Do the Right Thing

Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing was successful in entertaining its audience with comedy and showing us the lives of several different people in one community. Most importantly however, it showed us a world in which violence rather than rhetoric was considered a more effective means of communication. In the beginning of the movie, we see conflict arise between Buggin’ Out and Sal over the decor of Sal’s Italian restaurant. What was initially thought of as a fight over pictures on the Wall of Fame, turned out into a race war between Sal and the rest of the community. We see Buggin’ Out implore the use of rhetoric to convince the people of Bed-Stuy to boycott Sal’s restaurant because he has interpreted the argument as Sal’s way of saying that black people could eat at his restaurant, but their pictures could not be placed on the walls of the restaurant. His interpretation of the events which had unfolded fueled his anger and clouded his judgement. He went from using rhetoric and somewhat substantiated arguments to convince people that Sal was a racist man, to promoting violence in the neighborhood and ultimately burning down Sal’s restaurant to the ground. The actions toward the end of the film gives us a clear understanding of how a society that does not use rhetoric tocommunicate, will turn towards violence. Rhetoric gives us a means of being civil with one another, a way to express our opinions in a calm and rational manner, and to ultimately reach an agreement with disagreeing parties.

A perfect example of a person who knows how to implore rhetoric was Da Mayor. When the crowd was getting out of control, he told them to calm down and think about their actions. He told them not to do something that they would regret. Although most people could not take him seriously because he was a drunk, he was still able to get his message across through rhetoric. Spike Lee was successful in getting across his point that a society without rhetoric cannot and will not function to its capacity but will rather ravel in chaos. If we turn toward violence, we will never reach a point of agreement but rather, we will be even more divided in terms of our thoughts.

 

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