The Emory Cinematheque Presents: DO THE RIGHT THING (1989)

Directed by Spike Lee
1989 | 120 min. | DCP
Introduced by Dr. Miriam Petty (Northwestern University)
Do the Right Thing is one of Spike Lee’s most powerful films and addresses the lasting impact of racist ideology on African-American and larger U.S. communities, especially within communities where many people must live together. Lee battled with Paramount over the budget and script—issues that were not resolved. He finally ended up getting a deal with Universal Studios along with final cut approval—something he felt committed to having based on the marketing fiasco with School Daze. Do the Right Thing is Lee’s first union film—meaning, the first time he would use a union crew. With some wrangling, he secured a number of African-Americans into the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union, most who had been formerly excluded.
Do the Right Thing, in many people’s minds, is the film that launched Lee into the company of great American filmmakers, as opposed to regulated to just African-American filmmakers. For 1989, it was the year’s most controversial film and received an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay but not Best Picture. The slight Lee received by the Motion Picture Academy still reverberates in critical discussions of the film award industry.
Beyond the heft of the film itself, film scholar William Grant talks about the economic/production struggles Lee encountered to get it made. Grant writes: “The merchandising of DTRT, as with Lee’s two earlier films, was to be handled by his production company, Forty Acres and a Mule Filmworks. There had been companion volumes to the earlier films…and widespread marketing via T-shirts, sound tracks, buttons, letter jackets, and baseball caps. Lee’s comment, ‘Somebody wearing your T-shirt is a walking billboard…’.”
The film stars Samuel L. Jackson, John Tuturro, Spike Lee, and introduces Rosie Perez. Do the Right Thing will be introduced by film scholar Dr. Miriam Petty of Northwestern University who appears as part of the inaugural Evalene Parsons Jackson Speakers series.
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The Emory Cinematheque is a theatrical venue offered by Emory University’s Department of Film and Media. Each semester on Wednesday nights at 7:30pm in White Hall 208, the Cinematheque hosts professional screenings introduced by Emory professors and special guests. All Cinematheque events are free and open to the public. The Cinematheque presents this screening event as part of our series, 40 YEARS OF BROTHER SPIKE LEE, a retrospective of the trailblazing director curated by Emory Professor of Film and Media, Beretta E. Smith-Shomade.