Even though Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing” was released in 1989, the themes that occurred throughout the movie are still extremely relevant today in 2025. The fight scene in particular was obviously a very hard part to watch, but super important. This video that I found has Spike Lee talking through that scene and certain aspects and inspirations that helped it come together.
Radio Raheem and his death was based on the real murder of Michael Stewart, who was strangled to death by a group of 11 NYC police officers. But even though this film was made over 30 years ago, there are still multiple instances of black people getting killed by police in this exact same way. So while Do The Right Thing is a movie, it is also very real at the same time. The costume designer was tasked with making everyone super sweaty to emphasize the hot day and tension rising, and during the scene there wasn’t a great stunt coordinator so some actors actually got hurt. He talked about the moment of silence right after Sal smashed Radio Raheem’s radio as a “quiet before the storm” and how it felt like a personal attack at Radio Raheem since he had been carrying it around with him the entire movie. When the fight eventually went outside, they shot the rest of the block getting involved and did a crane shot from the fight to a view of the whole street. Then the cops came, and even though Sal was the one who started the fight, Spike comments “now you know if there’s a fight, who are they gonna grab”. The other thing about this scene that he talks about at the end of the video is the ground shot of Radio Raheem after he’s killed. It shows him laying on the concrete with the “Love” brass knuckle in the frame – I thought that that was an interesting choice between “Love” and “Hate” to put in the camera, especially after what just happened to him and everyone else in the community. I recommend watching this video because it’s a great highlight of the scene and showcases how important and relevant that it truly is.
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