History Film / DoTheRightThing

A 1989 Creator/SpikeLee [[InsistentTerminology joint]] about bigotry and racism. Often considered one of Lee's signature films, it's known as much for its content and ever-relevant themes as it is for its initial controversial reception among audiences and for being [[AwardSnub snubbed]] at the Oscars in favor of ''Film/DrivingMissDaisy''.

* DisasterDominoes: A petty argument about a character's choice of decoration snowballs into [[spoiler:a full-blown race riot]]. Buggin' Out attempts to start a boycott on Sal's pizzeria because Sal won't put up pictures of black people on his Wall of Fame. [[spoiler: He succeeds in getting Radio Raheem and Smiley on the protest, and they begin protesting Sal, which led to Sal breaking Radio Raheem's radio, which led to Raheem's attack on Sal, which led to the cops showing up and killing Radio Raheem, which led to Mookie starting a riot by throwing a trash can at Sal's pizzeria, which led to the pizzeria being burnt down...over some pictures]]. Everything that happened in the spoilered part was bad, but none of it would've happened if Buggin' Out and Sal weren't so [[MinorInsultMeltdown utterly stubborn]] about the pictures.

* ForWantOfANail: A petty argument about a character's choice of decoration snowballs into [[spoiler:a full-blown race riot]]. Buggin' Out attempts to start a boycott on Sal's pizzeria because Sal won't put up pictures of black people on his Wall of Fame. [[spoiler: He succeeds in getting Radio Raheem and Smiley on the protest, and they begin protesting Sal, which led to Sal breaking Radio Raheem's radio, which led to Raheem's attack on Sal, which led to the cops showing up and killing Radio Raheem, which led to Mookie starting a riot by throwing a trash can at Sal's pizzeria, which led to the pizzeria being burnt down...over some pictures]]. Everything that happened in the spoilered part was bad, but none of it would've happened if Buggin' Out and Sal weren't so [[MinorInsultMeltdown utterly stubborn]] about the pictures.

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: When Mookie and Vito are talking about Pino, you can see [[Creator/SamuelLJackson Mister Señor Love Daddy]] gesturing wildly from the radio station to try and get their attention (as Mookie is supposed to be delivering his lunch).

* HairTriggerTemper: Buggin' Out, Pino and Sal. The former gets riled up so easily, that scuffing his sneakers has him railing the culprit for nearly two minutes![[note]]The fact that the culprit was white may play a big part in it.[[/note]] Sure enough, a petty argument between Buggin' Out and Sal at the latter's pizzeria, and their inability to let the issue go, eventually builds up into a literally explosive scenario in the neighborhood by the end of the film.

* ButNotTooBlack: Mookie gets Pino to admit that 1) his favorite basketball player is Magic Johnson, 2) his favorite actor is Creator/EddieMurphy, and 3) his favorite musician is Music/{{Prince}}. When Mookie calls him out on his hypocrisy of referring to every black person he encounters as a "Nigger", Pino [[OpinionFlipflop backtracks]] and says "They're different".

** Pino. He is a racist who barely bothers hiding his racism, and hates working in his dad's pizzeria to the point where he outright refuses to sweep up front and constantly asks someone else to do so. He's very disrespectful to even his own brother, and especially to the people in the neighborhood (Mookie, Smiley, etc.). In a [[HypocriticalHumor twist]] of {{irony}} though, his favorite celebrities are Creator/EddieMurphy, Magic Johnson and Prince, only so liked because according to Pino, they're [[ButNotTooBlack 'different']]. Also, his racism might be explained away by his [[WithFriendsLikeThese 'friends']] barely tolerating him because he's the son of Sal and otherwise hating on him, though not excused.

* EveryoneHasStandards: Sal ''might'' be a racist, but any prejudice he has is nowhere close to the outfight bigotry of his son Pino, whom he admonishes for this.

* AmbiguousDisorder: It is unclear (and ultimately irrelevant) whether Smiley is autistic or mentally disabled. Radio Raheem may also have some mental or behavioral issues, with a mild autism-spectrum case being a commonly floated fan theory.

* OnlySaneMan: Da Mayor. Following [[spoiler:Radio's death,]] the former tries to dissuade the mob from doing something they'll later regret. [[spoiler: They don't listen]].

* EntitledBastard: Mookie starts [[spoiler:a riot that burns down his employer's place of business,]] then has the gall to go back the next day and demand his paycheck.

** Mookie, who [[spoiler: seemingly suffers no punishment for starting the riot that led to the destruction of Sal's Famous. However, considering that unless Sal reconciles with him, Mookie has only 500 dollars to spend wisely for his family now that he's without a job and one of his best friends is dead, so it's still hard to call the end of his story a happy one.]]

** Despite his racism towards African-Americans, Pino's favourite singer is Music/{{Prince}}.

* AmbiguousDisorder: It is unclear (and ultimately irrelevant) whether Smiley is autistic or mentally disabled.

''Always [[TitleDrop do the right thing]].''

* ForWantOfANail: A petty argument about a character's choice of decoration snowballs into [[spoiler:a full-blown race riot]]. Buggin' Out attempts to start a boycott on Sal's pizzeria because Sal won't put up pictures of black people on his Wall of Fame. [[spoiler: He succeeds in getting Radio Raheem and Smiley on the protest, and they begin protesting Sal, which led to Sal breaking Radio Raheem's radio, which led to Raheem's attack on Sal, which led to the cops showing up and killing Radio Raheem, which led to Mookie starting a riot by throwing a trash can at Sal's pizzeria, which led to the pizzeria being burnt down...over some pictures]]. Everything that happened in the spoilered part was bad, but none of it would've happened if Buggin' Out wasn't so [[MinorInsultMeltdown insistent]] on the pictures.

* GreyAndGreyMorality: Many of the main characters are of questionable morals [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation and their actions can be interpreted one way or another.]] Mookie is something of a slacker but clearly cares for his son and is respected in the community. Pino is a {{jerkass}} whose own friends don't respect him, but he clearly loves his father and brother. Buggin' Out is a militant [[MalcolmXerox Malcolm X wannabe]] whose righteous anger at the world's injustices is misdirected at Sal, who despite his fiery temper and repressed racism has never really acted on his prejudice or wronged anyone in the community.

* GreyAndGreyMorality: Many of the main characters are of questionable morals [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation and their actions can be interpreted one way or another.]] Mookie is not a hard worker but clearly cares for his son and is respected in the community, Pino is a {{jerkass}} whose own friends don't respect him, but he clearly loves his father and brother, Buggin' Out is a black militant [[MalcolmXerox Malcolm X wannabe]] who could be a good character but misdirects his ideals of black justice at Sal, who never did anything wrong to anyone, and Sal himself is a decent man who can’t control his temper and has some latent racist tendencies.

* AngryBlackMan: One could say that there are a few (particularly Buggin' Out), but the trope is somewhat inverted when one black man ("Sweet Dick" Willie) tells another ("ML") who is spouting ABM language that he "doesn't want to hear that horseshit." In the commentary track for the DVD release, Spike Lee specifically notes that when Buggin' Out begins ranting about the pictures in the pizzeria, that he disagrees with the character, saying that it's Sal's place, so it's his right to put whatever pictures he likes on the walls.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Creator/SamuelLJackson gets one--Mister Señor Love Daddy--as is his due.

* DisproportionateRetribution: [[spoiler: Raheem being murdered by the NYCPD officer for his assault on Sal]].

* DisproportionateRetribution: [[spoiler: Raheem being murdered in cold blood by the NYCPD officer for his assault on Sal]].

* PoliceAreUseless: An Italian guy's car is soaked by some black kids messing with a fire hydrant. What do New York City's finest do ? Put the cap back on the hydrant, mock the guy's attempts to make a report for vandalization, and suggest he take off before the locals decide to strip his car clean.

** [[spoiler: Done by Da Mayor when Mookie throws a trash can through a window of Sal's Pizzeria, sparking the climatic riot.]]

* AngryBlackMan: One could say that there are a few (particularly Buggin' Out), but the trope is somewhat inverted when one black man ("Sweet Dick" Willie) tells another ("ML") whom is spouting ABM language that he "doesn't want to hear that horseshit." In the commentary track for the DVD release, Spike Lee specifically notes that when Buggin' Out begins ranting about the pictures in the pizzeria, that he disagrees with the character, saying that it's Sal's place, so it's his right to put whatever pictures he likes on the walls.

* HairTriggerTemper: Buggin' Out, Pino and Sal. The former gets riled up so easily, that scuffing his sneakers has him [[RantInducingSlight railing the culprit for nearly two minutes!]][[note]]The fact that the culprit was white may play a big part in it.[[/note]] Sure enough, a petty argument between Buggin' Out and Sal at the latter's pizzeria, and their inability to let the issue go, eventually builds up into a literally explosive scenario in the neighborhood by the end of the film.

* RantInducingSlight: Buggin' Out gets his sneakers scuffed accidentally by a white cyclist living in the neighborhood, and it draws a full-blown tirade at him for the offence, egged on by the local teenagers, even after the latter apologizes. Buggin' Out eventually starts raving on about how the cyclist is a gentrifier and not supposed to live in his neighborhood, while the cyclist - at first nonplussed, eventually gets bored of his tirade, and heads home.