The Moral Virtue Of The Right Thing

Director and actor Spike Lee presents his "truth" about race relations in his movie Do the Right Thing. The film exhibits the spectacle of black discrimination and racial altercations. Through serious, angry, and loud sounds, Lee stays true to the ethnicity of his characters, all of which reflect their own individualism. Lee uses insulting diction and intense scenes to show how severe racism can lead to violence.

A man getting shot by his best friend. A person would think what a horrible thing to do, right? Steinbeck manages to make you feel the other way around he makes you feel like he did the right the right thing. Steinbeck did this by using characterization of George. Also he uses characterization of George and foreshadowing. Also he uses characterization of Slim to make you feel it was the right thing to do.

There are many films in this world that tackle the topic of race. It is an unfortunate truth that leads to many options when choosing a film to show to the students of Coe College. With a large majority of the students at Coe being white, choosing a film that addresses the themes of racism in the 20th century is something that can be a sensitive subject. It is the reason that a film that addresses tension among different race on a block in Bed-Sty is the most appropriate for the audience at Coe College. The film Do The Right Thing, directed by Spike Lee, challenges the characters in the film, along with the audience viewing the film to form opinions on sensitive subjects and to do the right thing in a difficult situation.Spike Lee uses the film, Do The Right Thing, to address racial tension in the 20th century through his use of color, camera framing and narrative.

While the 1970’s and 80’s marked a decline in movies featuring black actors and a lack of black directors, the mid 1980’s through the 1990’s invited a new generation of filmmakers and rappers, engaging with the “New Jack” image, transforming the Ghettos of yesteryears into the hood of today. A major director that emerged during this time was Spike Lee. According to Paula Massood’s book titled, Black City Cinema, African American Urban Experiences in Film, “…Lee not only transformed African American city spaces and black filmmaking practices, he also changed American filmmaking as a whole.” Lee is perhaps one of the most influential film makers of the time, likely of all time. He thrusted black Brooklyn into light, shifting away from the popularity of Harlem. By putting complex characters into an urban space that is not only defined by poverty, drugs, and crime, it suggests the community is more than the black city it once was, it is instead a complex cityscape. Despite them being addressed to an African American audience, Lee’s film attract a mixed audience. Spike lee’s Do the Right Thing painted a different image of the African American community, “The construction of the African American city as community differs from more mainstream examples of the represents black city spaces from the rime period, such as Colors…, which presented its African American and Mexican American communities through the eyes of white LAPD officers.”

Virtue ethics is a normative theory whose foundations were laid by Aristotle. This theory approaches normative ethics in substantially different ways than consequentialist and deontological theories. In this essay, I will contrast and compare virtue ethics to utilitarianism, ethical egoism, and Kantianism to demonstrate these differences. There is one fundamental aspect of virtue ethics that sets it apart from the other theories I will discuss. For the sake of brevity and to avoid redundancy, I will address it separately. This is the fundamental difference between acting ethically within utilitarianism, egoism, and Kantianism. And being ethical within virtue ethics. The other theories seek to define the ethics of actions while virtue ethics does not judge actions in any way. The other theories deal with how we should act, while virtue ethics determines how we should be.

What is really ethical? What is right? What is wrong? What are the factors involved in making the distinction between killing and letting die? What is the difference between killing one to save five and leaving one to die while rescuing five? Philippa Foot created a thought experiment that presents two cases known as Rescue I and Rescue II. In these cases, one must create a dissimilarity between doing and allowing. They must ask themselves what would be the moral thing to do. Philosophers have tried to explain the concept of morals and ethics and create systems to relate the two. John Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant are both two of these kind of philosophers. They express conditions on morality which are then applied to an ethical position. These conditions both explained what they believed is right and wrong and who benefits from what, but they are very different. Mill and Kant’s ethical positions foil one another and are very necessary when being applied to Foot’s thought experiment. This begs the question if you will do things to save the greatest number, or if you would do things strictly because it feels right. In Rescue I and Rescue II, Mill would provide happiness for the 5 individuals, while Kant would give life to whomever needed it simply because of his “good will.”

In spite of the fact that Do the Right Thing and Jungle Fever are both associated with social and political issues, they tend to navigate through various racial viewpoints using different cinematic elements. Spike Lee uses a variety of techniques in his film to bring awareness to events occurring in today's society. For example Do the Right Thing, is a film that tackles down the social issue of prejudice as well as the controversial issues between Italian-Americans and African Americans in New York City. The whole movie unravels around the “Wall of Fame” located inside Sal’s Pizzeria, which only features Italian actors. One day a local customer name Bugging Out, demands to have black actors, since after all the pizzeria is located within a black neighborhood. Soon enough the “Wall of Fame” becomes a symbolic representation of racism and hate which leads to a riot involving an explicit scene of police brutality. On the other hand Jungle Fever, tends to emphasise on the subject of interracial couples, as well as the controversy between Italian-Americans and African Americans and of course the usage of drugs. The movie is based on Flipper, an African American architect who has an affair with his secretary Angie, who is an Italian-American. The climax of the movie occurs when Flipper’s wife Drew, finds out about the affair and from then on society begins to reject Flipper and Angie because of social norms. Forcing them into a corner where they later learn that they were driven

The theory that I find true to the true nature of moral responsibility and its relation to human freedom and determinism would be compatibilism. Compatibilism is the claim that we are both determined and that we have moral responsibility (Lawhead 120).

     Spike Lee’s movie Do the Right Thing is an excellent portrayal of what life was and is most certainly like in some areas of New York City and across the United States of America.

Person B: There are two different kinds: act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism, but first let’s get clear about the general idea which has always been very influential in the way we think about ethical issues. The main idea is that “it is morally right for a person to do act X if and only if X produces more good than bad for everyone affected by the act, including that person”. Otherwise, the act would be wrong.

Do The Right Thing, directed by Spike Lee is a film that acts as a call to action for the audience to differentiate what doing the right thing actually means. New York City in 1989 was filled with issues of race and class. Crime rates were high and one of the highest recorded in history only second to the preceding year of 1990. Cases like the central park five where african american youths and other minorities were falsely accused of crimes, caused for unjust views of the justice system designed to protect these people as opposed to persecuting the innocent in the most blatant and obvious ways. Along with false accusations within the system, New York City was also filled with police brutality stories. “The organization has collected information

The film “Do the Right Thing” directed by Spike Lee, is an eye-opening film that discusses race inequality, stereotypes, and police brutality. Spike Lee uses a linear structure within the film to reveal the different themes that focus on emotional effect and the mood anger, develop characters, reveal symbols, and show the audience the message behind the story.

A mirror can not lie. It reflects an exact image of whoever looks into it. It shows a person what works and what is in desperate need for change, which means that a decision must be made every time one comes upon their reflection— accept what is seen or take the steps to make the change. Spike Lee gave the world a mirror when he created the film “Do the Right Thing.” He showed the world exactly much change is needed. The body of society is wrinkled with centuries of injustice, scarred with generations of suffering, and burdened with lifetimes of painful memories. Society is in need of healing. Lee shows us how to go about this healing by using a cycle of agitation and resolution in each pair of scenes. In order to begin to solve America’s race problem the conversation must have a balance of agitation and resolution.

A mirror can not lie. It reflects an exact image of whoever looks into it. It shows a person what works and what is in desperate need for change, which means that a decision must be made every time one comes upon their reflection— accept what is seen or take the steps to make the change. Spike Lee gave the world a mirror when he created the film “Do the Right Thing.” He showed the world exactly much change is needed. The body of society is wrinkled with centuries of injustice, scarred with generations of suffering, and burdened with lifetimes of painful memories. Society is in need of healing. Lee shows us how to go about this healing by using a cycle of agitation and resolution in each pair of scenes. In order to begin to solve America’s race problem the conversation must have a balance of agitation and resolution.

The aim of this paper is to clearly depict how John Stuart Mill’s belief to do good for all is more appropriate for our society than Immanuel Kant’s principle that it is better to do what's morally just. I will explain why Mill’s theory served as a better guide to moral behavior and differentiate between the rights and responsibilities of human beings to themselves and society.