It's easy to watch the news on television or read on newspaper about turmoil that happens far away from us, point a finger to them and said, "What a fool, if i was there, i would never do such stupid thing!" This is the movie that asks, if you're the one who's in their position, are you sure you're gonna do the right thing, or instead you will end up do the stupid thing just like them?
Today the sun is scorching hot, but things are going on as usual at this neighborhood in New York which is predominantly settled by immigrants, such as Latino, Korean, and mostly, black people. Sal's Pizzeria is an Italian food restaurant run by an Italian family which consists of Sal (Danny Aiello), the owner; Pino (John Turturro) and Vito (Richard Edson), his children; and Mookie (Spike Lee), a black man who works there.
One day, Buggin Out (Giancarlo Esposito), Mookie's friend, eats there and he notices that there are no black celebrities in Sal's Wall of Fame which only displays American-Italian celebrities' photographs. He's angry because it's mostly black people who comes to the restaurant, and since black people have spent much money there, they have the right to state what they want. Sal disagrees and Buggin Out threatens to boycott Sal's restaurant until Sal puts black celebrity in his Wall of Fame. What will happen then? Will Sal do what Buggin Out wants? Or will Buggin Out really boycotts Sal's restaurant?
The summary above is a very simplified version of this movie's actual plot. This movie, which is directed and written by Spike Lee, is so unique and complex, it doesn't only tell story of a few characters but a lot of people in a community, it's as if the community itself is the main character. And all the community are involved in movie's ending which is the main event in this movie. Before, i must state that it's hard to discuss the movie without telling the whole story, especially the ending, so, Spoiler Alert!
This movie's theme is about races and racism, whether it's explicit or implicit, so i need to apologize before if you feel uncomfortable reading this writing, but then again, watching the movie you will also feel very uncomfortable, and maybe that's exactly the point. There are things that sometimes are uncomfortable to discuss, so we're just passing by, hope the issues will be forgotten or resolved itself. Often the issues are geting bigger and bigger inside, until it explodes in negative and unhealthy ways. One of that issues is racism. This movie invites us to talk about it in safe and peace environment so we can introspect our own selves.
The movie ends with riot happens and Sal's restaurant are burned by angry mob. Looking backward, the riot is provoked by Mookie who throw a garbage bin into restaurant's front window and break it. Mookie does that as a reaction because his friend, Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn), are killed by police who try to break up the fight between Sal and his children against Radio Raheem, Buggin Out, Smiley (Roger Guenveur Smith), another Mookie's friend, and other black people who happen to be in the restaurant that night. The fight is incited by Sal who destroys Radio Raheem's radio. Sal does that because Raheem turns on the music loudly in the restaurant despite Sal's warning. Raheem does that as a protest because he, along with Smiley, support Buggin Out's boycott. Other black people join the fisticuffs simply because Sal says nigger during the brawl.
Each of them has their own motivation of why they support Buggin Out. Radio Raheem hates Sal because he always tells Raheem to turn off his music in Sal's restaurant. Smiley doesn't hate Sal but he hates Pino who has deep resentment toward black people. It's complicated, right? Now it's not so easy to tell who's right or wrong in this debacle. Looking further backward, seeds of hatred are already exist for a long time in many people's hearts.
Mookie hates Pino because he always abuses him. Pino hates black people because his friends always mock him who works in black neighborhood. A few Latino and black people hate Korean because they envy Korean people who are able to open business in good area. They thought the Korean is eased by the system compare to them, while the fact is, those few Latino and black people are just lazy. A few policemen hate Latino and black people. The Korean hate Jews.
Love and hate always exist in our hearts. We can't completely annihilate either of them. The heat that roast the city is a symbol of hatred that buried deep inside people's heart. Racism isn't always when we blatantly show our hatred toward another races. When we silently hold prejudice or negative thinking against another races, that's also a form of racism. To counter it, we must nourish love in our heart. We must direct our energy toward something positive for the community instead of something destructive. Just like Sal who loves to see people who grow with his food, no matter what their races are.
The irony in this movie is, nobody does the right thing. Everyone chooses the evil in our heart when their conscience is tested. Even Mother Sister (Ruby Dee) who always seems nice gets triggered when Raheem dies. The one people who always does the right thing is Da Mayor (Ossie Davis), a beggar who often belittled by people. He unhesitantly helps a child who almost gets hit by a car. He's also try to break up the fight and stop people from destroying Sal's restaurant and Korean's shop, even after Raheem dies.
After watch this movie, you should ask yourself, if you're the one who's in that situation, will you let the heat gets the better of you, or will you do the right thing?
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