I had very mixed emotions about this movie. To start out with I would like to say that overall I did not like the movie. I think its because in the end it just pissed me off. In general it was a good movie, but It just was not for me and it is not something I would usually pick to watch willingly. I loved the actors throughout the movie and the plot but in the end I just did not like it. I found some parts funny and some parts sad and ultimately the ending just made me enraged.
At the start of the movie, I was really enjoying it and seeing how people in the neighborhood coexisted. Yes there were a few quarrels, but ultimately I thought that everyone seemed to be somewhat cordial with each other. Obviously I was very wrong about that. I think my favorite scene in this movie was when Radio Raheem goes into the Koreans store and tries to buy batteries for his boombox and just the exchange between them was very comical. Also like the camera angle that they had of Raheem, like why was the camera so close. I noticed they used the same angle when Raheem was arguing with Sal about burning down the music in the store.
Ok, time to talk about what pissed me off and really what probably ruined the movie for me. Mookie…. I really just have no words for what he did in this movie. Mookie, who is working for Sal, has probably have to be the worst employee ever. He was really delivering these pizzas and then taking like 20 different side quests as well. Sal is better than me because I was utterly surprised that Mookie still had a job for the entirety of the movie. Sal had been selling pizza on that block for 25 years I think? So 25 years he has been running his business and 25 years he hasn’t had any major problems until now.
After all of the things that Sal has done for mookie just for him to throw the trashcan through Sal’s window and reignite the riot. THEN Mookie has the audacity to just sit on the curb with his sister while all hell breaks loose like he is not the one who re-started everything. He goes and sleeps with his baby momma and then he’s like ok time to go get my money from Sal AND Sal gave it to him like wtf. There is actually no way in hell I would be paying Mookie ANYTHING if I was in Sal’s position.
Now who really did the right thing in the end? My answer is that no one did. I feel as if everyone is at fault for what ultimately happened. Sal definitely should not have smashed Radio Raheem’s boombox into pieces, he definitely could have went about it another way. I also think that Raheem should have just respected Sal’s wishes and just not play his boombox in the store. It is just common decency. I also think, well I know that the police are most definitely in the wrong, because there was absolutely no need to kill Raheem. The one officer stated multiple times to his coworker that “that’s enough” but the officer ultimately ended up killing Raheem anyway. In the end no one really did the right thing, they just did what they thought was right at the given time. For example, after Mookie broke the window, there was no reason for all of the neighborhood to raid his store. It was really uncalled for, but I feel like they did it anyways because they saw other people do it and they just wanted to fit in and be like the rest of the crowd.
Ultimately it was a movie that I would probably watch again even though I don’t necessarily like it. I am eager to see and hear other peoples thoughts about this movie as well.
Hi Patrick,
I enjoyed reading your post analyzing Mookie’s behavior in the film and agree with you that despite being the film’s protagonist, Mookie was definitely not without flaw. I think one of the main scenarios where he did not “do the right thing” was with his relationship/family. He is incredibly unclear with Tina about his intentions. She is left constantly begging for his attention and when he finally does go to see her, it appears to be primarily for his physical pleasure, emphasized by his “thanking god” for the parts of her body. He ignores her repeated attempts to have a serious conversation about their dynamic and does not take her seriously when she expresses her unhappiness. Additionally, even though Mookie does work hard to make money for his son, we see him repeatedly take time for himself, whether it be his midday shower break or seeing Tina. Not once do we see him use these moments to attempt to work on his relationship with Hector, indicating that though he may financially support the child, he is a relatively absent father figure. In terms of Mookie’s behavior with Sal, I agree with you that he was kind of a shitty employee and we see him work far less than Sal, Pino, or Vito. If Mookie hadn’t thrown the lid that incited the destruction of the shop, I would have 100% thought he still deserved his pay. However, because he contributed to the physical destruction of the pizzeria, which cost Sal everything, I agree that him then asking for his salary was a little ridiculous. It’s hard to say what the right thing to do would have been, but in my opinion, the destruction of Sal’s was not the right answer.