After I watched the film, I felt really bad for no reason. Part of it is because of the content: seldom does the film reveal sensitive topics like racism so directly. Another part of it is because, as an Asian, a minority group in the US, I can’t tell who is doing “the right thing”. And I fell into an inner conflict.

This Crash Course video properly explained the ways Spike Lee made this film and the purpose of using those cinematography techniques. After watching this video, two thoughts came into my mind.

• Who did the right thing?

The movie includes several minority groups in the US: black people, Asians, Latinos, etc. These people formed a community in Brooklyn, and what they did was deal with others and try to make a living. Everyone has their own beliefs. Black people want to make a “black” community, so one of them claimed Sal’s Pizzeria should hang famous black people’s photos. And Radio always carries a radio, listening to rap music… While other groups of people are seeking peace there. The problem is: that even if they are in the same neighborhood, they are discriminating against each other. The black person asked the Korean couple to make sure that there were exactly 20 batteries in the bag, and the black group even wanted to burn their grocery as they were “not black”. Yes, the police shouldn’t use extreme force towards Radio and cause his death, but should they burn Sal’s Pizzaria and curse the Korean couple just because they are not “staying black”?
Mookie remains neutral throughout the first half of the story, but it is him carrying a trash can and breaking Sal’s window, causing the flame. As a member of the community, he is not doing the right thing either.
So, who did the right thing? Or, for the issue of racism, who could do the “right” thing?

• The movie and the society today

I participated in a psychology lab as a participant last week, and one of the questions really made me think about the issue of racism and political correctness. “Do you think the American society is too politically correct?” Psychologist believes that every individual has their own thoughts that are too hard to be influenced. For racism, it is reasonable to believe most people have their own “racist thought”, as it is simple not to like someone or not to like a specific group of people. Society today puts too much focus on the issue of racism. Whatever people say may become evidence of being racist; people even use their race as a privilege, claim whatever thoughts towards them are racist… Back to the movie, is our society “doing the right thing”?