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Radio Has Come A Long Way

Decent Essays

One hundred and twenty years ago a young Italian, Gugliemo Marconi, from Bologna Italy, sent and received the first radio signal. Since that time the development of the radio has come a long way. From the 1920s to the 1940s radios were the main source of news and entertainment in homes across America. It was not until 1969 when the first boombox was invented. The boombox was the staple of the 1990s. As we can see in movies such as Say Anything¬¬¬— produced the same year as Do the Right Thing— the boombox became the trademark of a generation. Spike Lee comprehends the effectiveness of the boombox and cleverly develops a character based around it, Radio Raheem. Radio Raheem’s boombox gives voice to the oppressed black community in the New …show more content…

With its rip roaring beat, tactical lyrics, and powerful message this song is the anthem that Spike Lee was aiming for. It gives context to the scenes and sets the mood for the rest of the film.

Radio Raheem’s boombox competition with the Hispanics is a pivotal scene in Do The Right Thing. Instantly, we can see the differences in culture just from the interaction between the Hispanics. The camera pans from the stoop where the Hispanics sit over to the Hispanics boombox, which rests on top on an old worn down brown color car. The boombox itself looks like an older model that has been worn out by use over time. The camera then sweeps from the Hispanics boombox over to Radio Raheem. The camera pauses for a brief moment and we see Radio Raheem’s boombox with the words Love and Hate on his right and left hands. The “love and hate” is a driving force throughout the film and it is hard to discern which emotion holds more power. Radio Raheem briefly explains the reasoning behind his new “bling”. The Love and Hate are in a metaphorical boxing match. He shows that love will always conquer hate, even when hate has love backed into a corner. The film challenges our perception of Radio Raheem because we always see him from a camera angle looking up at him. He towers over the viewers as well as the characters in the movie, but it is not what we see on the outside that is important. It is his beliefs on the inside that make him who he is.
The scene is an

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