Double Feature: Do The Right Thing x DICK
Just like, hear me out okay?
I don’t care about the 4th of July.
I’ve never been some super patriotic person, even during the Olympics, I’m kinda just rooting for anyone Black or with the cutest skating routine.
I am mostly excited this weekend to spend alone time with my love, to stuff my tummy with grilled cheeseburgers, Polish sausages, and iced Red, White, and Blue lollies, and to light a firework if I can get my hand on one.
But two movies come to mind when I think about this holiday—Spike Lee’s 1989 film, Do The Right Thing and Andrew Fleming’s 1999 film, DICK.
I know it seems weird at first, BUT HEAR ME OUT BABES!!
The films speak to each other in hella interesting ways. It’s obvious that the tone of each is deeply different, one being constantly playful and satirical. The other being playful at times, but ultimately a portrayal of horrifying lived experiences of many folks (still), but both in their own ways put America itself under a bit of a microscope in eras (DICK = The 1970s, Do The Right Thing = The 1980s) where so much was going on.
I’m not saying these movies are THE SAME, I’m saying that these two films that I like and think about during this holiday, can be in conversation with each other.
Do The Right Thing looks at racism and inequality through the lens of a Brooklyn neighborhood on the hottest day of the year, while DICK looks at corruption through the eyes of two white teenage girls on a bigger level in Washington. I think both films use their characters, regular degular every day ass people, to show how folks approach politics and patriotism TEW THIS DAY.
There are folks like Buggin’ Out (Giancarlo “never not had a job” Esposito) who are actively fighting the fight, folks like Mookie (Spike Lee) who just wanna get through the day until something happens where they GOTTA do something, then you got folks like Arlene (Kirsten Dunst) and Betsy (Michelle Williams) who are so unaware of what’s going on, stumble into the realities of what is, and then let that fall guide them into making a difference.
Being politically engaged looks different to folks.
I know that I can be doing much better at being more aware of what is going on, it gets hard for me because, well, so much is always going on and there is just so much bad news all the time constantly. That’s not a good reason to not stay aware, I’ve just got to figure out better ways of how (and when) to consume, and I also don’t like feeling embarrassed when I don’t know about something someone is talking about so, you know, self shaming works I guess!
For some things that hit closer to home, I’m Buggin’ Out. If it has to do with queerness, trans folks, abortions, our bodies, or what happens to people who hurt our bodies, I’m far more aware. Because just like Buggin’ Out felt about not seeing Black faces on the walls of Sal’s, that stuff affects me and my heart directly.
But I think because of the blend of myself and the life I’ve had so far—being queer, being Black, being a woman, growing up broke, coming from parents who were addicts, growing up religious, SA constantly appearing in my life, and so much more—that it feels overwhelming to feel so strongly about so much all the time.
But, I also don’t want to be so neutral that I’m Mookie. I don’t want to be so caught up in the “trying to get by” of my own life, that I don’t really have time or the mental capacity to get involved with (or stay aware of) what’s going on around me. ANNNDDDDD I also don’t want to wait for something SO BIG, SO CLOSE TO ME to happen for me to notice more or create space either.
When Raheem is killed, Mookie is no longer able to be so conflicted. When Betsy and Arlene hear Nixon being horrible on tape, their rose colored glasses come off. Mookie starts shit at Sal’s…and the girls take the president down.
Like Arlene and Betsy, I’ve been empowered by and proud of politicians and then immediately let down by them. I joke a lot, but I’ve been thinking more about Mamdani these days. Someone I can see doing actual changes, but who I also know is going to make mistakes too. I believe in him, but more importantly, I believe in what he represents.
He makes a woman like me, who is this blend of all these characters in these films, not feel silly about still occasionally thinking that while things are so, so bad, there is so much space for it to go so, so, right. Even if it’s just in my neighborhood, even if it’s just in my house, even if it’s just in a text between me and my best friend.
So, while I’m not patriotic and I do not give a flying fuck about the 4th of July, I do believe that films—even two that you didn’t really imagine watching together—can make you think a bit more about everything. Like who you are, where you stand, what you can do more of, and what you believe in.
Happy watching, happy eating, and happy random long weekend where we give small children access to fire that they can hold in their hands.
See ya hunni!
I Write, You Read
Loved you put these two films in the same convo! Yes, it's all about perspective. And also, thank you, for making me feel I am no longer the only Black person in the world who thought Dick was brilliant!😂
I saw the vision as soon as I read the title!! Loved this.