Do The Right Thing

 In the film, Do The Right Thing, Radio Raheem did what he wanted to.  He would carry around his boom box and listen to the music he enjoyed.  It was evident that Radio Raheem didn’t care if others didn’t support the music he liked, or if he annoyed others.  He came off as a very strong individual who focused on what he enjoyed and not others.  Radio Raheem’s personality was similar to Bigger’s in Native Son.  Wright talked about one of Bigger’s personalities which was portrayed in the book, which was similar to Radio Raheem’s.  There was a part of Bigger that shut out the rest of people’s opinions and only focused on what he wanted.  “His life was a continuous challenge to others.  At all times he took his way, right or wrong, and those who contradicted him had to fight” (435).  The author here explains the stubborn side of Bigger, in which Radio Raheem also had.  Bigger rebelled and greatly affected other’s lives, especially when he killed Mary and Bessie.  Part of the reason why he rebelled was because he thought blacks shouldn’t live under the poor conditions in which they did.  Radio Raheem portrayed stubborn behavior throughout the movie as well.  For example, when he went into Sal’s Pizzeria he continued to blast his music on his boom box, and it wasn’t until after Sal screamed and fought with him for a couple of minutes when he shut off the music.  Radio Raheem’s stubborn behavior is similar to one of Bigger’s personalities in which Wright was describing for multiple reasons.  One being that they take action based on what they want whether it is supported by the public or not.  Both of these characters demonstrate stubborn behavior, and end up getting involved with violence due to their stubbornness.
            The film had displayed many strong messages, but the major one that stood out to me was in the title, Do The Right Thing.  The whole idea of doing the “right” thing in a given situation was shown multiple times in the film, whether it was Mayor jumping in front of the car and saving the little boys life, or when Mookie threw the garbage can at the window.  During both of these situations in the movie a decision was made, and whether it was a right or wrong decision is questionable.  The situation that was clearly the most questionable one, based off of our class discussion yesterday, was when Mookie threw the garbage can.  There were many things to take into consideration when thinking about Mookie’s actions.  Some could say that what he did was right, or that it was wrong.  However, my thoughts on this situation were more focused on why he threw the garbage can.  Personally I believe Mookie threw the garbage can to stand up for the overall injustice that was going on in their society.  I looked at the bigger picture in his situation and ruled out Mookie rebelling against Sal and his family since throughout the movie he remained loyal to them.  I believe if he really threw the garbage can because he was upset with Sal, then he wouldn’t have gone back to him at the end. 

Document 2: Kings's Mountaintop Speech

The document I read was about King's speech he delivered in Memphis at the Mason Temple Church.  His speech was regarding the previous strike that took place in Memphis.  There was a sanitation workers' union which assembled and went on strike due to the unfair wages they were receiving.  This strike was supposed to be a non-violence strike, but violence broke out.  King's speech focused on the important concepts the people in the strike and the black community as a whole needed to carry out.  He first brought up unity.  Without unity their efforts in ending injustice would fail, he made it very clear that they have to stick together no matter what and their togetherness makes their fight stronger.  A very important point he brought up later in his speech was about the individual's intentions towards justice, when bringing up the story of the Good Samaritan. King said that one should not be solely worried about themselves and how taking time out of their day to go to a strike will affect themself. However, that individual should have the mind set off of just them, but they should be fighting for all blacks as a whole, and not just think about how things only affect themself as an individual.  Throughout King's lesson he was trying to teach in his speech when he brought up the story of the Good Samaritan he was teaching his audience about having empathy towards others, and not just towards ourselves.  He made it clear that during these times of their fight towards justice people cannot be selfish and only worry about themselves.  Ultimately King was telling his audience that the black community is one and that they have to think of themselves as one, and fight for each other’s rights just as much as their own.  It all comes back to that sense of unity which King started his speech off with.  When they are fighting as one they are more powerful, and they will only continue to have that togetherness if they have empathy towards each other.