref>[http://www.afi.com/100years/movies10.aspx "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120604135712/http://www.afi.com/100years/movies10.aspx |date=June 4, 2012 }}. [[American Film Institute]]. Retrieved December 1, 2010.</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://weblogs.variety.com/thompsononhollywood/2009/07/lists-50-best-movies-of-all-time-again.html |title=Lists: 50 Best Movies of All Time, Again |publisher=[[Internet Archive]] |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |access-date=October 23, 2010 |first=Anne |last=Thompson |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100915225346/http://weblogs.variety.com/thompsononhollywood/2009/07/lists-50-best-movies-of-all-time-again.html |archive-date=September 15, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |work=[[National Society of Film Critics]] |url=http://www.filmsite.org/alist.html |title=100 Essential Films by the National Society of Film Critics |publisher=Published by [[AMC (TV channel)|AMC]] [[Filmsite|FilmSite.org]] |access-date=January 14, 2011 |archive-date=August 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816110126/http://www.filmsite.org/alist.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080307012459/https://www.nytimes.com/ref/movies/1000best.html The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made] ''[[The New York Times]]'' via [[Internet Archive]]. Published April 29, 2003. Retrieved March 16, 2023.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/500-greatest-movies/ |title=The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time, Feature &#124; Movies - Empire |access-date=December 11, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822120854/http://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/500-greatest-movies/ |archive-date=August 22, 2016}}</ref>

==Plot==
<!-- Per WP:FILMPLOT, plot summaries for feature films should be set between 400 to 700 words. As of July 21, 2021, the word count for this plot summary is 700 words. -->
Twenty-five-year-old Mookie lives in [[Bedford–Stuyvesant]] with his sister Jade, has a toddler son named Hector with his Latina girlfriend Tina, and works as a delivery man at a pizzeria owned by [[Italian-American]] Salvatore "Sal" Frangione. Sal's oldest son, Pino, is a racist who holds contempt for all the neighborhood blacks. Sal's younger son, Vito, is friends with Mookie, which Pino feels undermines their fraternal bond.

Other residents of the neighborhood include friendly drunk Da Mayor; Mother Sister, who observes the block from her [[brownstone]]; [[Radio Raheem]], who blasts [[Public Enemy (group)|Public Enemy]]'s "[[Fight the Power (Public Enemy song)|Fight the Power]]" on his [[boombox]]; Buggin' Out, a fast-talking young man who talks about black civil rights to anyone who'll listen; Smiley, a [[mentally disabled]] man who meanders around town with hand-colored pictures of [[Malcolm X]] and [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]; and local DJ Mister Señor Love Daddy.

At Sal's, Buggin' Out questions Sal about his "Wall of Fame", which is decorated with photos of famous Italian-Americans. He demands that Sal put up pictures of black celebrities since the pizzeria's customers are mostly black. Sal refuses, feeling he's not required to put anyone but Italians on the wall, and ejects him. Buggin' Out attempts to start boycotting the pizzeria, but only Raheem joins him.

During the day, local teenagers open a fire hydrant to beat the heat wave before white police officers Mark Ponte and Gary Long intervene. Mookie confronts Pino about his contempt towards African Americans. Later, Pino expresses his hatred for African Americans to Sal, who insists on keeping the business in the [[African-American neighborhood|majority African-American]] neighborhood.

That night, Buggin' Out and Raheem march into Sal's and demand that the Wall of Fame include Black celebrities. Sal demands that Raheem turn his boombox off, but he refuses. Buggin' Out badmouths Sal and threatens to shutter the pizzeria for good. Finally, Sal snaps and smashes Raheem's boombox. Enraged, Raheem attacks Sal. A fight ensues that spills out into the street, attracting a crowd. The police arrive, including Long and Ponte, who break up the fight and apprehend Raheem and Buggin' Out. As the officers attempt to restrain Raheem, Long begins choking him with his nightstick. Though Ponte and the onlookers plead for him to stop, Long tightens his choke-hold on Raheem, killing him. Attempting to save face, the duo place his body in the back of a [[police car]] and drive off.

The onlookers blame Sal for Raheem's death, but Da Mayor unsuccessfully tries to convince the crowd of Sal's innocence. Suddenly, Mookie grabs a trash can and throws it through the pizzeria's window, sparking the crowd to destroy it. Smiley sets the building ablaze, and Da Mayor pulls Sal, Pino, and Vito away from the mob, which turns toward the Korean market across the street to destroy it, too. Sonny, the owner, eventually dissuades the group.

The police return with the fire department and riot patrols to extinguish the fire and disperse the crowd. The firefighters, after several warnings to the crowd, turn their hoses on the mob, enraging them and causing more arrests. The next day, Mookie returns to Sal and demands his weekly pay. After an argument, Sal pays Mookie, and the two cautiously reconcile. Mookie leaves to visit Hector as Mister Señor Love Daddy announces that the mayor of [[New York City]] has founded a committee to investigate the incident and dedicates a song to Raheem.

An epilogue shows two quotations that demonstrate the dichotomy of the film's theme—one from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who claims violence is never justified, and one from Malcolm X, who claims violence is "intelligence" when used in self-defense—and dedicates the film to six black people, five killed by police officers ([[Eleanor Bumpurs]], Arthur Miller Jr., [[Edmund Perry]], Yvonne Smallwood, and [[Death of Michael Stewart|Michael Stewart]]) and one killed by a white mob ([[Michael Griffith (manslaughter victim)|Michael Griffith]]).<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-enduring-urgency-of-spike-lees-do-the-right-thing-at-thirty|title=The Enduring Urgency of Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" at Thirty|first=Richard|last=Brody|date=June 28, 2019|magazine=The New Yorker|url-access=limited|access-date=January 25, 2024}}</ref>

==Cast==
{{div col}}
* [[Spike Lee]] as Mookie
* [[Danny Aiello]] as Sal
* [[Ossie Davis]] as Da Mayor
* [[Ruby Dee]] as Mother Sister
* [[Giancarlo Esposito]] as Buggin' Out
* [[Bill Nunn]] as [[Radio Raheem]]
* [[John Turturro]] as Pino
* [[Richard Edson]] as Vito
* [[Roger Guenveur Smith]] as Smiley
* [[Rosie Perez]] as Tina
* [[Joie Lee]] as Jade
* [[Steve White (actor)|Steve White]] as Ahmad
* [[Martin Lawrence]] as Cee
* [[Leonard L. Thomas]] as Punchy
* Christa Rivers as Ella
* [[Robin Harris (comedian)|Robin Harris]] as Sweet Dick Willie
* [[Paul Benjamin]] as ML
* [[Frankie Faison]] as Coconut Sid
* [[Samuel L. Jackson]] as Mister Señor Love Daddy (credited as Sam Jackson)
* [[Steve Park (comedian)|Steve Park]] as Sonny
* [[Rick Aiello]] as Officer Gary Long
* [[Miguel Sandoval]] as Officer Mark Ponte
* [[Richard Parnell Habersham]] as Eddie Lovell
* [[Luis Antonio Ramos]] as Stevie
* [[Frank Vincent]] as Charlie
* [[John Savage (actor)|John Savage]] as Clifton
{{div col end}}

==Production==
===Development===
Writer, director, and actor [[Spike Lee]] conceived the idea for ''Do the Right Thing'' after discussing a [[Howard Beach racial attack|1986 incident at Howard Beach, Queens]], with actor [[Robert De Niro]]. This incident involved an attack on African-American men in a predominantly Italian-American neighborhood, resulting in one victim being struck by a car and killed.<ref name="AFI">{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67050-DO-THE-RIGHT-THING|title=''Do the Right Thing''|website=[[American Film Institute]]|access-date=January 15, 2024}}</ref> Lee was also influenced by the ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' episode "Shopping for Death," in which the main characters discuss their theory that hot weather increases violent tendencies, and the [[killing of Eleanor Bumpurs]] by police.<ref name="ew">{{cite magazine|last1=Staskiewicz|first1=Keith|title=Do the Right Thing: 1989|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|issue=1282/1283|date=October 25, 2013|page=42}}</ref> He wrote the screenplay in two weeks.<ref>{{cite magazine |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/fight-the-power-spike-lee-on-do-the-right-thing-20140620 |title= Fight the Power: Spike Lee on 'Do the Right Thing' |magazine= [[Rolling Stone]] |author= Gavin Edwards |date= 20 June 2014 |access-date= 29 April 2015 |archive-date= August 22, 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170822222636/http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/fight-the-power-spike-lee-on-do-the-right-thing-20140620 |url-status= live }}</ref>

The original script of ''Do the Right Thing'' ended with a stronger reconciliation between Mookie and Sal than Lee used in the film.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/d/do-the-right-thing-script.html |title='Do the Right Thing' Script (Archived) |publisher=Script-O-Rama |date=28 April 2007 |access-date=29 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070428033003/http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/d/do-the-right-thing-script.html |archive-date=April 28, 2007 }}</ref> In this version, Sal's comments to Mookie are similar to Da Mayor's earlier comments in the film and hint at some common ground and perhaps Sal's understanding of why Mookie tried to destroy his restaurant. Lee has not explicitly explained why he changed the ending but his contemporaneous notes compiled in the film's companion book indicate [[Lisa Jones]] expressed Sal's reaction as "too nice" as originally written.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WyMoc4YZKl8C&q=%22monty+and+lisa+jones%22&pg=PA72 |title=Lee, Spike; Jones, Lisa. ''Do The Right Thing: A Spike Lee Joint'', p. 71 |isbn=9780671682651 |access-date=August 24, 2020|last1=Lee |first1=Spike |last2=Jones |first2=Lisa |year=1989 |publisher=Simon and Schuster }}</ref>

===Casting===
Initially considering De Niro for the role of "Sal," Lee eventually cast [[Danny Aiello]] at De Niro's suggestion.<ref name="AFI" /> Aiello's son Rick played Gary Long, the police officer who kills Radio Raheem. [[Roger Guenveur Smith]], who was pestering Lee for a role in the film, created the character of Smiley, who was not in the original script.<ref>Do The Right Thing DVD Audio Commentary</ref> Four of the cast members were stand-up comedians: [[Martin Lawrence]], [[Steve Park (comedian)|Steve Park]], [[Steve White (actor)|Steve White]] and [[Robin Harris (comedian)|Robin Harris]]. [[Samuel L. Jackson]] was chosen for the role of Mister Señor Love Daddy. Jackson later revealed that he spent much of his time on set sleeping as he has no scenes outside.<ref name="ew" /> Lee originally wanted [[Bill Nunn]] to play the role of Mister Señor Love Daddy but later recast him as Radio Raheem. The acting couple Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, who were friends of Lee's father [[Bill Lee (musician)|Bill]], were cast as Da Mayor and Mother Sister.<ref name=ew/> Perez was cast as Mookie's love interest Tina after Lee saw her dancing at a Los Angeles dance club. Perez decided to take the part because her sister lived four blocks from the set. She had never been in a film before and became upset during the filming of Radio Raheem's death scene.<ref name=ew/>

===Filming===
Principal photography commenced on July 18, 1988, on a single block in [[Brooklyn, New York]]. The film crew transformed the dilapidated Stuyvesant Avenue, between Quincy Street and Lexington Avenue in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood, creating new structures such as the Korean grocery store, a functional pizza parlor representing Sal's Famous Pizzeria, and a radio station replacing a burnt-out building. Some characters' residences were set in a former crack house shut down by the production, and the [[brownstone]] serving as the home of the only white resident, "Clifton," was a vacant building before filming. Lee organized a block party before principal photography to foster a positive relationship between the neighborhood residents and the filmmakers. Production designer Wynn Thomas altered the street's color scheme, using a great deal of red and orange paint to convey the sense of a heatwave. During filming, the neighborhood's [[crack cocaine|crack]] dealers threatened the film crew for disturbing their business, leading Lee to hire [[Fruit of Islam]] members to provide security.<ref name=ew/> Filming wrapped on September 14, 1988, with a budget of $6.2 million.<ref name="AFI" />

During the final confrontation between Aiello's "Sal" and Giancarlo Esposito's character, "Buggin Out," Lee allowed the actors to improvise racist remarks. Esposito, who was of half-Italian and half-African-American descent, found the scene cathartic.<ref name="AFI" />

===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>

==Reception and legacy==
===Critical reception===
[[File:Do the Right Thing race relations.webm|thumb|The scene of characters with different ethnicities each speaking a monologue featuring insults targeting another ethnicity through racial stereotypes in long close-up shots, emphasizes racial prejudice at the time and from Lee's viewpoint.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mediacommons.org/intransition/2014/12/12/revisiting-spike-lee-s-racial-slur-montage-ya-need-cool-shit-out|title=Revisiting Spike Lee’s “Racial Slur Montage”: Ya Need to Cool that Shit Out|access-date=February 27, 2025|date=2014|work=inTranslation, JCMS|last=Julien|first=Douglas}}</ref>]]
At the time of the film's release, both [[Gene Siskel]] and [[Roger Ebert]] ranked the film as the best of 1989, and later each ranked it as one of the top 10 films of the decade ({{Numero|6}} for Siskel and {{Numero|4}} for Ebert).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://siskelebert.org/?p=480 |title=10 Best Films of the 1980s (1989) - Siskel and Ebert Movie Reviews |access-date=May 14, 2022 |archive-date=May 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523084330/https://siskelebert.org/?p=480 |url-status=live }}</ref> Siskel described the film as "a spiritual documentary that shows racial joy, hatred and confusion at every turn",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-06-30-8902130689-story.html|title=A Serious 'Right Thing' For a Frivolous Summer|first=Gene|last=Siskel|publisher=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=June 30, 1989|access-date=October 19, 2020|archive-date=October 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031171921/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-06-30-8902130689-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> while Ebert lauded it for coming "closer to reflecting the current state of race relations in America than any other movie of our time."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/do-the-right-thing-1989|title=Do the Right Thing|first=Roger|last=Ebert|publisher=rogerebert.com|date=June 30, 1989|access-date=October 19, 2020|archive-date=October 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019191019/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/do-the-right-thing-1989|url-status=live}}</ref> Ebert later added the film to his list of ''[[The Great Movies]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.rogerebert.com/great-movies/ |title= The Great Movies |author= Roger Ebert |publisher= rogerebert.com |access-date= 29 April 2015 |archive-date= June 9, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230609033122/https://www.rogerebert.com/great-movies |url-status= live }}</ref> In a retrospective review in 2019, Kambole Campbell of the British magazine ''[[Little White Lies (magazine)|Little White Lies]]'' noted the film's lasting relevance and called it "a bold expression of love and frustration and care and anger that is so vivid and expressive it feels like it exists in the here and now."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lwlies.com/reviews/do-the-right-thing-1989/|title=Do the Right Thing (1989)|first=Kabole|last=Campbell|publisher=[[Little White Lies (magazine)|Little White Lies]]|date=July 30, 2019|access-date=October 19, 2020|archive-date=October 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019094449/https://lwlies.com/reviews/do-the-right-thing-1989/|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' film critic [[Wesley Morris]] has called ''Do the Right Thing'' his favorite film.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theringer.com/2019/8/27/20834497/do-the-right-thing-with-sean-fennessey-and-wesley-morris|title='Do The Right Thing' With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris|last=Fennessey|first=Sean|date=2019-08-27|website=The Ringer|language=en|access-date=2020-04-02|archive-date=December 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202121338/https://www.theringer.com/2019/8/27/20834497/do-the-right-thing-with-sean-fennessey-and-wesley-morris|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some critics were less favorable in their reviews. [[Dave Kehr]] of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' gave the film two stars out of four; while calling the film "amiable", he resented it for employing [[white guilt]] and "seeing violence as a liberating symbol rather than a debasing reality."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-06-30-8902130690-story.html|title='Do the Right Thing' at Least Takes a Stab at Complexity|first=Dave|last=Kehr|publisher=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=June 30, 1989|access-date=October 19, 2020|archive-date=September 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200907045045/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-06-30-8902130690-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Ralph Novak, writing for ''[[People (magazine)|People]]'', panned the film as incoherent and having an unclear message and no likable characters: "If Lee is saying that racism is profoundly painful, frustrating and confusing, no one will argue. But this film states the case without offering any insight."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-do-the-right-thing-vol-32-no-1/|title=Picks and Pans Review: Do the Right Thing|first=Ralph|last=Novak|publisher=[[People (magazine)|People]]|date=July 3, 1989|access-date=October 19, 2020|archive-date=October 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019084257/https://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-do-the-right-thing-vol-32-no-1/|url-status=live}}</ref>

On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has a rating of 93%, based on 147 reviews, with an average rating of 9.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Smart, vibrant and urgent without being didactic, ''Do the Right Thing'' is one of Spike Lee's most fully realized efforts – and one of the most important films of the 1980s."<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/do_the_right_thing/ |title= Rotten Tomatoes 'Do the Right Thing' profile |website= Rotten Tomatoes |access-date= March 20, 2025 |archive-date= September 22, 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220922145725/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/do_the_right_thing |url-status= live }}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a score of 93 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "universal acclaim", and placing it as the 68th-highest film of all-time on the site.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.metacritic.com/movie/do-the-right-thing |title= 'Do the Right Thing' Metacritic profile |website= Metacritic |access-date= 29 April 2015 |archive-date= March 16, 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150316003847/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/do-the-right-thing |url-status= live }}</ref>

===Controversies===
After release, many reviewers protested its content. Some columnists opined that the film could incite Black audiences to riot.<ref>Klein, Joe. "Spiked?", ''New York'', June 26, 1989: 14–15.</ref> Lee criticized White reviewers in turn for suggesting that Black audiences were incapable of restraining themselves while watching a fictional motion picture.<ref name="autogenerated1">"Spike Lee's Last Word", special feature on the [[Criterion Collection]] DVD (2000)</ref> In a 2014 interview, Lee said, "That still bugs the shit out of me", calling the remarks "outrageous, egregious and, I think, racist." He said, "I don't remember people saying people were going to come out of theaters killing people after they watched [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] films."<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Edwards|first1=Gavin|title=Fight the Power: Spike Lee on 'Do the Right Thing'|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/fight-the-power-spike-lee-on-do-the-right-thing-20140620|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=4 April 2017|date=June 20, 2014|archive-date=August 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822222636/http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/fight-the-power-spike-lee-on-do-the-right-thing-20140620|url-status=live}}</ref>

An open question near the end of the film is whether Mookie "does the right thing" by throwing the garbage can through the window, inciting the riot that destroys Sal's pizzeria. Some critics have interpreted Mookie's action as one that saves Sal's life by redirecting the crowd's anger away from Sal to his property, while others say that it was an "irresponsible encouragement to enact violence".<ref name="Reid1997">{{cite book|author=Mark A. Reid|title=Spike Lee's Do the right thing|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780521550765|url-access=registration|access-date=September 25, 2010|year=1997|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-55954-6|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780521550765/page/43 43]–}}</ref> The quotations by two major Black leaders used at the end of the film provide no answers: one advocates nonviolence, the other advocates armed self-defense in response to oppression.<ref name="Reid1997" />

Lee has remarked that only White viewers ask him if Mookie did the right thing; Black viewers do not ask him the question.<ref>''Do The Right Thing'' DVD, Director's commentary</ref> Lee believes the key point is that Mookie was angry at the wrongful death of Radio Raheem, stating that viewers who question the riot are explicitly failing to see the difference between property damage and the death of a Black man.<ref name="autogenerated1" />

Lee has been criticized for his treatment of women in his films. [[bell hooks]] said that he wrote Black women in the same objectifying way that White male filmmakers write the characters of White women.<ref>{{Cite book|last=hooks|first=bell|date=2014-10-10|title=Black Looks|doi=10.4324/9781315743226|isbn=9781315743226}}</ref> Rosie Perez, who made her acting debut as Tina in the film, later said that she was very uncomfortable with doing the nude scene in the film:

{{Blockquote
|text=My first experience [with doing nude scenes] was ''Do the Right Thing''. And I had a big problem with it, mainly because I was afraid of what my family would think—that's what was really bothering me. It wasn't really about taking off my clothes. But I also didn't feel good about it because the atmosphere wasn't correct. And when Spike Lee puts ice cubes on my nipples, the reason you don't see my head is because I'm crying. I was like, I don't want to do this.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/25/magazine/the-pressure-to-take-it-off.html|title=The Pressure To Take It Off|last=Udovitch|first=Mim|date=2000-06-25|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-05-10|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=May 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510110110/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/25/magazine/the-pressure-to-take-it-off.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}

Subsequently, Perez stated that Lee had offered an apology, and the two remained friends.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/rosie-perez-spike-lee-matrix-audition-1235566016/ |title=Rosie Perez on Making Peace with Spike Lee, Bombing Her 'Matrix' Audition and Why Hollywood's Latino Representation Still 'Sucks' |date=March 29, 2023 |access-date=November 30, 2023 |archive-date=March 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331125542/https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/rosie-perez-spike-lee-matrix-audition-1235566016/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In June 2006, ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' placed ''Do the Right Thing'' at No. 22 on its list of The 25 Most Controversial Movies Ever.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141009035251/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1202224,00.html "The 25 Most Controversial Movies Ever"], ''Entertainment Weekly'' (Retrieved 9 Apr 2016).</ref>

In the 2021 [[Cannes Film Festival]] award ceremony, Chaz Ebert, the wife of the late film critic Roger Ebert, noted that her husband had been appalled that the film had not received any awards from the Cannes jury in 1989, and had even threatened to boycott the festival as a result.<ref>{{cite podcast|url=http://podbay.fm/p/the-big-picture/e/1629194400|title=Gene and Roger: 6. The Human Condition|date=August 17, 2021|website=The Big Picture|publisher=[[The Ringer (website)|The Ringer]]|via=Podboy|first=Brian|last=Raftery|access-date=July 8, 2022|archive-date=June 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623063808/https://podbay.fm/p/the-big-picture/e/1629194400|url-status=live}}</ref> Lee noted that the U.S. press at the time thought the film "would start race riots all across America". Drawing a loud applause from attending press, he pointed to the continued relevance of the film's story, more than three decades on, saying: "You would think and hope that 30-something motherfucking years later that Black people would have stopped being hunted down like animals."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Spike Lee Reflects On 'Do The Right Thing' 32 Years Later; Says Black People Are Still "Being Hunted Down Like Animals" – Cannes|url=https://deadline.com/2021/07/spike-lee-do-the-right-thing-32-years-later-black-people-hunted-down-like-animals-cannes-1234786708/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-18|website=Deadline|date=July 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210706141724/https://deadline.com/2021/07/spike-lee-do-the-right-thing-32-years-later-black-people-hunted-down-like-animals-cannes-1234786708/ |archive-date=July 6, 2021}}</ref>

African-American [[Avant-garde film|avant-garde filmmaker]] Tony Cokes thought the juxtaposition of both the MLK and Malcolm X quotes was "muddle-headed politically" in the same way the riot started by Mookie was absurd as expression/response to things happening to people of color all over NYC's Metro area during the period. He also criticized the narrative as "producing an uncannily heavy identification with Sal and sons pizza shop as 'victims' of 'irrational black violence' for many critics and white viewers thinking that Radio Raheem deserved what he got from the police and thought the way Lee's construction of situations like the Michael Stewart case functioned was misrepresented and "a disservice".<ref>[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Adventures_of_Perception/vbowDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1 Adventures of Perception: Cinema as Exploration - Google Books (pgs.75-76)]</ref>

It also topped the list of [[The Orlando Sentinel]]'s overrated films of 1989 calling it "a tiresome combination of sitcom and message movie" that is "full of honest anger but expresses little else". The article also stated that:<ref>[https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1990/02/02/do-the-right-thing-tops-list-of-89-overrated-films/ 'DO THE RIGHT THING' TOPS LIST OF '89 OVERRATED FILMS – Orlando Sentinel]</ref>

<blockquote>It's hard to oppose a film that opposes racism without sounding racist – or at least racially biased – even if the film is superficial in its approach to the issue.</blockquote>

===Awards and nominations===
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="background:#ccc; text-align:center;"
! colspan="5" style="background: LightSteelBlue;" | List of awards and nominations
|- style="background:#ccc; text-align:center;"
! Award
! Date of ceremony
! Category
! Recipients and nominees
! Result
|-
| rowspan="2" | [[Academy Awards]]
| rowspan="2" | [[62nd Academy Awards|March 26, 1990]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990 |title=1990{{!}}Oscars.org |access-date=May 14, 2022 |archive-date=October 1, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141001073500/https://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/62nd-winners.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
| [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
| [[Danny Aiello]]
| rowspan="3" {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]]
| [[Spike Lee]]
|-
| [[Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics]]
| 1990
| [[Grand Prix (Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics)|Grand Prix]]
|
|-
| [[Boston Society of Film Critics]]
| [[Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 1989|1990]]
| [[Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
| Danny Aiello
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Cannes Film Festival]]<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{Cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/229/year/1989.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Do the Right Thing |access-date=August 1, 2009 |work=festival-cannes.com |archive-date=September 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110916200934/http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/229/year/1989.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
| [[1989 Cannes Film Festival|May 23, 1989]]
| [[Palme d'Or]]
| Spike Lee
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="3" | [[Chicago Film Critics Association]]
| rowspan="3" | 1990
| [[Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]]
|
| rowspan="3" {{won}}
|-
| [[Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| Spike Lee
|-
| [[Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
| Danny Aiello
|-
| rowspan="4" | [[Golden Globe Awards]]
| rowspan="4" | [[47th Golden Globe Awards|January 20, 1990]]
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama|Best Motion Picture – Drama]]
|
| rowspan="4" {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture|Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture]]
| Danny Aiello
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Director|Best Director – Motion Picture]]
| rowspan="2" | Spike Lee
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay – Motion Picture]]
|-
| rowspan="5" | [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association]]
| rowspan="5" | [[1989 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards|December 16, 1989]]
| [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
|
| rowspan="3" {{won}}
|-
| [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
| Danny Aiello
|-
| [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| rowspan="2" | Spike Lee
|-
| [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]]
| {{yes|2nd place}}
|-
| [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music|Best Music]]
| [[Bill Lee (musician)|Bill Lee]]
| rowspan="4" {{won}}
|-
| [[MTV Movie Awards]]
| [[2006 MTV Movie Awards|June 6, 2006]]
| Silver Bucket of Excellence
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | [[NAACP Image Awards]]
| rowspan="2" | December 11, 1989
| [[NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture|Outstanding Actress]]
| [[Ruby Dee]]
|-
| [[NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture|Outstanding Supporting Actor]]
| [[Ossie Davis]]
|-
| [[National Society of Film Critics Awards]]
| [[1989 National Society of Film Critics Awards|January 8, 1990]]
| [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| Spike Lee
| {{no|3rd place}}
|-
| rowspan="3" | [[New York Film Critics Circle]]
| rowspan="3" | [[1989 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|January 14, 1990]]
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
|
| {{no|5th place}}
|-
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]]
| Spike Lee
| {{no|4th place}}
|-
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cinematographer|Best Cinematography]]
| [[Ernest Dickerson]]
| {{won}}
|-
| rowspan="7" | The 20/20 Awards
| rowspan="7" | 2010
| Best Picture
|
| {{nom}}
|-
| Best Director
| Spike Lee
| {{won}}
|-
| rowspan="2" | Best Supporting Actor
| Danny Aiello
| rowspan="3" {{nom}}
|-
| [[John Turturro]]
|-
| Best Original Screenplay
| Spike Lee
|-
| Best Film Editing
| [[Barry Alexander Brown]]
| rowspan="2" {{won}}
|-
| Best Original Song
| "[[Fight the Power (Public Enemy song)|Fight the Power]]"<br />Music and Lyrics by [[Chuck D]], Hank Shocklee,<br>Eric Sadler, and [[Keith Shocklee]]
|-
|}

'''[[American Film Institute]] lists'''
* [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs]]:
** "[[Fight the Power (Public Enemy song)|Fight the Power]]" – No. 40
* [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)]]&nbsp;– No. 96

==Home media==
''Do the Right Thing'' was released on [[VHS]] after its theatrical run, and on [[DVD]] by [[The Criterion Collection]] on February 20, 2001.<ref>[https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/1670/do-the-right-thing-criterion-collection/ Do the Right Thing - Criterion Collection] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804032602/https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/1670/do-the-right-thing-criterion-collection/ |date=August 4, 2020 }}. ''DVDTalk''.</ref> It was released on [[Blu-ray]] on June 30, 2009, for the 20th anniversary. A special edition Blu-ray with a [[4K resolution|4K]] restoration of the film was released by The Criterion Collection on July 23, 2019, for the film's 30th anniversary.<ref>[https://deadline.com/2019/06/do-the-right-thing-rerelease-30th-anniversary-spike-lee-4k-restoration-universal-1202628920/ Spike Lee’s ‘Do The Right Thing’ Returning To Theaters For 30th Anniversary With 4K Restoration Via Universal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609213344/https://deadline.com/2019/06/do-the-right-thing-rerelease-30th-anniversary-spike-lee-4k-restoration-universal-1202628920/ |date=June 9, 2019 }}. ''Deadline''. 7 June 2019.</ref>

==Soundtrack==
The film's score (composed and partially performed by jazz musician Bill Lee, father of Spike Lee) was released in early July 1989 while the soundtrack was released in late June 1989 on [[Columbia Records]] and [[Motown Records]], respectively. The soundtrack was successful, reaching the number eleven spot on the [[Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums]] chart, and peaking at sixty-eight on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]].<ref>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r189173/charts-awards|pure_url=yes}}|title=Do the Right Thing (Soundtrack): Billboard Albums|website=Allmusic|access-date=May 13, 2009}}</ref>

On the [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks]] chart, the Perri track "Feel So Good" reached the fifty-first spot, while [[Public Enemy (band)|Public Enemy]]'s "Fight the Power" reached number twenty, and [[Guy (band)|Guy]]'s "[[My Fantasy]]" went all the way to the top spot. "My Fantasy" also reached number six on the [[Hot Dance Singles Sales|Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales]] chart, and sixty-two on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]. "Fight the Power" also charted high on the Hot Dance Music chart, peaking at number three, and topped the [[Hot Rap Tracks|Hot Rap Singles]] chart.<ref>{{Cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r189173/charts-awards/billboard-single|pure_url=yes}}|title=Do the Right Thing (Soundtrack): Billboard Singles|work=Allmusic|access-date=May 13, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r28190/charts-awards/billboard-single|pure_url=yes}}|title=Fear of a Black Planet: Billboard Singles|work=Allmusic|access-date=May 13, 2009}}</ref>

{{Infobox album
| name       = Do the Right Thing: Original Motion Picture Score
| type       = film
| artist     = [[Bill Lee (musician)|Bill Lee]]
| cover      =
| alt        =
| released   = 1989
| recorded   = December 12, 1988 – December 16, 1988
| venue      =
| studio     =
| genre      = [[Film score]]
| length     = 35:36
| label      = [[Columbia Records|Columbia]]
| producer   = [[Spike Lee]] <small>([[executive producer#Music|exec.]])</small>
| prev_title =
| prev_year  =
| next_title =
| next_year  =
}}

===Track listing===
{{Infobox album
| name         = Do the Right Thing: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
| type         = soundtrack
| artist       = Various artists
| cover        = 
| alt          = 
| released     = June 23, 1989<ref name="Okayplayer">{{cite web|url=https://www.okayplayer.com/music/fight-the-power-summer-1989-do-the-right-thing-public-enemy.html|title=In the Summer of 1989 "Fight the Power" Saved Public Enemy & Almost Sank 'Do the Right Thing'|publisher=[[Okayplayer]]|access-date=2019-11-29|date=July 11, 2019|archive-date=December 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203021450/https://www.okayplayer.com/music/fight-the-power-summer-1989-do-the-right-thing-public-enemy.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| recorded     = 
| venue        = 
| studio       = 
| genre        = Soundtrack
| length       = 53:14
| label        = [[Motown Records]]
| producer     = Gregory "Sugar Bear" Elliott <small>([[executive producer#Music|exec.]])</small>, Ted Hopkins <small>([[executive producer#Music|exec.]])</small>, Mark Kibble <small>([[executive producer#Music|exec.]])</small>, Spike Lee <small>([[executive producer#Music|exec.]])</small>, Johnny Mercer <small>([[executive producer#Music|exec.]])</small>
| prev_title   = 
| prev_year    = 
| next_title   = 
| next_year    = 
| misc         = {{Singles
 | name        = Do the Right Thing: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
 | type        = soundtrack
 | single1     = [[Fight the Power (Public Enemy song)|Fight the Power]]
 | single1date = July 4, 1989<ref name="Okayplayer"/>
}}
}}
{{Track listing
| extra_column = Producer(s)
| title1 = [[Fight the Power (Public Enemy song)|Fight the Power]]
| music1 = [[Public Enemy (group)|Public Enemy]]
| extra1 = [[The Bomb Squad|Hank Shocklee, Carl Ryder, Eric Sadler]]
| length1 = 5:23
| title2 = [[My Fantasy]]
| music2 = [[Teddy Riley (producer)|Teddy Riley]], [[Guy (band)|Guy]]
| extra2 = Teddy Riley, Gene Griffin
| length2 = 4:57
| title3 = Party Hearty
| music3 = [[Experience Unlimited|E.U.]]
| extra3 = Kent Wood, JuJu House
| length3 = 4:43
| title4 = Can't Stand It
| music4 = [[Steel Pulse]]
| extra4 = David R. Hinds, [[Sidney Mills]]
| length4 = 5:06
| title5 = Why Don't We Try?
| music5 = Keith John
| extra5 = Vincent Edward Morris, Raymond Jones, Larry DeCarmine
| length5 = 3:35
| title6 = Feel So Good
| music6 = Perri
| extra6 = Paul Laurence, Jones
| length6 = 5:39
| title7 = Don't Shoot Me
| music7 = [[Take 6]]
| extra7 = [[Mervyn E. Warren]]
| length7 = 4:08
| title8 = Hard to Say
| music8 = Lori Perry, [[Gerald Alston]]
| extra8 = Laurence
| length8 = 3:21
| title9 = Prove to Me
| music9 = Perri
| extra9 = Jones, Sami McKinney
| length9 = 5:24
| title10 = Never Explain Love
| music10 = [[Al Jarreau]]
| extra10 = Jones
| length10 = 5:58
| title11 = Tu y Yo/We Love [Jingle]
| music11 = [[Rubén Blades]]
| extra11 = Blades
| length11 = 5:12
}}

==In popular culture==
In 1990, the film was parodied in a sketch on ''[[In Living Color]]''.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hastings|first1=Deborah|title=Fox's 'In Living Color' is Way, Way Out There|url=https://www.deseretnews.com/article/97405/FOXS-IN-LIVING-COLOR-IS-WAY-WAY-OUT-THERE.html|work=Deseret News|date=April 15, 1990|access-date=May 29, 2018|archive-date=May 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180530133507/https://www.deseretnews.com/article/97405/FOXS-IN-LIVING-COLOR-IS-WAY-WAY-OUT-THERE.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Many television series have parodied the trash can scene, including ''[[The Critic]]'', ''[[The Boondocks (2005 TV series)|The Boondocks]]'', and ''[[Bob's Burgers]]''.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Steve|first1=Kandell|title=Pleased to Meat Me: 'Bob's Burgers' Creators on the Finale and Season Two's High Points|url=https://www.spin.com/2012/05/pleased-meat-me-bobs-burgers-creators-finale-and-season-twos-high-points/|work=Spin|date=May 23, 2012|access-date=May 29, 2018|archive-date=June 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629211247/https://www.spin.com/2012/05/pleased-meat-me-bobs-burgers-creators-finale-and-season-twos-high-points/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The scene where Buggin' Out confronts the white Celtics fan about scuffing his Air Jordans is parodied in the music video for the 2008 [[Nelly]] song "[[Stepped on My J'z]]".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Stepped on My J'z music video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oohCQPABS7I| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/oohCQPABS7I| archive-date=2021-11-17 | url-status=live|access-date=June 12, 2020|website=Youtube| date=December 19, 2009 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In 2016, Air Jordan released a special Radio Raheem sneaker.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Johnson|first1=Patrick|title=Do The Right Thing And Cop The Air Jordan 2 "Radio Raheem" Tomorrow|url=https://sneakernews.com/2016/01/08/do-the-right-thing-and-cop-the-air-jordan-2-radio-raheem-tomorrow/|work=Sneaker News|date=January 8, 2016|access-date=May 29, 2018|archive-date=May 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180530040130/https://sneakernews.com/2016/01/08/do-the-right-thing-and-cop-the-air-jordan-2-radio-raheem-tomorrow/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2014, the film's 25th anniversary, [[Barack Obama|Barack]] and [[Michelle Obama]] praised the film, and said they went to see it together on their [[first date]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/barack-michelle-obama-praise-first-date-movie-do-the-right-thing-2014306/|title=Obamas Reflect on Their First 1989 Date in Adorable Video|date=June 30, 2014|access-date=January 15, 2019|archive-date=January 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190115182453/https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/barack-michelle-obama-praise-first-date-movie-do-the-right-thing-2014306/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1857343/do-the-right-thing-helped-president-obama-impress-michelle-on-their-first-date/|title='Do The Right Thing' Helped President Obama Impress Michelle On Their First Date|first=Caitlin|last=White|website=MTV News|access-date=January 15, 2019|archive-date=January 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190115234333/http://www.mtv.com/news/1857343/do-the-right-thing-helped-president-obama-impress-michelle-on-their-first-date/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtJRVbS61n4| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/OtJRVbS61n4| archive-date=2021-11-17 | url-status=live|title=Michelle & Barack Obama about Spike Lee &#124; 2018 Montreal Black Film Festival Sept 26...| date=September 19, 2018|via=www.youtube.com}}{{cbignore}}</ref> This was later referenced in the 2016 film ''[[Southside with You]]'' where Barack discusses Mookie's motives with a white colleague after seeing the film.

==Do The Right Thing Way==
The section of Stuyvesant Avenue between Quincy Street and Lexington Avenue in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, where the entire film was shot, was renamed Do The Right Thing Way in 2015. The renaming came from a push by [[Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn|Bed-Stuy's]] city council representative [[Robert Cornegy|Robert Cornegy Jr.]]<ref>Wilson, Simone. [https://patch.com/new-york/bed-stuy/bed-stuy-street-re-named-do-right-thing-way-honor-spike-lee-classic-0 “Bed-Stuy Street Renamed ‘Do The Right Thing Way’ to Honor Spike Lee Classic”.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302183700/https://patch.com/new-york/bed-stuy/bed-stuy-street-re-named-do-right-thing-way-honor-spike-lee-classic-0 |date=March 2, 2023 }} ''Patch''. Published July 24th, 2015. Accessed March 2nd, 2023.</ref> and was included as part of a bill to honor important figures from New York City's history.<ref>[https://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2376651&GUID=4245D2E5-EE2A-4B40-9195-BCC8D0CC7130&Options=ID%7CText%7C&Search=%22Marjorie+Sewell+Cautley+%22 New York City Law Number 2015/076.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302183700/https://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2376651&GUID=4245D2E5-EE2A-4B40-9195-BCC8D0CC7130&Options=ID%7CText%7C&Search=%22Marjorie+Sewell+Cautley+%22 |date=March 2, 2023 }} Enacted August 10th, 2015.</ref> The renaming was meant to occur in 2014, but was delayed by the city. The street is the only street in New York City named after a work of fiction, and one of the only streets named after a work of fiction in the world.<ref>Blum, Sam. [https://www.bkmag.com/2015/08/11/do-the-right-thing-street-in-bed-stuy-officially-named-after-spike-lee-movie/ “DO THE RIGHT THING: STREET IN BED-STUY OFFICIALLY NAMED AFTER SPIKE LEE MOVIE”] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302183700/https://www.bkmag.com/2015/08/11/do-the-right-thing-street-in-bed-stuy-officially-named-after-spike-lee-movie/ |date=March 2, 2023 }}. ''Brooklyn''. Published August 11th, 2015. Accessed March 2nd, 2023.</ref> Lee was reportedly “excited” by the renaming, and has also begun selling faux street signs for the street on his website.<ref>[https://spikes-joint.myshopify.com/products/do-the-right-thing-street-sign-1 ”Do The Right Thing Street Sign”] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302183700/https://spikes-joint.myshopify.com/products/do-the-right-thing-street-sign-1 |date=March 2, 2023 }}. ''Spike’s Joint''. Accessed March 2nd, 2023.</ref>

==Related films==
Officers Gary Long and Mark Ponte return in ''[[Jungle Fever]]'' (1991). In Lee's 2006 film, ''[[Inside Man]]'', the police provide Sal's pizza to the hostages.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/7w8ays/in_spike_lees_inside_man_2006_when_the_robbers/ | title=R/MovieDetails - in Spike Lee's 'Inside Man' (2006) when the robbers demand food for the hostages the police bring Sal's Pizza, a reference to Sal's Pizzeria in Spike Lee's (1998) classic 'Do the Right Thing' | date=February 8, 2018 | access-date=January 31, 2019 | archive-date=June 10, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610014006/https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/7w8ays/in_spike_lees_inside_man_2006_when_the_robbers/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

Mookie makes another appearance in the 2012 film ''[[Red Hook Summer]]'', where he is shown delivering pizzas. According to Lee, Sal took the insurance money from his burned pizzeria and reopened the restaurant in [[Red Hook, Brooklyn|Red Hook]]. He then rehired Mookie, agreeing to include Black celebrities on his Wall of Fame.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Lyttelton|first1=Oliver|title=Exclusive: Spike Lee Explains What Happened To Mookie & Sal After The End Of 'Do The Right Thing'|url=http://www.indiewire.com/2012/08/exclusive-spike-lee-explains-what-happened-to-mookie-sal-after-the-end-of-do-the-right-thing-107389/|work=IndieWire|date=August 9, 2012|access-date=May 29, 2018|archive-date=May 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528070030/http://www.indiewire.com/2012/08/exclusive-spike-lee-explains-what-happened-to-mookie-sal-after-the-end-of-do-the-right-thing-107389/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the second season of Netflix series ''[[She's Gotta Have It (TV series)|She's Gotta Have It]]'', based on [[She's Gotta Have It|the film of the same name]], Rosie Perez returns to portray Tina once more and it is revealed that not only is she the mother of Mars Blackmon ([[Anthony Ramos (actor)|Anthony Ramos]]), but that Mookie is Blackmon's biological father.

==See also==
* [[List of hood films]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* Aftab, Kaleem. ''Spike Lee: That's My Story and I'm Sticking to It.'' England: [[Faber and Faber|Faber and Faber Limited]], 2005. {{ISBN|0393061531}}.
* ''Spike Lee's Last Word.'' Documentary on the Criterion Collection DVD of ''Do the Right Thing.'' 2000.
* Spike Lee et al. Commentary on the Criterion Collection DVD of ''Do the Right Thing.'' 2000.
* {{cite book|author=Mark A. Reid|title=Spike Lee's Do the right thing|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780521550765|url-access=registration|access-date=September 25, 2010|year=1997|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521559546}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
*[https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/do_right_thing2.pdf ''Do the Right Thing''] essay by [[David Sterritt]] at [[National Film Registry]] 
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=deq3xI8OmCkC ''Do the Right Thing''] essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 {{ISBN|0826429777}}, pages 798-800 
* {{IMDb title|0097216}}
* {{Mojo title|dotherightthing}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|do_the_right_thing}}
* {{TCMDb title|73231}}
* {{AFI film|67050}}
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/98-do-the-right-thing ''Do the Right Thing''] an essay by [[Roger Ebert]] at the [[Criterion Collection]]

{{Spike Lee}}
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{{Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Film}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Do The Right Thing}}
[[Category:1989 films]]
[[Category:1989 comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1989 independent films]]
[[Category:1980s hip-hop films]]
[[Category:40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks films]]
[[Category:African-American comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:African-American films]]
[[Category:American comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:American independent films]]
[[Category:Anti-black racism in the United States]]
[[Category:Films about Italian-American culture]]
[[Category:Films about race and ethnicity]]
[[Category:Films about racism in the United States]]
[[Category:Films directed by Spike Lee]]
[[Category:Films set in Brooklyn]]
[[Category:Films shot in New York City]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Spike Lee]]
[[Category:Hood comedy films]]
[[Category:Hyperlink films]]
[[Category:1980s Italian-language films]]
[[Category:1980s Spanish-language films]]
[[Category:Racism in the United States]]
[[Category:Tragicomedy films]]
[[Category:United States National Film Registry films]]
[[Category:Universal Pictures films]]
[[Category:1980s English-language films]]
[[Category:1980s hood films]]
[[Category:1980s American films]]
[[Category:English-language comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:English-language independent films]]