In "Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing," Marilyn Fabe argues that Spike Lee adopts film theorist and director Sergei Eisenstein's dialectical montage - the juxtaposition of contrasting shots in order to bring the viewer to a new level of consciousness. Referring to Fabe's essay, describe two ways Lee creates dialectical conflict on the level of form, and two examples on the level of content. According to Fabe, what does Lee seek to achieve through his use of dialectical montage?
14 comments:
Marylin Fabe explains that according to Sergei Eisenstein humans tend to use “disproportionate depiction” when remembering and reenacting an event. We pick the most important parts and make them the largest. Spike Lee borrows from Eisenstein approach to film form in two ways, “conflict between matter and view point (achieved by spatial distortions through camera-angle) and “conflict between matter and its special nature (achieved by optical distortion by the lens)”.
An example of spatial distortion comes from the scenes between Sister Mother and Da Mayor. As stated by Fabe “ The camera looks down on him (Da Mayor) from up high, making him seem small in the frame, the visual expression of Mother Sister's disdain for the drunk. Correspondingly, Mother Sisters is photographed from an extreme low angle to give heightened sense of her power as supreme superego figure who's esteem Da Mayor tries to win throughout the film.”
As for the content, Spike lee sets up constant clashes between characters and conflicts within individual characters . The two best examples of conflicts within individuals are the main characters of the film. The central clash of opposites is between Mookie and Sal. Throughout the film Mookie acts as the keeper of peace, he smooths over moments of racial tension, helps Vito stand up to his brother, etc. He maintains this role until the end when his frustration causes him to starts the riot. Sal is depicted as affectionate and sympathetic to Mookie, but is also exploitative and latently racist. He shows affection for black customers when he says he's proud to have nurtured a generation of black children, but in the end he destroys Radio Raheem's boom box for playing what he called 'jungle music' to loud. This leads to Raheem's death.
Fabe talks about how Spike Lee created dialectical conflict content through the character of Mookie. At the beginning of the movie he tries to always calm down all the racist tension, but in fact towards the end of the film he starts the violence at the pizzeria. This is a form of bringing in the unexpected to the audience because the audience doesn't expect that the person who tries to stop racial tension would be the one to start racial violence.
Another dialectical conflict content Fabe explains is through the character of Sal, the pizzeria owner. Sal is sympathetic towards Mookie, but is outwardly racist to his African American customers. It makes the audience sort of confused because Sal seems to have two completely different personalities.
Lee uses dialectical conflict on the level of form by using extreme angles. For example, with the character Radio Raheem, Lee uses extreme low angle and a widescreen lens to make Radio Raheem seem bigger, taller, and have distorted facial features.
Another example is with the setting of the film. Spike Lee uses an actual ghetto for the setting of his film, but he cleans it up and repaints it before filming. It goes against what the audience preconceives of what they thought it should look like or doesn't go with the stereotypes that society created for a ghetto.
Fabe says that Lee wants to achieve a sense of irony and to go against what an audience stereotypes what the film is about. It also makes the character's more complex because it engages the audience as well as showing that violence under self defense is not as simple of a topic as it seems.
Fabe states that Lee portrays Eisenstein's dialectical conflict on the level of form throughout the film, Do the Right Thing. In the opening sequence, Lee uses alternating long shots and close-ups of the dance scene. This method causes the viewer to feel off balance and prepares the viewer for the contrasts of the film. In addition, the opening choreography alternates sex and aggression; dancing and fighting. Further, the angry male voices of the accompanying rap song contrast with the lithe, female form dancing.
Fabe also points out that Lee portrays the dialectical conflict on the level of content in a number of areas of the film. There is a clash between who the viewer expects to start the riot and the character who actually does launch the violence. The viewer is not prepared for Mookie, who is portrayed as the peace maker throughout the film, to become the protagonist. Expectations are that Buggin’ Out will be the instigator of the riot so the viewer is stunned when Mookie crosses over the line. Further, Lee makes both viewpoints of Sal and Buggin’ Out seem reasonable. The viewer doesn’t get a one-sided portrayal where either Buggin’ Out or Sal is treated as totally sympathetic. They are both shown to be sympathetic and at the same time racist or unreasonable. “…there is not a right or wrong position, just two conflicting ways of seeing an issue.” (Fabe 202). Lee doesn’t let the viewer off the hook by handing him an easy outcome. Lee forces the viewer to deal with the competing view points and to come to his own conclusion.
According to Fabe, Lee’s purpose in using dialectical montage is to challenge stereotypical views of minorities and the Bedford Stuyvesant area. He deliberately stayed away from presenting the ghetto in a realistic manner. That has not only been done countless times before but it would not be in keeping with Lee’s attempt to present a truth that dares the viewer to rethink his conventional beliefs about racial tension.
Two examples of dialectical montage of level form, and two examples of dialectical montage of level content.
There are several examples of level of form and level of content within the story. One example that is portrayed in this article is the female dancer. This example is located on p. 195 in top paragraph. It is showning off in her choreography, with a combination of a fight and an aerobic works out secession, which displays this type of conflict. This is because they are opposites, the idea that she’s in a fight, but at the same time, doing an aerobic work out. It is said by the author that she is viewed by multiple angles, one being angry while another appearing sexy.
The other example is the description of a ghetto. Lee is supposed to display a black ghetto scene. Instead of giving off the normal ghetto dumpy area, which most people think black ghettos are, he paints it looking better. He calls this “prettying it up.” When viewers ask him where the garbage on the streets, or prostitutes or drug dealers, Lee responds by saying that there are enough films showing black people as the drug dealers, or prostitutes and or blacks living in a bad living space.
Two examples that I believe are important for level of content is the relationship between certain people in the bar, including Vito, Pino and Mookie. First of all, Vito and Pino don’t get along at all. This conflict between each other is very drastic. Pino warns Vito that no black man can be trusted, and that if you turn your back on a black man, that you will get stabbed. This is an example of a conflict between characters. This conflict with Mookie is more of a conflict with himself. As far as Mookie character goes, he seems to have a lot of conflict with being at work in general. He always come to work late, and does a very bad job on his job, delivering pizzas late to his guests. He doesn’t do any chores at home. Both of these are examples of level of content.
I believe that the author put these certain aspect in this piece for character reasoning. This means that the characters all sort of have their own sort of viewpoint of the story, and making the story flow well. As a reader, the multiple character traits give off each character and shapes them to who they really are. This also seems to make the plot of the story flow better, when the characters have multiple traits.
Spike Lee uses montages of contrasting shots to change the form and content of the film. In the opening shots of Tina’s choreographed dancing, the costume and the background of the shot changes dramatically and includes the contrasting form of close-up and long shots of the characters. Tina (girlfriend of Mookie played by Spike Lee) in the opening dance scenes is depicted in a series of shots as dressed in an orange mini-dress in front of an urban Brownstone to a shot of her aerobic dancing in a blue spandex suite in front of a deteriorating building followed by an image of her in front of a shop dressed in a black & white boxing outfit with orange boxing gloves. In addition, Lee affects the form of the film by using warm and cold color filter to create optical contrasts. He creates a sinister look of a black and white image with warm filters suggesting the heat of the day and blood to occur and also uses blue tones to create cool images. Also, Lee affects the perception of the characters through the use of extreme camera angles –high, low and off-balanced positions. Heightened effects of the plot line are also emphasized by repeating the same shot and from viewing the same action from different perspectives. The repeated action of the garbage can being thrown through the shop window is an example.
Lee creates contrasts in content by portraying clashes between and within a character. Mookie and Sal are the key characters that are in contrast throughout the film. Mookie supports Sal, the pizzeria owner, in the everyday functioning of the business even though it is Mookie’s action of throwing the garbage can through the window at the end of the film that leads to the riot. This final action by Mookie is unexpected and thus causes the viewer to analyze the overall tension. The additional conflicting thread of the plot is the dialog between Buggin’ Out and Sal regarding the different points of view of the “Wall of Fame”. The Italian American pictures on the shop wall emphasize Sal’s heritage and his right to decorate his business the way he wants. This contrasts with Buggin’ Out’s view that there should be representation of African Americans on the “Wall of Fame” because their purchases of pizza make Sal’s business possible. Overall, Lee is trying to show different conflicting views of an issue. He hopes the viewer will think through the issues from several perspectives.
Kevin Witkowski
Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” creates many different feelings of race for different people. Lee creates these feelings by using Sergei Eisenstein's dialectical montage - the juxtaposition of contrasting shots in order to bring the viewer to a new level of consciousness. On the level of content, Lee creates dialectical conflict in the opening scene where Rosie Perez is shown dancing to Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power”. This rap song is sung by black male artists and meant for the black community as an anthem to rise up and defend themselves. However, Rosie Perez is a Hispanic woman dancing to the song. These two ideas conflict and give viewers a different perspective on the song and the people who listen to it. Another conflict in content occurs in this opening scene. In one shot, Perez is shown thrusting her hips in a sexual manner, which represents love according to Marilyn Fabe. In the very next shot, she is seen punching the air with boxing gloves on, which represents hate, again, according to Marilyn Fabe. Love and Hate are brought together and this message comes up later in the movie on the fists of Radio Raheem.
According to Marilyn Fabe, Lee creates dialectical conflict on the level of from through the films use of camera angles and optical distortion of the lens. In the scene where Da Mayor talks to Mother Sister, Lee creates the conflict through the camera angles when, “he photographs Da Mayor (Ossie Davis) from the point of view of Mother Sister (Ruby Dee). The camera looks down on him from on high, making him seem small in the frame, the visual expression of Mother Sister’s disdain for the old drunk. Correspondingly, Mother Sister is photographed from an extreme low angle to give a heightened sensed of her power…” (Fabe p 198). Lee also creates conflict through his use of optical distortion by the lens in a shot of Raheem. The shot is a close up of Raheem’s face with the camera tilted slightly and shot from a low angle. “The effect is to distort his facial features in a way that adds to a sense of his menace” (Fabe p. 199).
According to Fabe, Lee uses dialectical montage through the film so that he can get his message across. That message is the same as those of Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, but mostly Malcolm X. “I am not against using violence in self-defense. I call it intelligence” (Malcolm X).
Li Wang
Film 114 Section 801
At the beginning of Do the Right Thing, Lee juxtaposes scenes that Tina dances in front of different backgrounds wearing various costumes. At first, she is dancing in front of an apartment and wears an orange dress. Then Lee cut to another scene which she is still dancing but in front of another building. She wears a blue tight workout suit at this scene. Similarly, Lee cut to next scene which Tina boxes alone in front of a shop window wearing boxing outfit and gloves. Under the background music Fight to the Power, three scenes were cut into each other in turn constantly, creating a dancing-boxing contrast to viewers on the level of context. The Fight to the Power, which is sung by males, contrasts to the female body movement on the level of context. By doing so, Lee intends to give us a hint that the tensions exist between different races, within the same race and even within individuals themselves.
According to Fabe, there are also juxtapositions of form in Tina’s dancing scenes. Lee applies the color filters to change colors of a same background. For instance, when Tina is dancing in front of the shop, within the same shot, Lee uses red filter transform the black and white background into red, creating a contrast of colors. The red color suggests the bloody events later shown in this movie. Besides, Lee mixes long shots and close-ups to present Tina’s dance, producing a conflict on the level of form. Viewers can see expressions on her faces clearly and her body movements through the cutting among different types of shot.
As Fabe states, although the dancing scenes only last for several minutes, the juxtapositions of contrasts of contexts and forms produce a dialectical montage. They are not only fun-to-watch, but also effectively prepare viewers for the following clashes in this story.
According to Marylin Fabe, Sergei Eisenstein was aiming for "the creation of a new synthesis or higher consciousness in the mind of the viewer (Fabe, 194)." In the film "Do the Right Thing," Spike Lee creates dialectical conflict on the level of form through the use of shock. Fabe states that Lee took long shots of Rosie Perez dancing and put them together with close-ups of her body and face. In addition, there is a scene where Perez appears to boxing against herself, which creates a shocking image. Furthermore, color filters are used to create conflict. Warm colors are contrasted with cool colors to help create "a visually compelling, fun-to-watch spectacle (Fabe, 196)."
In addition, one way Lee creates dialectical conflict on the level of content is by creating clashes between characters. For example, on of the biggest clashes occurs between the characters Mookie and Sal. These two characters stand by each others' side until the very end of the movie. Mookie turns on Sal and begins a riot. Second, there is conflict within individual characters. Mookie tries to help maintain the peace and tries to keep Sal's parlor from being destroyed. Yet, Mookie feels that he is underpaid and under appreciated. He does not approve of Sal's actions but yet does not want to cause trouble until the end of the movie, which may be the biggest conflict within one character throughout the entire movie.
According to Fabe, Lee tries to "liberate his audience from fixed stereotypical images" between races (Fabe, 194). He wanted make everyone more aware of the racism in America and how dangerous it can be.
Erik Wagner
T.A. Dayna Moses
In Marilyn Fabe’s essay on Spike Lee’s Do the Right thing she discusses the many aspects of cinematography and conflict in the film’s narrative. This controversial film was directed in such a way as to engage the viewer and put them in a strange position of the films conflict. Fabe says that Spike Lee’s directing is reminiscent of Sergei Eisenstein’s dialectical methods where a constant juxtaposition or clash of opposites engages the mind of the viewer. The scene in which Rosie Perez dances to Public Enemy is an example of dialectical method because the song does not capture the image in the viewer is seeing. The song is loud, angry, and masculine and she is a petite girl dancing around to it. Another example is Lee’s use of color filters in the film to express the tone of each scene. He uses red in scenes of conflict as signs of heat and blood, blue tones in the calmer quieter scenes, and a mix of the two that illustrate conflict of these two emotion tones. Alongside the form of the film the actual cinematography of the film is highly expressive. Different camera angles, tilts, and lens’s are used to express characters power and importance over one another. One example she talks about is the treatment of Radio Raheem where the use of low angles make him seem large and intimidating exemplifying his presence throughout. The most important clash of the film says Fabe is between Mookie and Sal who erupt in violence towards one another. Sal is a latent racist but relies on African Americans for his business and takes Mookie for granted because without him he could not relate to his black customers.
One of the first conflicts in form that Marilyn Fabe mentions in her article is the conflict between the music played and the image of the girl dancing. The song being played in the opening of the film features "Angry male voices urging violence in response to racism." This is contrasted by images of a girl dancing and combining boxing moves into the dance. The way that Lee shows the contrast is with a series of extreme closeups and long shots that give the girl contrasting personalities. Lee also uses color filters to create contrasts. He uses reds to give the feeling of heat and rage and contrasts this with blue filters in a shot later. This created conflict within the frame especially when the colors were mixed together.
Lee also uses conflict through the content in the film. One of these conflicts comes from the relationship between Sal and Mookie. Sal depends on Mookie but at the same time shows racism toward other blacks even though he runs a buisiness in a predominantly black community. When Mookie attacked the pizzeria this also caused conflict inside of himself because of the kind way Sal treated him and how he was smashing the window of the shop. The use of montage in this film helped to convey the conflicts that were being created throughout the film in a way that the viewer could easily see.
According to Fabe, “Lee’s method was the same as Eisenstein’s, to confront the viewer with a constant stream of conflicting images and viewpoints.” Fabe also says that “For Lee, the goal was to liberate his audience from fixed stereotypical images of the conflict between black and white Americans and to open their minds to a more subtle awareness of racism in American society and the danger that racism poses to us all.”
One example is the films opening of Rosie Perez dancing to Public Enemy’s Fight the Power. The image of a woman dancing (a creative act) to a song that bluntly calls for the violent response to racism (a destructive act). Another example in the same scene is the use of filters during the dance. The switching between red and blue allows for different interpretations to be drawn from the contrasting of the moods created by the filters.
As for dialectical conflict on the level of content, one example is the character of Mookie. Mookie acts as a keeper of the peace until the very end of the film, where he starts the riot by throwing a garbage can through Sal’s window. Another example is Sal, who is tolerant and racist at the same time. Sal’s customers are predominately African-American, but he cannot stand the music Buggin’ Out plays on his radio.
One of the dialectical conflicts is seen in the opening sequence of the film. The film starts off by showing Rosie Perez dancing along to a song by Public Enemy. Public Enemy is a political rap group; their songs usually deal with the liberation of oppressed African Americans. The delivery and lyrics of Chuck D are usually angry. This is where the first conflict comes in, we are presented with a song that is about fighting the power which is very aggressive, and there is a female dancing along to it with an aerobic dance. Another conflict can be found in the dance itself. Rosie Perez sometimes does aggressive movements, and then does a more sensual movement. The sensual and aerobic movement to a strong political song works against the purpose, because it is less likely to be taken seriously.Another larger conflict is that the film set was trying to be realistic and it tried to show the area for what it really was. The conflict is that before filming, the streets were cleaned up, the outside of some buildings were repainted, and a colorful mural was painted just for the film. All of these things did detract a little bit of the realism in the films set, but the film would have looked a lot different if it weren’t shot on location in Brooklyn.
Antonio Vargas
Section 801
Spike Lee uses the two techniques of contrasting hot and cool filters and the conflicting of an angry violent soundtrack over more sexual and gentle choreography performed by the character Rosie. The use of the hot filters seems almost required for the “hottest day of they year” setting for “Do The Right Thing.” However, the advent of the cool filters to conflict with the red and warm filters works perfectly to elaborate on Fabe’s argument. Lee’s choice of audio to accompany Rosie’s dancing
The content of “Do The Right Thing” including the conflicts of Mookie internally and Sal and Buggin Out’s “wall of fame” externally contribute to Lee’s use of Eisenstein’s dialectical montage. Mookie’s resentment of his job conflicting with his personal connection to his boss and his younger son fight each other through out the film. Mookie “acts out,” portraying his apathy by coming in late and delivering pizzas as slowly as possible. Yet he still holds some respect for Sal by kicking out Busting Out when he makes too much of a scene and giving advice to Vito. However one side finally gives in which instigates the boiling point of the movie. This moment would not have occurred without the ongoing argument between Sal and Bugging Out over who deserves space on the pizzeria Wall of Fame. Fabe makes the point that each side has a valid opinion and neither is wrong. Bugging Out believes prominent African Americans deserves space in a restaurant that caters to mainly African American clientle. Sal believes he can put up whoever wants in a restaurant he owns and seeing as how he sells Italian food, Italian Americans go on the wall. This goes back to Lee’s theme within “Do The Right Thing.” The idea that there cannot always be one side or solution that is absolutely infallible or correct. He presents both opinions equally and asks the viewer decide even if he already has himself. According to Fabe, Lee seeks to prove his opinion on not only on how African Americans should react to racism but also presents the two options given to them, inaction or violence, through his use of dialectical montage.
Matthew Dwyer
Film 114 Section 33068
Marilyn Fabe’s essay about Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing discusses how the film provokes different emotions and views about race. He does this through a dialectical montage method; juxtaposing contradicting images to create awareness in the audience. On the level of form, the film is edited in interesting ways. Early on, we see the image of a graceful dancer, appearing small and innocent. The shot is accompanied by angry rap music, advocating action against racism. The two wouldn’t normally go together, but in this film, they show that while there is a peaceful side to the conflict, the anger and frustration overpowers. Another example is of the choice of setting and cinematography. Lee didn’t choose to show the ‘dirty’ city image many people associate with films of similar themes. The general mood is gotten across through the acting and choice of colors. A mix of reds and blues are the expression of conflict. The biggest dialectical conflict of the film is in the character of Mookie. He’s torn between two races, and finds himself in constant struggle to keep both sides peaceful. The ending though, shows his loss of that struggle as he gives in to frustration. The audience is left to decide if he’s ‘done the right thing’. This is another big example of conflict; how the title is left to be questioned. Usually we think of the right thing as walking away from violence and finding more peaceful solutions. Because the main character doesn’t do that in the end though, the two ideas are placed next to each other undetermined. I think the film’s goal is to make the audience decide after seeing what’s happened. They didn’t exactly get a hero in the film, but perhaps they can change things themselves the way they believe is right.
Cassie Hutzler
TA Dayna Moses
Post a Comment