Do the Right Thing

Do the Right Thing, circa 1989, is one of Spike Lee's first films.  It centers around a Brooklyn neighborhood, during a record breaking heat wave.  Lee, who is the main character, is a young man working as a pizza delivery guy for a pizzeria owned and run by an Italian man and his two sons.  As the temperature rises, so does tension and frustration between those living in the neighborhood.  The film addresses hate and prejudice as it depicts Latinos hating African Americans, African Americans hating the Italians, an Italian son befriending an African American as another's prejudice towards African Americans grows.  All of this disdained for others culminates in one large act of violence, which leaves the community right back where is started, divisive.

This film is on AFI's top 100 movies, and with good reason.  This film gives a glimpse into a world of prejudice and it's unproductive ways, without placing any sort of blame on one particular group of people.  Just try to look past all of the terrible 80's style.