Did Mookie do the right thing?

Did Mookie Do The Right Thing?

“Do the right thing” is a movie by director/actor Spike Lee. The film opens in a “blazing scorcher of a day” in Bed-Sty, Brooklyn. The temperature is not the only thing that’s rising, as the racial tension is also escalating. In the movie, the racial tension is visible as the character “Mookie” (played by Lee, a Pizza delivery boy for Sal’s Pizzeria) goes through the neighborhood delivering pizzas. The viewers get a chance to see the racial tension building as the day goes by. Sal (the owner of Sal’s Pizzeria) he has two sons Vito and Pino. Radio Raheem is a pivotal character who doesn’t talk much but loves his boom box and to play the song “Fight the Power”. “Buggin Out” is one of Mookie’s friends from the neighborhood who walks into Sal’s one day and gets upset because of all the Italian pictures on the wall and no African Americans.
In recent discussions in class, we debated violence vs. non- violence. A controversial issue has been whether Mookie was right or wrong when throwing a trash can through the window of Sal’s Pizzeria. On the one hand, some argue that Mookie was wrong because Sal was his boss and his “friend”, and he had nothing to do with the death of Mookie’s other friend, Radio Raheem. On the other hand, others argue that Mookie did the right thing considering the position he was in. Although violence is ethically problematic, it is sometimes necessary depending on the emotions and the situation.
The character Mookie was ...

Did Mookie do the right thing?

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