Someone recently mentioned that Mookie threw that can, not to incite the mob, but to distract the mob from harming Sal.... In other words, sacrificing Sal's establishment at the expense of protecting Sal, the person. thoughts?
shareIf that was true, it was poorly conveyed. I lost all respect for Mookie when he smashed the window. Beforehand he seemed like a reasonable character yet from my perspective Mookie started the destruction of Sal's business. Along with having the gall to ask Sal for his wage despite his actions, Do the Right Thing came across as self-righteous.
"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not".
I hear you, though i think its important to note that just because Spike Lee is playing the character of Mookie, that does not mean that character is 'doing the right thing'. Sure, that characterization likely speaks to Lee's personal slant, but at the same time, it seems Lee is admitting that he carries his own baggage as it applies to race.
Nobody is clean in this mess. Everyone carries baggage. This film presents stereotypes and bigotry, but its not saying that we SHOULD stereotype or be bigoted....
He just saw his friend killed, chocked to DEATH and thrown in a car like a dead dog. he knew NOTHING would happen to the cops and he was angry. THATS why he threw the garbage can.
I would think the death of young person at the hands of 2 men trained to PROTECT us, NOT KILL US would be slightly more disturbing than a trash can threw a window.
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I've never met a racist person, just a scared and uneducated person.
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It was a cathartic action after Radio Raheem and yes, it diverted the crowd from Sal and his family.
I understood this at 10 years old when I saw it on PRISM in Philadelphia in 1990 (I had no idea how to put it into words, but understood the feeling), so I fail to grasp how so many people do as grown ups.
I dunno. Was obvious to me as a little kid. Still obvious in my thirties.
You understood which?
That it was a cathartic action, or that it diverted attention from Sal? Thats 2 different things... 2 different motivations for throwing the can. or was it serving a dual purpose?
I always got the cathartic part, but it never occured to me he was attempting to also protect Sal.
I don't think the film is ever suggesting what is "the right thing." I think the beauty of the film is the constant dichotomy. Technically, nearly every single character has a moment where we can wonder "was that the right thing?" And it isn't black and white, right or wrong ... Instead it is constantly a balance of the two, like Radio Raheem suggests with the "love" and "hate" knuckles. That's why at the end of the film he has the quote from Martin Luther King discouraging violence and then the quote from Malcolm X suggesting violence is self-defense when the power is controled by "bad people". And THEN and photo of them shaking hands. What better way to symbolize the constant presece of opposing ideas BEING the "right thing" than the photo of the two different ideas holders shaking hands? It's perfect.
To say you lost respect for Mookie after the trashcan scene, to me at least, implies that you made that call to hastily. Whether he did it because he was distracting people from physically harming Sal - eh, I don't know if that would be his first motivation when considering he just saw Sal ALMOST die via strangulation, and then saw Raheem ACTUALLY die via chokehold by a cop - I think his feelings from witnessing all that, couples with the heat and constant yelling and chaos and all Pino's crap - who the f&@$ wouldn't throw a trash can through a window at that point? I can get that. I still cringed. I was still shocked. I was like "Oh no, it's just going to get worse now, this is so sad..." But no, no I didn't loose all my respect for him. If even an ounce of his motivation was to distract from Sal, good for him. If it wasn't, oh well. If doesn't really matter and the brilliance of this film is that it leaves the idea of " the right thing" up to the viewer to decide and in the process - regardless of your conclusion - it succeeded in getting you to think about it.
Smashing the window might've been one thing, maybe, but burning down Sal's pizzeria that he'd invested 20 years or more into....that, imho, was going way too far. Burning down Sal's pizzeria was not only overkill, but somebody's livelihood was destroyed for nothing. It's way easier and cheaper to replace a smashed window than to re-build a burned-out business.
shareSmashing the window might've been one thing, maybe, but burning down Sal's pizzeria that he'd invested 20 years or more into....that, imho, was going way too far. Burning down Sal's pizzeria was not only overkill, but somebody's livelihood was destroyed for nothing. It's way easier and cheaper to replace a smashed window than to re-build a burned-out business.
No, our problem is that the cops killed RR. Sal and his sons were innocent (the Mayor even points this out), and Mook betrayed them.
Say, do you hear that? It's the sound of the Reaper.....
Spike Lee said in the DVD commentary that he didn't do it do distract the mob. He did it because he saw his friend being killed.
shareSpike Lee said in the DVD commentary that he didn't do it do distract the mob. He did it because he saw his friend being killed.
Kind of hard to arrest Raheem when he's, you know, dead.
Jack "Things could be worse"
Hurley "...HOW?!"
Mookie didn't burn it down. Smiley did.
shareHe was one of the few characters in the movie I didn't completely despise (da mayor, Mookie's sister, Sal, and the son of his that was "friends" with Mookie were are still pretty cool by the end of the film), but him throwing that trashcan through the window changed my opinion of his character completely. He completely betrayed the trust that the italian family placed in him and started a violent riot for no good reason.
The thing that pushed me over the edge into hatred for the character was that last scene where he went to 'get his money' from Sal. He went to 'get his money' from the guy whose shop he helped destroy. All he deserves from Sal is a broken nose.
I agree. I was hoping that when Mookie asked for his money that Sal was gonna punch him in the face. But instead he gave him the $, plus extra, and even felt sympathetic toward him. I guess Spike Lee can write whatever he wants, but in reality, a "Sal" wouldn't have done that.
shareI've known a few Sals in my life. The ones I know absolutely would have done that. It's a pride thing. Mookie worked his shift. He gets the money. A couple prideful Italian deli owners I know absolutely would have paid Mookie. They might not have liked it, but they would have. I had an Italian grandmother myself and she would say "Don't tell nobody nothing." "Don't take nothing from nobody" … had Sal NOT paid Mookie, it would be like Mookie paying for the window, or like Sal owed somebody something. I don't know if it's an Italian business thing, but I get it. Maybe you're thinking of a non-Italian white business owner who would have no problem not paying someone for their shift.
shareMaybe you're thinking of a non-Italian white business owner who would have no problem not paying someone for their shift.
Yeah, right...if that had been a kosher deli owned by Canadians 🇨🇦, instead of Italians 🇮🇹, "Sol" would be the one screaming that he wanted his pay...and he'd be claiming that Mookie owed HIM money!
Ask the man who knows. I'm Canadian, too...🇮🇱
🚋🚋 Just take that streetcar that's going uptown...
He started a riot for "no good reason"? Watching his friend being chocked to death was not a good reason?
All these comments PROVE to me you all DONT see a Black Life as meaning ANYTHING. Had SAL or one of his sons been chocked to death and MOOKIE got his ass beat by the cops- it would be "he deserved it" or "he shouldn't go around choking people and he wouldn't have to worry about being beaten"... right? right.
Makes me sick.
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I've never met a racist person, just a scared and uneducated person.
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Raheem wasn't some martyr. He was caught by the police attempting to murder Sal... Over a boombox. I'm not saying he deserved to die, but it wasnt like they caught the guy selling loosies.
shareno sorry lady you are the ignorant one here. I wouldn't have a friend like radio raheem to begin with because I don't fraternize with loud violent douche bags for one.
I wouldn't be mad if a big ass white guy yelling and bullying some pizza guy escalated situation to where he accidentally got choked out. I sure as hell wouldn't take it out on the pizza guy if I was mad, neither. I would be going after that cop if the dude who got killed meant anything to me, because unlike someone who riots, I'm not a moron or a thief looking for an excuse to wreak havok. You enable people like those in charlotte who were so mad after some random guy got shot by a cop that they looted shopping centers like a Hornets store for NBA merchandise. Poetic Justice in rioting only exists in the movies.
As if his terrible acting wasnt enough, the character he was playing was also a disgusting douche.
shareRevieced-x Perfectly said, Mookie was a lowlife scumbag little thug, Spike tried to make him look like the hero and philosopher of the neighborhood, it's also funny that this little pizza delivery thug has a hot girlfriend lol. Sal gives him a job and puts money in his worthless pockets, and how does he repay him back, he throws a garbage can through his glass window. If I was Sal I wouldn't have given him a dime, the balls on this thug to come back the next day and ask for his pay after his employers business was burned down. Sal should have placed criminal charges against Mookie.
shareMookie was portrayed as lazy, irresponsible and arrogant; in fact, it's difficult to find much of anything terribly positive to say about him - except that he wasn't a "thug", that is, violent or aggressive. Hero and nabe philosopher my ass.
"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan