Blog One. Do The Right Thing. "Free? What The Hell You Talking About? There's No Free Here."

"I gotta get paid." Mookie

"I'm gonna kill somebody today." Sal

BUGGIN' OUT. Sal, how come you ain't got no brothers up on the wall here?
SAL. You want brothers up on the Wall of Fame, you open up your own business, then you can do what you wanna do. You can put your brothers and uncles and nieces and nephews, your stepfather, your stepmother, whoever you want. My pizzeria, American Italians up on the wall.
BUGGIN' OUT. Sal, that might be fine, you own this, but rarely do I see any American Italians eating in here. All I've ever seen is Black folks. So since we spend much money here, we do have some say.
SAL. You looking for trouble? Are you a troublemaker, is that what you are?


OFFICER LONG. Keep this hydrant off. You want to swim, go to Coney Island.
CHARLIE. [Da Mayor's] leaving? What about me?
OFFICER PONTE. I suggest you get in your car quick, before these people start to strip it clean.




SAL.  That guy's your friend, right. If I'm wrong tell me. He your friend?
MOOKIE.  He's my friend.
SAL.  If he don't behave, I don't want him in here anymore.  He's out.
MOOKIE.  I can't do nothin' with him.
PINO.  You talk some brother talk to him.
MOOKIE.  Brother talk? Look, people are free to do whahtever the hell they want.
SAL.  Free? What the hell you talking about? Free? There's no free here. No freedom. I'm the boss. You want freedom? There's, that's free. Take an order, and take it out.

I've seen this film at least 12 times—I saw it when it came out in 1989—and so I can recite dialogue before the characters say it.  I still find this an amazing work, more so considering Spike Lee was all of 32 when he made it. It's a movie that is so alive and vibrant, from the credit sequence with Rosie Perez literally in our face and Public Enemy's "Fight The Power" blasting, to the bright colors worn by the young people to the blood red wall behind the corner men. The movie just explodes off the screen (blu-ray was tailor made for this film). At the same time, we're not allowed to feel comfortable and settled: there's so much seething emotion in the characters, so much anger and hate and suspicion and distrust. If this is America as United Nations, it's a UN riven by discord. I know what's going to happen—and every time I see it, I find myself wishing it will end up differently. 

So:

1. Reaction to what you saw today? Like? Dislike? Some other response? What scene or moment particularly jumped at you and why?

2. Spike Lee makes his characters complicated. Mookie is our "hero," so to speak, but arguably there is nothing heroic about him. Buggin' Out fancies himself a revolutionary—"boycott Sal's!"—but is what he wants going to affect any of the real issues facing this poor community? Which character did you either find yourself most drawn to—or must distanced or repulsed by? And why?

3. Do The Right Thing is about....
Finish the statement, and explain your answer.

Write a couple hundred words for these three questions. Follow grammatical conventions. Not a tweet, guys. Have this done by 8:30 tomorrow morning.

Here's the original trailer.

See you all tomorrow.

Blog #6. Wit. 41-53. "Now I Find The Image Of 'My Minute's Last Point' A Little Too, Shall We Say, Pointed."

"Use your eyes." Kelekian to the students (40).

JASON. Oh. Jeeze. Clinical. Professor Bearing. How are you feeling today?
VIVIAN. (Very sick) Fine. Just shaking sometimes from the chills.
JASON. IV will kick in anytime now. No problem. Listen, gotta go. Keep pushing the fluids. (47)

"If arsenic and serpents are not damned, then why is he? In asking the question, the speaker turns eternal damnation into an intellectual game. Who would God choose to do what is hard, to condemn, rather than what is easy, and also glorious—to show mercy?" (49-50)

Neutropenia (noo-troe-PEE-nee-uh) is an abnormally low count of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell that helps fight off infections, particularly those caused by bacteria and fungi. (Mayo Clinic definition)

I've been keeping a dictionary close while reading this. I hope you have too.

So now we know that the tumor "the size of a grapefruit" (47) is not responding to the treatment. Now we now that Vivian is imperiled not by the cancer but by the treatment itself. Now we know that she is in terrible pain. Now we know she suspects she is dying.

1. A Thrower-kind-of-check-in. Your reaction to the play right now? What is it about to you? Quote from the play in your answer, okay?

2. On Friday we continued talking about the attitude of the "health care professionals," as Vivian somewhat sarcastically calls the doctors and staff (though not, arguably, Susie). On the board is the quote "[The doctors'] job is solving the puzzle." Another quote is "Can the doctors have compassion for Vivian without losing themselves?" Respond to one of those quotes: agree, disagree, or answer the explicit or explicit question it poses.Go ahead and quote from the play in your response.

I have a bigger question for tomorrow, one I will ask you to discuss in groups. I hope everyone got the reading schedule I emailed yesterday.

Here's the scene that the last reading covers.

See you all tomorrow.