What exactly is the Right Thing?
What Spike Lee can teach us about Human Psychology & Prejudice.
Over 30 years after its premiere, Spike Lee’s movie, Do The Right Thing, still offers great insight into the psychology of individual behaviors and group dynamics. To properly evaluate, dissect, and interpret this film would take the length of a novel; however, there are some particularly poignant themes and characters worth taking a deeper look at. Who these characters are, how they behave, and how their groups interact can tell us a lot about ourselves and the dynamics of today’s world. Lee understands, perhaps better than most, that prejudice is complicated and nuanced. Through his characters, he not only shows that complexity but also brilliantly highlights the desire for self-enhancement that exists in everyone and every culture.
A great deal of time and research in the field of psychology has been devoted to discerning the nuance in emotions and the prejudices that can develop from those differing emotions—understanding how and why certain biases form lends to the greater goal of combating them through education. When human beings think of the word “prejudice,” there is typically a negative connotation that exists in relation to the word; however, it is worth noting that prejudices can be either negative or positive. When individuals think of emotions, they can be positive or negative, but it is generally understood that this view lacks much-needed nuance. Negative feelings create a negative bias, while positive feelings create a positive predilection. There are many negative emotions that affect people, and few would argue that being sad is the same as being angry, although both are certainly negative. Few creators better capture the nuance in emotions and prejudice the way that Spike Lee does.
Do the Right Thing has a particular character that really stands out when one thinks about and considers nuances in prejudice. Pino is a young Italian man whose father, Sal, owns a pizzeria in a predominantly Black neighborhood. Both Pino and his younger brother Vito work for their father, as does a young Black man named Mookie, played by Spike Lee himself. Pino is hard-headed, hot-headed, and racist. While he makes his hatred of the pizza shop and the neighborhood very clear, there are several moments that shed light on where his hatred and prejudice come from.
In one emotionally subtle and deep scene, Pino urges his father to sell the family business so that they can leave and work in an area where he thinks they will fit in better. He says that they should stay in their own neighborhood with their own kind. Amongst his racial slurs, he makes it known that his friends laugh at him and mock him because of the location of the family business. Here, it is made clear that his prejudice doesn’t come from a feeling of superiority; it actually comes from a feeling of inferiority. He is embarrassed and has been ostracized, causing him to lash out because of these feelings and for his negative prejudice to take hold.
Another moment that highlights Pino’s dedication to his prejudice against the Black community comes when he is confronted by Mookie about his entertainment tastes. Mookie correctly points out that, while Pino looks down on and speaks terribly about the Black people in the neighborhood, some of his favorite athletes and entertainers are Black. A prejudice is a misconception that can not be corrected with new information, and this moment perfectly highlights how deeply ingrained Pino’s prejudice is. He is unable to admit that there is any hypocrisy in his feelings or actions and goes so far as to say that someone like Magic Johnson or the other celebrities mentioned aren't “really” Black or that they are somehow different because they are successful. His complex emotions have created a prejudice so deep that he can not view successful people as a part of the same group that he harbors hate for. This brings us to another very interesting psychological concept that Spike Lee seems to be acutely aware of throughout this narrative.
While Pino is an excellent character for those who want insight into how racism and hate can develop or the emotional nuance present within hate and prejudice, there is another psychological concept that Lee masterfully weaves across his entire narrative. That is the notion of self-enhancement. It is the idea that an individual will seek to promote or “enhance” the view of themself or the group they belong to. Among an eclectic and diverse cast, self-enhancement is a trait that many of the characters share, as is prejudice against the other groups.
We see this when Mookie expresses disappointment that his son is named Hector, a name associated with his girlfriend Tina’s Hispanic culture and not his. It is also seen when Mookie tells his sister not to see Sal because he doesn’t like how friendly they are. The Black residents speak poorly of the Korean family that owns the grocery store and harass them continually. The Puerto Ricans think their music is better and should be played louder than Public Enemy. The Character of Radio Raheem believes that nothing is better than Public Enemy and loudly plays Fight the Power on his boombox all day wherever he goes. In short, everyone is out to show that there is a group lower than theirs and that their group should be thought of in higher regard. Nowhere is this clearer than in the story's central conflict.
Buggin Out is a young Black man who lives in the neighborhood and takes offense to Sal’s Wall of Fame, a wall in the pizzeria showcasing famous and successful Italian Americans. He feels that the wall should include noteworthy Black Americans since the pizzeria is located in a predominantly Black neighborhood and serves customers that are mostly Black. This is far from his only conflict in the film. He is portrayed as angry and interested in a fight on the surface level, but ultimately, his goal is one of recognition and inclusion. He, just like many of the other characters, is seeking validation and an elevation of the group that he belongs to. Sal has a wall of notable Italian Americans because he is an Italian American and shares a sense of pride in the accomplishments of that group. Buggin Out, as a Black man, feels the same sense of pride in the accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr. or Jesse Jackson.
In fact, this idea of sharing in accomplishments as a collective group is so excellently woven into this movie that it is seen and expressed even in the clothing choices. Mookie is seen in the beginning wearing a Michael Jordan jersey before changing into the Jackie Robinson Dodgers jersey he wears throughout the remainder of the film. Another character we frequently see spends the day sporting a Magic Johnson Lakers jersey. This is a subtle touch that mirrors what individuals do all of the time throughout their day, paying tribute to noteworthy members of their community or group. It is fitting that Spike Lee cast himself in the lead role through which we follow the events of the day and learn about the community. He is subtly trying to tell the audience what he already knows about people and society.
At the end of the film, after a blisteringly hot day and tragic night of violence and death, the audience is left wondering the same thing as the characters: what is the right thing? It is a question as relevant in 2021, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter Movement and the senseless deaths in the Black community, as it was in 1989. Knowing how to have our own feelings of inclusion met and how to recognize the biases that shape our choices is something that is relevant regardless of the decade. Understanding the prejudices we all hold is a key component in educating individuals on how to navigate an increasingly diverse world. Recognizing the motives and emotions that create both positive and negative prejudices is the first step towards changing and combating some of their more harmful effects. Psychology, after many years and a lot of work, has the tools to help us understand some of the concepts and reasons for our complicated relationship with prejudice; it turns out so does Spike Lee.
References & Further Reading:
Allport, G. W., Clark, K., & Pettigrew, T. F. (2015). The nature of prejudice. New York: Basic Books.
Bodenhausen, G. V. (1990). Stereotypes as Judgmental Heuristics: Evidence of Circadian Variations in Discrimination. Psychological Science, 1(5), 319-322. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.1990.tb00226.x
Neuberg, S. L. (n.d.). Module 3: Mental Efficiency & Self-Enhancement. Lecture presented at PPS 503: Prejudice, Stereotypes, and Intergroup Relations in ASU, Tempe, Arizona.
Lee, S. (Director). (1989). Do the Right Thing [Motion picture]. United States: Universal Pictures.