Is gentrification okay? In Spike Lee’s film, ‘Do the Right Thing’, he displays scene of gentrification stating that is creating high racial tension. Lee predicted the gentrification 25 years early by exploring the issues. An early time that people did not know what really was gentrification the only people who knew about it were the people who were going through it, the minority groups the ones that are getting pushed out of their community. By reminding us of the past Lee is trying to change our future.
During the timing of the film being filmed, it was the summer of 1989. Throughout the 1980s New York reached its peak with a crime especially the minority groups. Spike Lee the director behind the controversial film foreshadowed gentrification, a process where lower-income run downtown is conformed into a middle-class liking. The taken place of this film was shot in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, a neighborhood of minorities with rising racial tensions. With characters representing real-life people living in the neighborhood representing different races across the world such as African Americans, Koreans, Puerto Ricans, and Italians.
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Gentrification has two challenges that bloom for the big problem one being economic and economically portrayed with Koreans and Italians, Americans being the Koreans being new in the town and running a grocery store with only being around for 2 months. Their success of being freshly moved into a whole new country and becoming economically stable whether as on the other hand people in the community living there their whole life barely passing and falling into poverty. Another example is Sal and his pizzeria being economically stable with being the only food place that is located in the neighborhood.
The second challenge in gentrification is cultural wise, a scene that captures this problem is when a white male named Clifton steps on Bugging Out brand new Jordans. This scene demonstrates the angry Bugging Out has toward Clifton because he thinks he belongs in a white town such as something Massachusetts not in his racially populated black town. He strongly states his opinion and blaming gentrification for having a white guy living in Bed-Study. The infamous quote Bugging Out says, “Motherfucker gentrification”. Clifton backs himself up by saying, “I understand this a free country. A man can live whatever he wants to”.
Gentrification comes with its consequences. All people who come in counter with this worldly society problem deal with it differently. This applies to two famous activists of the Civil Rights Movement, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. They both have two different perspectives on how to deal with this type of situation such as Malcolm’s view being using violence and Martin standing against the usage of violence. With scuffing of the Jordans Bugging Out does not use violence that advocated Malcolm X, he instead just angrily used his voice to state his feelings. The scene also demonstrated spot on the lack of communication between the two races.
Spike Lee’s film ‘Do the Right Thing’ portrays the trying of standing up for character itself and for their race. The tiredness of seeing another injustice being stomp on again and being alienated due to the color of the skin or where you come from. After 25 years that the film has been released breaking the racial tension and shining the spotlight on gentrification for current racial problems. Will this continue for another 25 years?
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