September 5, 2017
These two quotes given by Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X, both courageous African- American men whom stood up for the rights of blacks, connect morally to Spike Lees script, Do the Right Thing. Throughout this script Mookie is the main character, and a black boy that works at Sals Pizzeria. Up until the second to last scene Mookie takes a passives approach towards violence, like Martin Luther King Jr. An example of Mookie doing this is when Buggin Out' makes a scene in Sals Pizzeria over the pictures of only Italians on the wall, instead of joining Buggin Out' in his petition against Sal for "not including the brotherhood" in his resturant, he insist that Buggin Out' leaves and does not return for a week until it all blows over. In the second to last scene, when Radio Raheem is killed by police brutality, Mookie takes a Malcom X approach to violence and throws a garbage can through the pizzeria window as an outlet for his frustration.
Malcom X said, " I have to preserve the right to do what is necessary to bring an, end to that situation" when speaking about the use of violence. This approach is seen in at least two scenes throughout the script. The first is seen, both times, when Sal becomes enraged with Buggin Out' and Radio Raheem. Instead of speaking to them, to shut the music and calm down, he enrages the situation by pulling out a bat and threatening to beat them with it. Like Malcom expresses in his statement, Sal may have believe this is what he needed to do to end the situation, and/or defend himself. However, instead this approach ended up intensifying the situations and causing more harm to the characters.
The second time this Malcom approach is seen, is when the cops 'believe' the only way to stop Radio Raheem ( whom has already been pulled away from the scene) from beating Sal, is by killing him. This reaction also intensifies the situation and causes more violence, this act enraged the people of the town causing a riot against Sals Pizzeria.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, violence destroys a community and makes brother hood impossible; it thrives on hatred rather than love. But isn't this exactly what happened when Radio Raheem was killed? If there was no fight to be broken up, the police would never have come and abused their power by killing Raheem. The outcome of this tragedy, as Martin Said, is a destroyed community whom is now missing a brother, from an act of hate.
Below I am leaving a video; this video is a debate, between Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr., over the subject of violence.
In this video you can clearly see that Malcom X does not encourage or want needless violence but thinks that it is necessary to be 'heard' and taken seriously, sometimes. He says that by MLK telling blacks not to use violence he is making them once again, defenseless against a racist society. MLK defends his side by explaining the differences between "non-resistance to evil, and non residence to violence". Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X are such a big part in this script for both of their standings on the topic of violence. Both of their approaches are seen throughout this script, as are the more violent, or non-violent outcomes. While this script itself may be fictional, the events of racism, reckless violence, and police brutality is not. While their methods of putting an end to these acts were night and day, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X both fought for the same thing.
These two quotes given by Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X, both courageous African- American men whom stood up for the rights of blacks, connect morally to Spike Lees script, Do the Right Thing. Throughout this script Mookie is the main character, and a black boy that works at Sals Pizzeria. Up until the second to last scene Mookie takes a passives approach towards violence, like Martin Luther King Jr. An example of Mookie doing this is when Buggin Out' makes a scene in Sals Pizzeria over the pictures of only Italians on the wall, instead of joining Buggin Out' in his petition against Sal for "not including the brotherhood" in his resturant, he insist that Buggin Out' leaves and does not return for a week until it all blows over. In the second to last scene, when Radio Raheem is killed by police brutality, Mookie takes a Malcom X approach to violence and throws a garbage can through the pizzeria window as an outlet for his frustration.
Malcom X said, " I have to preserve the right to do what is necessary to bring an, end to that situation" when speaking about the use of violence. This approach is seen in at least two scenes throughout the script. The first is seen, both times, when Sal becomes enraged with Buggin Out' and Radio Raheem. Instead of speaking to them, to shut the music and calm down, he enrages the situation by pulling out a bat and threatening to beat them with it. Like Malcom expresses in his statement, Sal may have believe this is what he needed to do to end the situation, and/or defend himself. However, instead this approach ended up intensifying the situations and causing more harm to the characters.
The second time this Malcom approach is seen, is when the cops 'believe' the only way to stop Radio Raheem ( whom has already been pulled away from the scene) from beating Sal, is by killing him. This reaction also intensifies the situation and causes more violence, this act enraged the people of the town causing a riot against Sals Pizzeria.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, violence destroys a community and makes brother hood impossible; it thrives on hatred rather than love. But isn't this exactly what happened when Radio Raheem was killed? If there was no fight to be broken up, the police would never have come and abused their power by killing Raheem. The outcome of this tragedy, as Martin Said, is a destroyed community whom is now missing a brother, from an act of hate.
Below I am leaving a video; this video is a debate, between Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr., over the subject of violence.
In this video you can clearly see that Malcom X does not encourage or want needless violence but thinks that it is necessary to be 'heard' and taken seriously, sometimes. He says that by MLK telling blacks not to use violence he is making them once again, defenseless against a racist society. MLK defends his side by explaining the differences between "non-resistance to evil, and non residence to violence". Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X are such a big part in this script for both of their standings on the topic of violence. Both of their approaches are seen throughout this script, as are the more violent, or non-violent outcomes. While this script itself may be fictional, the events of racism, reckless violence, and police brutality is not. While their methods of putting an end to these acts were night and day, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X both fought for the same thing.
Gianna, you've done a good job getting your ideas down. Your YouTube video fit appropriately and you applied the quotes correctly.
ReplyDeleteWhen you have a moment, please revisit what Mookie threw through Sal's window to shatter it.