Do The Right Thing

On another bored Tuesday, I went through the ol' DVD collection and pulled out "Do The Right Thing," directed by Spike Lee. I didn't realize it at the time (cuz I was about 7 when I first saw this), but this movie influenced me in a lot of ways. Not so much the issues  about race, but the soundtrack, slang, clothing etc. Now that i'm older, and a movie buff of sorts, it was like watching the movie for the first time all over again. Interesting that the whole retro/streetwear thing is poppin right now, and a lot of kids are looking like the kids in this movie. The colors used in this film are crazy and really gave off the vibe that it was the "hottest day of the Summer in Brooklyn"...

I remember asking my dad if I can get rings like that and his exact words were, "you must be out of your mind." I also wanted the master blaster style boombox, but my parents hated all rap music. I would've never bumped the N.W.A tapes that I borrowed from my cousin anyways - at least not in the presence of my parents. Eventually, they admitted that they liked Lighter Shade of Brown. No Joke.

This is my favorite scene. Buggin' Out "buggin out" over his scuffed Air Jordans - by a white guy of all people, wearing a Bird shirt of all things. The instigators crack me up.

At the age of 7, I had no idea what they were talking about in this scene. Now that i'm older, it's kinda crazy thinking about this scene and the time the film came out. From articles i've read, critics were scared that the movie was gonna create riots because no one else was really saying these things in the media - at least to this extent. Roger Ebert was one of the dudes that loved the film and told Spike at the Cannes Film Festival, "if this movie doesn't win the prize, i'm never coming back!" I alway knew Ebert was down.
I don't know how well this movie holds up today. If someone were to tell me they watched it for the first time today and didn't like it, I could understand that. For me, it's more about the vibe/style of the movie than the message...
...and Rosie Perez's boobies (sorry).