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.