Radio A Hero example essay topic

"Do The Right Thing" Essay Think harder. We want you to think harder and have more insightful thoughts in this English class. Think outside the lines. These were a few of the phrases that I have heard since I have heard since I began my adventure into English 101. So when I was asked to write a paper dealing with Spike Lee's masterpiece, "Do The Right Thing", I chose to expand my thinking past all the normal themes. Sure, the normal themes are great, and you can't go wrong with general.

In a pinch, take general over adventurous each and every time. Nothing wrong with being safe. What are some "safe" themes that occur in "Do The Right Thing?" Racism is one, and it's present throughout the movie. However, this is a tired subject, thus has been written about by more authors than I care to count. Discrimination? Sorry, this is just a subdivision of racism, this one has had a few papers written about it as well.

Those were all excellent choices for a paper, and I'm sure that someone has won a Pulitzer for them, so let's leave those topics alone. Hawk 2 My best friend, John Frerichs, once told me, "Dare to be different". I thought that I would take John's advice for this paper, seeing as how he is at Duke, and I'm at WWU. I figure that alone has to mean he knows what he is talking about.

Now pay close attention, this is where the paper takes a turn for the better. What does almost every movie have? Look beyond the great special effects and beautiful actors. Look at the script, still can't figure it out? Here are a few clues: Batman and Joker, Sherlock Holmes and Moria rdi, Cinderella and Evil Stepmother. Notice the similarities?

Heroes and villains. In Lee's "Do The Right Thing", no clear hero or villain clearly emerges. Some would argue that a clear villain were the police that kill Radio Raheem. However how do you explain the one police officer screaming "that's enough", as his partner chokes Radio with his nightstick?

Now perhaps the other cop is terrified beyond all things sacred because he is engulfed by a mob and the pizzeria is on fire. Sorry, according to my philosophy professor, that isn't a valid argument. Hawk 3 It contains too many holes, and doesn't have enough facts to support the theory that the police are the villains of the movie. Others would argue that Mookie is a villain because of the damage that he causes when he shatters the window of Sal's pizzeria with the garbage can. This is a flawed argument because we are made to like Mookie from the beginning of the movie, Sal himself refers to Mookie as "like a son to me". Now for the heroes.

Possible contestants? Radio Raheem comes to my mind. Let's test his character, and see if he can be a true hero. First off, he is far from blameless in his death. He plays his radio at levels that could be heard by my dead grandmother. In fact, this noise is so loud; it drives not only Sal crazy, but the three old African Americans sitting on the corner.

Second, he wears steel knuckles that spell out "Love" and "Hate". A trained movie veteran will notice that Radio is by all accounts harmless, and the knuckles are just a thing of show. The knuckles may have been just for show, but they did look bad Hawk 4 to the police officers, not that they took the time to notice however. They saw a black man fighting with a white man, and being white police officers, they assumed that the black man was at fault.

They had no clue that Sal had just smashed Radio's boom box into a thousand pieces with a baseball bat, therefore provoking Radio to seek some payback for the destruction of his precious boom box. These actions don't make Radio a hero however, and thus stabilize my thesis that no real heroes or villains take firm hold in Lee's "Do The Right Thing". The no hero or villain theme isn't as obvious as the racism theme. However, I believe that it bears as much power on the story as the racism theme. I picked this topic because I wanted to challenge myself with this essay. I fell good about the product of my challenge and hard work.

In closing, I believe this paper was an interesting read because it made you think outside of the racism theme, and really analyze the other themes of the movie.