English 1100
9/7/17
Professor Young
In Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, we see many examples of violence shown throughout the script. One of the main conflicts we see is in Salvatore "Sal"'s Pizzeria when Buggin' Out is looking at all the various framed posters on the Wall of Fame in the restaurant and notices that there are no famous black people on the wall, which causes him to lose control or "bug out".
Taken from page 77 of the script:
SAL
"What did I tell you 'bout dat noise?"
BUGGIN' OUT
"What did I tell you 'bout dem pictures?"
SAL
"What da f***! Are you deaf?"
BUGGIN' OUT
"No, are you? We want some black people up on the Wall of Fame."
This scene in the script then continues to show the argument that goes on between Sal and Buggin' Out. Eventually, Radio Raheem gets involved which prompts Sal to get aggressive and smash Radio Raheem's boom box to smithereens. Radio Raheem then proceeds to beat up Sal, who is almost saved by his two sons, Vito and Pino. Nevertheless, they continue to fight mercilessly on the street until Da Mayor and Da Cops show up.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s quote: "Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys a community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends by defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers. 1988
Dr. Martin Luther King, had strong opinions and views on society. He seemed as though he genuinely wanted the world to prosper and have everyone come together. His ideas on violence and hate were noticed by everyone and people looked up to him and respected his positivity and love. The beginning of the quote "Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love", reminded me of Radio Raheem's two rings. On the left ring, the word "love" was displayed, while the word "hate" was displayed on the right. Radio Raheem believed that anyone would see these two words and take them for their literal meanings, except for him. He wanted to go beyond how people would see love and hate, as he would see both words as violent, aggressive attackers that would always be at war with one another, both sides losing in every battle.
I believe that's how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. saw the world at times. As much as he wanted to believe and enforce both nonviolence and positivity among society, he must have known that there would always be a constant battle between love and hate. That people would either choose sides for the sake of taking a side, or just disagree with someone for the sake of disagreeing. Though nowadays, with political and social issues taking over the globe, such as transgender love and the Charlottesville Terror incident, it's becoming abundantly clear that not everyone will be on the same side. Some people will show support and be as positive as they can, while others will show violence and hatred on their opposers just because they do not agree with their opinions.
The ideas that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had on non-violence and love did have a lasting impact on a majority of people, but they unfortunately were not strong enough to carry onto the other people who believed more in violence and hate. This also influenced Radio Raheem's opinions on love and hate, as he has taken the original meaning of both words out and tried to pin them as equals. Love and hate: Savage killers who will not stop fighting until one loses; though it will be a war that never stops going.
Meghan, you've done a good job of getting your ideas down onto paper, but you need to more fully connect keywords from the quote to your analysis to show how they relate.
ReplyDeleteHow can you do this?
Respond when you can.
--Prof. Young
When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. states, "Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love," he believes that most, if not all, use violent actions to shape the community and themselves. It is always going to be there, whether used for good or evil. It is easier for mankind to do the wrong thing and use violence as a means of extorting information from others, than to do right and use it as a defense mechanism, which to a point, is also unjust. Society was constructed on both feelings, hate and love. It's a moral shame that millions of people resort to hate, anger and violence as a means of coming off as "tough" or "manly/womanly", in order to present that image of themselves to the world and have everyone they encounter bow before them.
ReplyDeleteWhen Radio Raheem presents his rings to Mookie, he first shows off the one on his left hand that says "LOVE." Radio Raheem tells Mookie, "It was with this hand that Brother Cain iced his brother. LOVE!" Raheem refers to the infamous duo, Cain and Abel, sons of Adam and Eve. He believes that the fights and arguments Cain had with Abel were signs of love, yet when he holds up his right hand, he shows the "HATE" ring to Mookie. Raheem tells Mookie, "See these fingers, they lead straight to the soul of man. The right hand. The hand of LOVE!... STATIC! One hand is always fighting the other. Left Hand Hate is kicking much a** and it looks like Right Hand Love is finished. Hold up. Stop the presses! Love is coming back, yes, it's Love. Love has won. Left Hand Hate KO'ed by Love." Radio Raheem understands that love and hate will always be at war with each other, but has different views on what is considered as "love." When he mentions Cain and Abel, he uses the term "iced" which means "to get killed and die", which is perplexing to me, as it seems that when Cain killed Abel, that was out of love? Radio Raheem seems to find hidden love and pleasure in that, which struck out at me when rereading the script.