The nature of the American Dream based on the film Do the right thing by Spike Lee

The nature of the American Dream based on the film Do the right thing by Spike Lee

In the film do the right thing by Spike Lee, the central theme is the inclusiveness of the diverse communities in American in the move to realize economic growth and development, create job opportunities, social mobility, and equal representation. In a critical view, the film addresses the United States ethos termed as the American Dream. Spike Lee employed various film techniques and styles to examine what the American dream means today. Through various characters, the movie producer analyses step that the country has taken to achieve its dream.  Spike Lee provides further highlights on different factors that hold back the country from attaining the dream. As the movie ends, Spike reveals what is needed to be done to achieve the American dream. Analysis of how Spike Lee represents the American Dream in the film does the right thing would help to understand if it is still real and achievable. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to provide a critical examination of Spike Lee’s suggestion about the nature of the American Dream. After the analysis, the similarities and differences between Spike’s presentation of the American Dream and that out Kendrick Lamar would be provided.

Firstly, it is essential to provide a brief overview of the American Dream to enhance proper understanding. American Dream is a United States ethos that forwards equal opportunity for all Americans. The idea is to allow everyone to achieve their goals and dreams by providing equal opportunities and resources. Implementation of the ideology would enable the attainment of the highest aspirations and goals in the country. American Dream entails a set of ideas that encourages freedom and opportunity for prosperity for all citizens.

Further, the ethos upholds social mobility for family and children. Spike Lee, in his film, focuses on the most critical aspects of the philosophy. He represents the aspect of hard work in the country without barriers and equality in representation. In the film, Lee expounds more on the inclusiveness of all Americans, such as the black, Asian, and Native Hawaiian, among others. Lee uses the movie to show that the American Dream is on the verge of failure if the government does not offer the same opportunities to all races.

A highlight of the film is necessary to show how Lee presents his argument. Throughout the film, the representation of Black Americas makes the central conflict. Other subthemes can also be noted in the film. The movie Do the right thing demonstrates an unstable political state represented by many black visual and expressive culture. It shows that people are not the same in the United States but are diverse in composition.  The cultural differences, belief systems, and various norms are outlined in the film. Lee demonstrates that for freedom, dreams, social, and interethnic conflicts must be addressed. Another aspect provides in the movie is how social problems and racial conflicts deter the achievement of the American Dream.  Lee shows that there is a need for reconciliation between the races to attain peace necessary for dreams. Of interest is the primary conflict of representation whereby the blacks are not equally represented and given the same opportunities as others. In one of the scenes, an actor portraying the blacks complains that he cannot see his brothers on the wall. The actor is angered by the absence of blacks on the pizzeria wall. Another center of a conflict that thwarts the American dream in the film is political and cultural blackness. Through various characters, the film shows that the country is still trapped in political and cultural problems between communities that need to be addressed. Lastly, as the film reaches its resolution point, it can be observed that civil disobedience and cultural nationalism should stop to make the country sound. This will encourage and promote the achievement of the American dream.

Spike Lee, in the film “do the right thing,” presents his views on what right things should be done to realize the American dream (Lubiano, n.d). From his point of view, the film producer still believes that the dream is still valid and real. However, Lee points out four critical areas that the United States, as a nation, needs to address to attain the dream. First, through the movie, Lee reminds people of the fundamental pillars of the American Dream. He forwards that the ideology was founded on equal opportunity for all American citizens irrespective of their races (Kasser & Richard, 280).

Further, Lee focuses on the pillar of inclusiveness, whereby everyone should have the freedom to participate in the move to achieve the American dream. Lee also addresses the cornerstone of social mobility, prosperity, and success, and last hard work with fewer barriers are areas of concern. In the film, it can be said that the American dream is real on if issues of equal representation, equal opportunity, and economic sanctions, and social problems, political and cultural nationalism are well addressed.

Lubiano (n.d) noted that in the film, the issue of underrepresentation of black permeates the entire scene.  One of the characters, probably black American, complains of the absence of his brother in the pizzeria wall. After realizing that blacks are not represented in the wall, Buggin’ Out organizes a boycott against Sal’s Pizzeria.  In the process, the photographs dedicated to the Italian Americans are destroyed. The boycott disrupts all the economic activities during that period.

Further, Lee shows that such situations create high tension in the political and social arena. In respect to the underrepresentation, it is noted that it does not encourage the achievement of the American dream. Instead, it disrupts the country from its course of economic activities. The primary pillar of the ideology is to present an equal opportunity for all American citizens despite their races, economic, and cultural backgrounds (Kasser & Richard, 410). From the film, equality is not the case; instead, people are judged based on their skin color. It can be argued that Lee wanted to highlight the importance of equality in attaining the dream. When citizens are presented with equal job opportunities and give freedom to work hard with fewer barriers, then the American dream can be achieved.

Lubiano (n.d) provides another viewpoint from the film is that the move for the American dream requires political and social stability. Lee points out in the movie that for sanity in the system, there is a need for stability in all aspects. This is seen when a character like Radio Raheem, Jack Kirby, among another fight for power and disrupts the state operations. It is also noted that the county is not stable socially because different communities and races have no common ground. The film “do the right thing” demands that the government maintains political stability and social sanity to create an environment that encourages economic production. For people to maximize their potential, there is a need for peace and understanding (BBC News n.d). Unity within a country promotes a good working environment whereby everyone would be willing to work. If there are political instability and polarization, then it is not easy to operate and work. Political polarization divided the country into two different edges the movement towards achieving goals as we can learn from the film social unrest results in problems with race. In these cases, people, especially the marginalized communities, to have limited opportunities. In this case, Lee shows that doing the right thing would involve social and political reconciliation to create peace, understanding, and harmony. The film demonstrates that it is the responsibility of the authorities to solve social unrest problems that are common between the black and the white Americans to foster the American dream.

Lee is right about his views about the American dream. For the country to realize its dreams, then individuals must have realized theirs before. It is necessary to create a favorable environment for citizens to work hard and realize their dreams. This can only happen if there is equality in all aspects.  When other people feel left out in the national agendas, they will tend to disrupt or stop the agenda. To say the American dream is valid and real means doing away with racism, discrimination, social and political unrest, and stopping economic sanctions on the marginalized groups. Maintaining the county at peace results in a higher level of economic production, which desirable for the nation. As can be observed from the film, His love versus Hate is used to reflect the good and evil sides of Raheem.  As the film ends, the good side of the character helps him get what he wanted. The same case can apply in the American dream whereby the country should focus on the good side, which involves inclusiveness, equal representation, stopping racism, civil obedience, and cultural tolerance.  According to Spike Lee, the American Dream is real if issues that thwart its development are addressed appropriately.

Spike Lee’s representation is similar to that of Kendrick Lamar, who demonstrates that there is a reality in the American Dream on condition that black Americans’ affairs are correctly handled (Lubiano, n.d). Kendrick Lamar also focuses on equal representation and equal opportunities, just like Spike Lee in his film. Both highlight what action plans are needed to ensure that there is equal opportunity for all American citizens. As they argue, there is no American Dream without everybody on board. The move should include all American citizens from various corners, no matter their skin color, social status, or political affiliation. However, Lee’s point is slightly different from that of Kendrick Lamar because it focuses on other problems that hinder the ideology, while Kendrick Lamar’s point of focus is the representation of the blacks.

In conclusion, do the right thing the film presents the right actions that should be taken to transform the American dream into reality. Spike Lee employed various film techniques and styles to examine what the American dream means today. Lee expounds more on the inclusiveness of all Americans, such as the black, Asian, and Native Hawaiian, among others. Lee uses the movie to show that the American Dream is on the verge of failure if the government does not offer the same opportunities to all races. Through various characters, the movie producer analyses step that the country has taken to achieve its dream. It demonstrates the direction the United States can take to realize its goals as a nation.