Do the Right Thing

Film Synopsis

One of the most important and influential films of modern American cinema.  On the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn (1989), everyone’s hate and bigotry smolder and builds until it explodes into violence. 

Climate lens

Narratively, both symbolically relevant and right on the nose in a climate change context. Stylistically relevant and informative as well.

Climate Discussion & Reflection Prompts

Sid, ML and Willie sitting around talking about polar ice caps (in 1989!!): What’s changed?  What hasn’t?


The movie is set during a major heat wave in NYC. The extreme heat is established immediately when the movie begins and the heat eventually unleashes the worst impulses of several characters. Now… remove the heat. Would it be the same story; same outcomes?  Why or why not?


Da Mayor tells Mookie:  “Always do the right thing.”  Mookie responds:  “I’ve got it. I’m gone.”  How often is that our response to climate guidance, and in a climate context, what is the right thing to do?


“He’s got $500 fucking dollars!  He’s never gonna have any problems again!”  

Will money protect anyone from climate change?  How?  Why not?  How much will it take?


Consider the John Savage (brownstone bike riding) character in context of climate privilege.  Who is privileged when it comes to climate change and who is not?


The movie directly engages the different perspectives of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcom X  regarding violence and social change.  So what is the climate justice pathway in the context of MLK and Malcom X?  Is that violence acceptable? Inevitable? Avoidable?

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