Summer of Sam is interesting because it might be his only ensemble movie that basically focused on a mainly white cast. But yet again the male characters were basically all pigs, with the exception of Adrian Brody who was bi-sexual instead, and the women were pretty two dimensional.

I agree with the idea that the movie’s, and Spike’s, greatest legacy is that he unwittingly created a time capsule of a very specific time in NYC history. Basically the 5 year period between Howard Beach and Crown Heights where it looked like it all might go to Hell at any second. But like Alex says, that might make him an essential figure of his time just not a particularly great director.

Inside Man was effing awesome though.

But I’m less interested in politics, in broad statements, in being riled-up by propaganda than I am in the more subtle, complicated craft of story and narrative.

I think Spike is a hype artist and this is his lasting cinematic achievement but I don’t think it taught me anything about race or culture. Like Taxi Driver, it does say something about a time and a place and how some people (the creative team) felt about it.

In a way I’m overly critical now of the movie looking back because I don’t think that Spike grew very much as a filmmaker after that. Not that his entire output is rubbish, far from that, but for a moment there, his movies were events–at least in NYC–and I don’t think he really built on that.

I think his lasting achievement–which is nothing minor–will be putting black faces and stories on the screen, dark black men and women kissing and screwing and fighting and living their lives. That’s a big deal. He’s certainly a trailblazer. I just think he’s a mediocre director and his weaknesses twenty years ago remain today, and now he’s no longer timely.

I love this film..I think it captured so much of what NYC was like in my youth. I showed it to Mrs. Jazz and while some of the racial dynamics were hard for her to understand, she thought it was still very powerful…

[8] I agree with you msoctober, “racism” involves the power of one group over another, it is a different beast to “prejudice”, though they are intertwined.

[21] Raging, I was wondering about that…I thought the chracter of “Sal” was very complex, but in “Summer of Sam” (which I did enjoy) too many of the Italian chracters seemed to be paper-thin stereotypes..I wonder though how people like John Tuturro and other regulars in Spike’s films feel about his presentation of Italians-Americans..

And for the record, I knew the Yanks were gonna come back in the ninth last night. And I knew it in the fourth.

Peace, love and good movies.

But for all its flaws – it was just so vibrant and alive and got people interested in seriously discussing movies and their part in society. I’ll forever love it for starting a great dialogue, not just about race, but about the movies themselves.

I don’t think Lee ever came close to it again.

LOL

The opening scene is the best. Plus Sweet Dick Willy.

It’s a sort of annoying thing when people redefine words because it confuses things. He ought to just have said yeah blacks can be racist but it’s meaningless most of the time because they aren’t in a position of power. But he had to be controversial!

Also, in regards to a lot of comments above, it’s probably best to ignore a lot of what Spike says about this movie. I think it’s safe to say by the reactions of many people that it contains far more than he intended, and I wouldn’t give his opinions too much credence. They limit the movie’s thematic richness, frankly.

Anyway I think Do the Right Thing is a great movie. Sometimes I take issue with the idea of things being “flawed”, as if perfection is the one thing worth striving for. 9 times out of 10 I’d prefer a mighty, “flawed” movie to a pusillanimous, “perfect” movie. It’s nice to have both I guess but I don’t believe in giving demerits for imperfection.

Oh and the opening credits of this movie are spectacular.

It makes sense when you take into account the influence events like Howard Beach and Yusuf Hawkins had on his film making, plus the changing demographics of places like BedStuy when he was growing up (I’m sure he had his fair share of unpleasant experiences as a kid with classmates whose names ended in vowels). But when you look at Do The Right Thing, Jungle Fever, and Summer of Sam he sure does seem to have some baggage there.

Yeah, but still. It started when Raheem went into Sal’s and refused repeated requests to turn his radio down. Sal eventually took a bat to it, and all hell broke loose.

I don’t agree that Sal was racist. At the very least, he may be bigoted (and even that’s a stretch). Pino, OTOH…

[17] I thought that was the case.