Do the Right Thing

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing was released in 1989 but it would be difficult to find a movie more relevant to what is happening in 2020. The film is not a lecture, but instead has many voices that weigh in on the racial divide in America. It suggests that what is the right thing to do may not always be an easy choice, and may vary depending on the circumstances.

The story takes place during one Saturday in a congested, pressure-cooker area of Brooklyn in the summer, which reflects and contributes to the confrontations that occur. The movie’s technique runs from stylized to realistic as it accentuates the moods of the characters with bright colors and depicts stark anger at injustice. The movie begins with Rosie Perez dancing to the Public Enemy song “Fight the Power,” which has the line “We got to fight the powers that be” repeated. As the credits roll her movements appear as a fighter shadowboxing. The shots alternate between her in a dress and then in shorts and boxing gloves. Thus, the theme of conflict is established immediately. 

Many characters have symbolic names. The morning begins with DJ Mister Senor Love Daddy (Samuel L. Jackson) broadcasting on WE LOVE radio. (As we discover, the movie stresses the battle within people between love and hate). He starts out by urging listeners to, “Wake up!” He is both a literal and a consciousness-raising alarm clock. He indulges in some witty slang wordplay, but he is not just interested in presenting himself as slick since he also issues public service announcements. His words create a bridge to introduce other characters as his show is heard around the neighborhood. 

The first person who hears the DJ is Da Mayor, (Ossie Davis), a grumpy older African American who does not seem to want to face this hot day. The mentally challenged Smiley, (Roger Guenveur Smith) who doesn’t smile, is shot upward to stress the importance of his protest against apartheid. He stands in front of a Baptist church to add gravity to his words. But he stutters, possibly showing the damage due to the prejudice he has sustained and which could suggest that the messages of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, whose photo depicting the two together that he holds and tries to sell like a religious item, have not been heard clearly in the battle against racial injustice. (Although united in their cause, the conflicting techniques of the two civil rights leaders is referenced in the movie). Lee plays Mookie who wears a shirt with Jackie Robinson’s name and number on it, which shows his respect for black athletes who became heroes. He lives with his sister, Jade (Joie Lee, Spike’s real sister), who he tries to wake up to begin what turns out to be a long day. 

Sal (Danny Aiello) arrives to open his pizzeria with his sons, Pino (John Turturro) and Vito (Richard Edson). They are white, but being of Italian descent, they do not represent Anglo-Saxon heritage, and those of their background have experienced stereotyping and bigotry. It seems illogical that Pino and Sal should demonstrate prejudicial attitudes toward others given their own people’s experiences. But racism defies logic. Pino slanders the residents at the same time his family’s eatery depends upon the black neighborhood to patronize the restaurant. Sal points out the fear between races when he says that the obviously white air conditioner repairman won’t visit the pizza joint “without a police escort.” Sal has been in business for many years and has stayed in the predominantly black area which shows he must hold affection for the community. Pino says he hates going to the area because “I detest this place like a sickness,” However, Sal shows pride in the fact that he runs a business there, and challenges Pino to be able to do better.

Mookie walks past the home of Mother Sister (Ruby Dee, who was married to Ossie Davis), whose name combines familial and religious components. She shows motherly concern, warning Mookie not to work too hard in the heat. She says she “always watches,” which stresses her caring for her flock. Mookie works at Sal’s and as soon as he enters, Pino references a racial stereotype when he says Mookie is late because his Cadillac broke down. Da Mayor arrives looking for some chores and Sal lets him sweep the sidewalk (a chore Pino was supposed to do), and gives him some money. Pino, again employing a stereotype, asks his father if he was going to continue to give out “welfare.” The lazy Pino, who delegates his chores to his brother, ironically questions Mookie’s work ethic, but Mookie challenges him to carry the same number of pizzas that he delivers. Sal says Mookie is a “good man,” and, as the other three men squabble, he plays referee, which shows he can be a man who seeks peace. 

Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) appears, and in a big way. Lee has the large young man fill the screen as he carries a huge boombox that blares out music. The local young people say Raheem moves “very large” to the point he “even walks in stereo.” Their descriptions not only fit Raheem’s stature and love of music, but the “stereo” reference points to the scope of the words voiced by all the characters, as well as their multifaceted personalities. 

We already saw how Da Mayor scrounges for money. He wears a sports jacket that implies a desire for respectability but which is undercut by how filthy it appears. He is also a drunk, and Mother Sister scolds him for drinking in front of her place (Lee points the camera down at Da Mayor and up at Mother Sister to physically and figuratively place the audience in the different views of the characters, and at this point Mother Sister sees Da Mayor as someone of low esteem). He says that she will eventually be “nice” to him, or at least “civil.” It turns out to be an accurate prediction. Da Mayor tells Sister Mother that there is no cause to complain about him since he only wishes love for everyone, which is what the person of Love Daddy represents. However, he does not practice what he preaches when he shows anger toward the Korean grocery store owners for their lack of stocking his favorite beer. 

Also in contrast to Da Mayor’s words of love and the symbolism of the names of Love Daddy and that of the radio station is the yelling between Tina (Perez) and her mother over the amount of time needed to take care of Tina’s young boy. Alone with her son, she says not only her mother makes her sick, but “Your father makes me sick, too. Everybody makes me sick.” Mookie turns out to be the father. The film lays the groundwork as it progresses to show an accumulation of stress and anger that builds to an explosive ending. 

Continuing with the theme of love versus hate, three older black men sit at a table under an umbrella and show a combination of camaraderie and opposition as they argue over various subjects. ML (Paul Benjamin) says that the intense heat will melt polar caps and they will be submerged in water. His statement sounds like a prophecy about the arrival of another biblical world-ending flood, and adds to the movie’s heading toward some type of terrible climax. The others comically assault him, saying he couldn’t escape because he can’t afford a boat, having only “thirty cents short of a quarter,” and is so poor he only can “eat the holes out of donuts.” (IMDb says that the three older men improvised much of their dialogue, which is street witty).

Back at Sal’s, Buggin Out (Giancarlo Esposito, that’s right, Gus Fring from Breaking Bad) argues about the price of his slice of pizza and notices that only the pictures of white entertainers, like Frank Sinatra, Al Pacino, and Robert De Niro are hung on the restaurant’s “wall of fame.” Since Sal is making his living in a black neighborhood, Buggin Out wants to know why there are “no brothers up on the wall.” Sal responds, “You want brothers on the wall? Get your own place.” But as Roger Ebert points out, that is the crux of the problem. The inhabitants of this part of Brooklyn can’t afford their own places, which breeds contempt on the part of some of the patrons, which, in turn, stokes an angry response on the part of those running the businesses. Sal considers Buggin Out a “troublemaker,” and approaches him with a baseball bat (foreshadowing), as hostility mounts. The argumentative Pino, showing some good judgment here, is the one who stops his father from resorting to violence. Sal tells Mookie to remove his friend while Buggin Out urges others to “boycott” the establishment. Outside, Mookie tells his pal that he’s going to cause him to lose his job if he tells others to not eat there. So, the black guy is dependent on the white man’s employment, which keeps him in a subservient position, at least at this socio-economic level. Because of Mookie’s precarious position, Buggin Out reminds him to try to “stay black,” and not compromise himself too much. Mookie is no Uncle Tom, and speaks up for himself as a black man in the movie, but the question becomes how far will he go when a stand must be taken?

After Mookie tells Sal that he can’t control Buggin Out because he’s free to do what he wants, Sal dispels notions of freedom, saying he is the “boss” and what he says goes. One can’t help but think about when black people were enslaved, they would have to call the white master “boss.” On his way to delivering a pizza, Da Mayor pulls Mookie over and tells him to, “always do the right thing.” It’s a simple, and obvious, bit of advice. But, as we see, another cliché comes to mind, which is “that’s easier said than done,” and that what is “right” may depend on the situation. (According to IMDb, the title of the film comes from a Malcolm X quote which was, “You’ve got to do the right thing.”).

Everybody tries to keep cool, either by dunking one’s head in ice water, drinking cold beer, or opening a fire hydrant. The universality of these scenes is evident as it reminds me of how my family and neighbors kept cool in my old neighborhood when I was young. A white guy in a Cadillac convertible with the top down (see, white people like Cadillacs, too) stops, says his car is an “antique,” and tells one of the young men getting wet, whose name is Cee (a very young Martin Lawrence), to not splash his car. Cee tells him deceptively not to worry, as one of the residents says the white man has no business being there. Legally he does, but his wealth is an affront to the poverty of the area. As he passes, the young black men use hollowed out food cans to channel the water and drench the vehicle. The owner stops a police car and the man is arrogant toward the cops, who don’t have any suspects since they ran away. The police shut off the water (which they did in our neighborhood, too, to conserve the water). When the man first gets the attention of the police, the expectation is that the cops will start to bully the locals. But, the surprise is that they don’t want an escalation of tension at this time, and tell the guy to move on. Lee throws us off here, thinking that the cops will take the side of the white fellow. 

Although Sal has affection for Mookie, he has a business to run, and he does harass Mookie about the length of his delivery times, which, along with the treatment of Buggin Out, starts to grate on Mookie. He is accompanied by Vito to deliver food to Love Daddy. Mookie advises Vito that he has to fight back at how Pino constantly harasses and bosses Vito around. Mookie is telling Vito what the earlier song says about fighting the “powers that be,” and his urging foreshadows what is to come. 

Latino youths sit on a stoop and kid around with salsa music playing from their boombox. Raheem comes by still blasting “Fight the Power,” his anthem. The young men yell at him for drowning out their music, and what follows is a musical duel between the two stereos. Raheem wins as Stevie (Luis Antonio Ramos) says, “You got it, bro.” It is an interesting scene, since the Latino boys have a right to their cultural sounds, but they aim some ethnic slurring at Raheem, which shows how even those that are the victims of prejudice can be guilty of the same infringement. Is Raheem wrong to force his tune on these men even if the song has an inclusive message for the oppressed? The other young men don’t want any alliance and shout derisive comments at the exiting Raheem.

Even rivalry over sports figures exhibits racial conflict. Mookie says African American pitcher Dwight Gooden is the best baseball pitcher at that time, but Vito insists it’s the white Roger Clemens. But the relationship between these two is not personally adversarial, so that when Buggin Out asks Mookie whey he’s with the white guy, Mookie says that “Vito’s down.” (Authentic, poetic dialogue shines in this film, as Buggin Out, when asked by Mookie how he’s doing, says, “I’m just a struggling black man trying to keep my dick hard in a cruel and harsh world.” It is an affirmation of virility in the face of emasculation, but it also shows how Buggin Out does not know how to relax and enjoy himself since he is always looking for a fight. Another good use of dialogue is shown in the scene where Jade talks with Mother Sister as Jade styles the other’s hair. She asks Jade, who is pulling on her locks, if she is “tender-headed” like Mother Sister, who says it runs in her family.

The ethnic interaction that follows is heated between Buggin Out and Clifton (John Savage), a white young man on a bike who wears a Boston Celtics shirt with “Bird” written on it, referring to the Celtics white basketball player. Clifton bumps into Buggin Out and smears his new Air Jordan sneakers. Buggin Out fumes, especially in this heat, and chases after Clifton, demanding an apology. Other locals join Buggin Out as they yell at Clifton, who does not take the onslaught well, and doesn’t offer to replace the ruined footwear. Buggin Out wants to know why the white boy is in the black neighborhood. Clifton says he owns the house he stands in front of and says it’s a free country so he can live wherever he wants, which, again, is legally true. Buggin Out and the others make it clear he and his “gentrification” are not welcome. When they tell him to return to Massachusetts, Clifton says he’s from Brooklyn, and the others view his Celtics preference as a betrayal. The black response here is hostile, and similar to the one displayed toward the man in the Cadillac, which suggests they believe that white people shouldn’t venture into their neighborhood because African Americans have not been allowed the freedom to go and live wherever they want. 

Sal adds to the tension again when he criticizes Mookie’s work performance by saying that he should send Vito with him more often to shorten Mookie’s delivery time. Vito tries to stand up to Pino, who sees that it is Mookie who has urged him to defy his brother. Pino tells Vito his last name is not “Muhammed,” and makes it clear to Mookie that he should stay out of the family situation. All of these interchanges continue to build toward racial confrontation, which is emphasized by the next shot of cops arriving in the area. Officer Ponte (Miguel Sandoval) and Officer Long (Rick Aiello) slowly drive by the older black men as the two camps eye each other, the cops looking intimidating and the African American gentlemen exhibiting contempt and suspicion. One policeman and one of the black men say the same thing: “What a waste,” which shows the assessment of each side on the other’s occupants. (The men sit in front of a red brick wall, the vivid color reflecting the hot temperature and the hostility of the characters. There is also a sign on the wall that reads, “No ball playing,” which symbolizes how the people here are placed under restrictive rules). 

One of the older men, ML, exhibits his own racism as he complains about the Koreans who have opened a successful food market in the black neighborhood. He echoes those before him in the story who don’t want the black neighborhood invaded by outsiders. But he undermines his own argument because he notes that the building the Koreans took over was boarded up for years until the newcomers dared to claim it. Would it have been better if it remained derelict? However, again, the implication is that African Americans in lower-class neighborhoods don't have the financial means to start a business. ML says he will be the first one to open a black store there. But he is old and his fellow companion, Sweet Dick Willie (Robin Harris), says ML is all talk, and Sweet Dick is willing to spend his money at the Korean store. He responds to the negative comments of Coconut Sid (Frankie Faison) that he just got “off the boat” not that long ago, reminding Sid that America is a country of immigrants. (The negativity of earlier arrivals to the United States toward more recent ones is similar to the illogical prejudice shown by Daniel Day Lewis’s character in The Gangs of New York). However, even Sweet Dick Willie shows his bigotry by calling the Korean man “Kung Fu,” which elicits a negative response from the market owner. More tension.

There is also generational confrontation when young black youths harass Da Mayor with their own form of disrespectful belligerence by asking why he should have his mayoral designation. He says they don’t know anything about him to judge his life. He informs them that he was so poor he couldn’t look his wife in the eye because he couldn’t feed their children. He says they don’t understand, “my pain, my hurt, my feelings.” But one of the young men, Ahmad (Steve White), isn’t buying the old man’s self-pity. He says he should have worked to feed his family but instead became a drunk. The youth says, “I respect those who respect themselves,” suggesting he does not concede admiration just because of age but instead argues one should take responsibility for one’s actions. Here, the film continues to show the many sides of arguments.

After Mookie talks on the phone with his girlfriend, Tina, Pino complains that he’s stopping customers from calling in orders. After Pino uses the “n” word, Mookie, instead of immediately lashing out, tries to diffuse Pino’s bigotry with reason. He gets Pino to admit his favorite basketball player is Magic Johnson, his favorite movie star is Eddie Murphy, and that he is a Prince fan. Pino says it’s different with famous people because they are “more than black.” Mookie says that Pino may secretly want to be black, that Pino’s curly hair is not typically Anglo-Saxon, and is “kinkier” than Mookie’s. Pino makes fun of African American leaders, which then causes an escalation of animosity as Mookie curses Pino and Italian Americans, like Frank Sinatra. The movie shows how animosity breeds animosity.

The movie then breaks the fourth wall as Mookie, Pino, and the Korean grocer spew racial slurs and stereotypes concerning blacks, Italian Americans, and Jews at the camera, and, supposedly, at the various ethnic members of the audience. The effect is disturbing, but is also done to reveal the bigotry that many feel but hide. Love Daddy, living up to his name, yells that everyone has to cool down (despite the literal and figurative heat) following the inflammatory rhetoric. (Later, the LOVE radio station DJ reads an epic catalog of black musicians that illustrates the contribution of performers of color to American culture, refuting the perception of those negative, reductive stereotypes).

After another disagreement about Sal not willing to pay Mookie before the end of the day, Mookie encounters Raheem, who has brass rings that spell out “LOVE” on the right hand and “HATE” on the left. He says he will tell the story of good and evil, as he looks right at the camera, and thus directly addresses the audience. (Of course, this is an homage to Robert Mitchum’s character in The Night of the Hunter, who had the words tattooed on his fingers). Raheem keeps his left hand in a fist and punches (like Perez over the opening credits) and says that hate killed Cain, which implies that negative emotion hurts other humans. He opens the fingers of the right hand in a show of peace because “these five fingers, they go straight to the soul of a man,” to steer it away from a person’s evil side. He says that life is a battle between the two emotions, and he shows his optimism by saying that love will win out. He then declares his love for Mookie. 

But the clash between the two forces will produce casualties before the war can be won. Raheem’s love for others is tested as he enters Sal’s while blasting his song. Sal wants the music to stop inside, but he doesn’t ask politely. He demands that Raheem shut it off, which Raheem reluctantly does. Instead of letting it go at that, Sal piles on how no music is allowed. Raheem, as Buggin Out before, is not happy about the amount of cheese on the pizza. Sal charges $2.00 for extra cheese on top of the sparsely sprinkled amount. It is a symbolic act of exploitation. 

Mookie goes home to take a shower, and his sister, Jade, validates Sal’s complaints about Mookie’s long breaks, although he sees his not adhering to a strict work schedule as a defiance of being treated like a slave. But Jade also accuses her brother of not meeting his “responsibilities,” so all the main characters here are flawed. There is no mention of their parents, and it appears that Jade has been the one taking care of Mookie. That fact points to Mookie’s immaturity, and perhaps why he may see Sal as a father figure.

Pino tells his father they should sell the restaurant and open a shop in their own neighborhood. Sal has been there for twenty-five years, and there are too many pizzerias where they live for him to start to compete for survival there. His argument may be capitalistic, but he also wonders why his son has so much anger as Pino continues to use racial slurs. Pino’s response that all his friends make fun of him for feeding African Americans shows how racism perpetuates itself through peer pressure, which is then dispensed through the generations as a false belief of the inferiority of others. Sal’s comment is a wise one untarnished by bigotry when he says that if they were his true friends they wouldn’t ridicule Pino. He adds that he saw the kids there grow up on his food, so the suggestion is that he sees himself as a nurturing presence providing for his expanded family. He says Sal’s Pizzeria is “here to stay.” (It is an ironic statement considering what occurs later). Smiley walks by the outside of the restaurant trying to sell his photographs of the civil rights leaders. Sal is friendly, but Pino is deaf when it comes to his father’s words, and bangs on the store window, cursing and yelling at Smiley to go away. Smiley bangs back, and again we have anger displayed, with the glass storefront symbolic of the racial divide. Pino goes outside and continues to scream at Smiley, while Sal offers the now angry Smiley some money, which again stresses the difference, at least at this point, between father and son.

Buggin Out, still upset about the earlier verbal altercation with Sal, tries to recruit others in the neighborhood to boycott Sal’s. He has no support, since most of the residents echo Sal’s words that the people there like his shop and young folks grew up on his pizza. Buggin Out then throws down the gauntlet of anger in front of Sal, threatening the boycott. Sal is angry, but this time he restrains Pino because Sal is afraid his son will use more than words to fight back. Buggin Out sees Mookie and Jade, and tells her not to eat at Sal’s because of his photo policy. Mookie, despite his protestations about not wanting to be exploited and urging Vito to stand up for himself, is not willing to make trouble for fatherly Sal. Jade is intelligent, and criticizes Buggin Out, urging him to channel his energies toward constructive actions to improve the community. Despite the argument, their conversation concludes with them declaring love for each other, affirming at least in a small way Raheem’s prediction that love will win in the end.

There are close-ups of Sal and Mookie, which shows Sal’s annoyance about Mookie’s long absence. Mookie’s face shows seething, again reflecting the climate. When Jade enters the pizzeria, Sal’s attraction for Mookie’s sister is evident as he fawns over her, saying how he hoped she would be visiting soon, and wants to make something special for her to eat. When she asks how Mookie is doing, Sal says he’s a good guy as he tries to gain favor with her. Pino calls that a lie and a close-up of his face shows how his realization of Sal’s affection for Jade disgusts him.

Despite his message of love winning out, Raheem has the battle with hate inside himself. When his boombox’s batteries need replacements, he goes to the Korean store and is impatient with their lack of English skills. He curses them and tells them to learn English, not taking into account that all non-English speaking American ancestors that helped build the country had to struggle to learn a new language. Da Mayor enters the store to buy flowers from the Koreans to give to Mother Sister, who is still sitting at her open window. The location suggests a throne and she appears like a queen observing her kingdom. She offers no thanks and looks scornful at his gift and words. The intense heat does not melt her chilly demeanor. 

With his depiction of summer clothes, sweat, and the use of fans and showers, Lee makes the audience feel the scorching temperature. People seek out cold drinks, water ice, and ice cream. When one young boy, Eddie (Richard Habersham) runs after a Mr. Softie truck, Da Mayor rushes into the street and saves the youngster from getting hit by a car, which possibly shows him redeeming himself for his confessed inability to care for his own children. 

Sal is complimenting Jade’s eyes, sitting with her in her booth, when Mookie pulls her out and plays traditional big brother, saying he demands that she no longer come into the pizzeria anymore because of Sal’s lustful intentions. She again is the adult, and says she is a grown woman who can make her own decisions, and reminds him that her income is the one supporting him. Mookie initiates another of the movie’s confrontations as he tells Sal to stay away from Jade. Sal is incensed by Mookie’s warning, says he should kick his “ass,” but doesn’t act violently, and mitigates his anger by instead sending Mookie on another delivery. 

As the sun goes down, and things start to cool off a little, so does Mother Sister’s attitude toward Da Mayor. She says he was foolish running to save Eddie, but he was also brave. Never a person for brevity, Da Mayor goes on a bit about how he is old but summoned the speed without thinking, comparing himself to when he played baseball when he was young. He interrupts himself when he sees he should shut up. Mother Sister doesn’t want him to get any ideas about romance between the two of them, but she thanks him for his courage. Her face thaws a bit as she shows a tight smile as he walks away, but then she displays a sad look, as if revealing that she hasn’t experienced intimacy for a long time.

Mookie asked Sal if the address was right on the next delivery because it is where his girlfriend, Tina, lives. They kiss when he arrives, but she complains that she hasn't seen him in a week and Mookie knows that is why she ordered the pizza. He wants to have sex, but Tina says it’s too hot, plus he’ll just take off and she won’t see him for a while again. She is sarcastic about his neglect for their son, Hector, who is in the kitchen with Tina’s mother, which reminds us of what Jade was saying about how he needs to tend to his responsibilities. While Love Daddy is on the radio and continues to urge people to chill out, Mookie gets ice from the freezer and takes the DJ’s advice, rubbing cubes all over Tina’s naked body, as she warms to Mookie as he cools her down and tends to her needs. They joke as he gives thanks for the various parts of her body, and the affection between them is sweet.

When Mookie returns to the pizzeria, he and Sal are not so argumentative, and actually joke around a bit. Pino doesn’t like that Vito is so friendly with Mookie, and tells Vito there should be no personal connections between whites and blacks. Vito tries to resist Pino, saying that Mookie “listens” to him, whereas Pino doesn’t, and as we have seen Pino just passes off his chores onto his brother. Pino may feel threatened that Vito sees Mookie as more of a brother than he does Pino. On top of his father’s affection for Jade, Pino’s hostility may spring from his fear that he is losing his family to those he himself has been bullied into hating. 

Buggin Out continues to ask others to force Sal to honor African American celebrities by placing their photos on his wall. Raheem again shows his left-handed angry side and enlists, as does Smiley, spurred on by neighbors who don’t like Raheem’s constant loud playing of Public Enemy’s song (which even Buggin Out admits is too repetitive). Back at the restaurant, in what turns out to be an ironic statement, Sal says they had a “great, great day,” financially, and that there’s nothing like a family working together in a business. He says he will rename the place Sal and Sons Famous Pizzeria since the boys will eventually take it over. Pino’s look is one of disappointment considering how he has told his father about his hatred of the neighborhood. Sal even tells Mookie, “there will always be a place” for him there, going so far as to say that he considered Mookie to be like a son. That statement must really upset Pino. Of course Sal’s optimistic words contrast with the animosity between Pino and Vito, and Mookie’s look shows dread about having to continue to work there. 

Although there are some who are angry with Sal’s business practices, there are others that bang on the door wanting pizza even after the place closes. Sal opens the pizzeria up for a few slices for the kids who “love” his pizza. But that “love” turns quickly to “hate” as Buggin Out arrives with Raheem and his deafening boombox. Buggin Out shouts that they want African American pictures on the wall. Sal is racist when he yells he wants them to turn off that “jungle music.” He screams as he tells them to leave. Of course racism leads to racism, as Buggin Out now uses Italian slurs. The three young men and one young girl who came in for pizza act as a Greek chorus, as they alternately echo both sides of the fight. When Buggin Out threatens to shut down the place, Sal gets his baseball bat and uses the “n” word. When things are going his way he is friendly and paternal. But there is a condescension there, and bigotry under the surface when he is resisted. Mookie is caught in the middle as he tries to diffuse the anger, and he is torn apart as he is pulled to both sides. Sal smashes the boombox, symbolically representing the “powers that be” in the song as he attempts to silence any resistance to his rule. Sal says, “I killed your radio.” It is an interesting choice of words. He doesn’t say he broke or destroyed the boombox. The “killed” word makes it sound like murdering a human being, and the fact that Raheem is known as “Radio,” suggests that there is the death of a person involved. 

The heat and tensions of the day boil over as Raheem grabs Sal and then a brawl breaks out between Sal and his boys and the black youths. The fighting spills into the street as Raheem begins to choke Sal. Da Mayor arrives trying to stop the fighting because he knows that once the police get involved the danger will increase. Sure enough, Officers Ponte and Long drive up. They get Raheem off of Sal. That would be enough, and they would have done their job. But they only handcuff Raheem, the black man, and Long places his nightstick under Raheem’s throat and squeezes from the behind. The crowd warns that they are killing Raheem. Long keeps applying the pressure until Raheem can’t breathe and he dies. (Of course the parallels to George Floyd and other African American men being killed by policemen make the film relevant today). The police try to cover it up, dragging Raheem’s body into the police car and then driving away. Even the Korean grocery store owner bangs on the cop car because he sees how injustice threatens everyone. The other cops on the scene handcuff Buggin Out and take him away, but his shout of “You can’t kill us all!” is like a rallying cry for others to fight injustice.

Smiley cries out loud as he expresses the sorrowful pain of the neighborhood. The disparate voices of the day turn into a united expression against the violence that blacks experience at the hands of the authorities. Mookie stands in front of the pizzeria with Sal and his boys, who were not even questioned or considered as participating in the conflict. He looks at the black faces of his neighbors. He walks away as the black men of the area shout and appear to be ready to attack Sal and his boys. Da Mayor again tries to thwart any further violence by saying Sal didn’t kill Raheem and he most likely realizes the residents may suffer the consequences from the police if anyone is harmed. Mookie grabs a trash can (symbolic of the decay of the hope for equality and justice?) and hurls it at the restaurant, breaking the store window, as he yells, “hate.” He may be expressing his hatred for what has happened, or he could be fighting back at the hate that racism creates. Mookie is also making his own declaration of independence, breaking away from his reliance on a man who was not the right father figure for him.

The other black men rush the pizzeria and destroy the place, while also taking some money from the cash register. The similarity to what is happening now in America is obvious, with the destruction an immediate response by the poor people to the brutality they have witnessed. Smiley sets fire to the joint, and even Mother Sister yells out for the pizzeria to burn, as if labeling the restaurant as a place of racial intolerance. Da Mayor ushers Sal and his sons away to protect them, as Sal looks at his legacy going up in flames. In a strange way, Mookie channeled the neighborhood’s aggression toward a building so that people were spared from getting hurt. When the three older black men start to lead the crowd toward the Korean market, the owner says he is also “black,” not in color, but because he, too, is the target of racism. Sweet Dick Willie gets what the man is saying and calls off any further assaults.

The police and firemen arrive, and the latter use their hoses to extinguish the fire in the building and metaphorically the heat coming from the residents at the end of a sizzling day. Mookie and Jade sit on a street curb as the chaos swirls around them, like they are in the eye of a hurricane. As Da Mayor goes to hold her, Mother Sister keeps shouting in agony, “No!” which could be a plea that all of the hatred should stop. Smiley goes into the smoldering pizzeria and places the picture of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X on the wall to finally honor the two slain civil rights leaders. With this act, Smiley finally lives up to his name.

The next day Love Daddy, in the studio behind the radio station’s LOVE sign (countering the prior evening’s hate display), asks the unanswerable question about when will people be able to live together? The forecast again is “hot,” which makes one wonder if anything will change. Mookie did go back to be with Tina and his son, showing he is trying to grow up and meet responsibilities. He leaves to demand his wages from Sal despite what has happened. Da Mayor stayed at Mother Sister’s place, but she said she couldn’t sleep. He asks if the neighborhood is still standing, but she realizes something more important, and says, “We’re still standing,” which means they are survivors and ready to put themselves in harm’s way again if need be to continue the struggle against the enemy.

Ironically wearing a Sal’s pizzeria shirt, Mookie heads toward the destroyed restaurant where Sal sits dejected at the entrance. Mookie wants his pay for the last week, and Sal rightly says that his wages wouldn’t even cover the cost of the window he broke. Mookie says Sal will get insurance money. Sal yells that he built the place himself and mourns its loss, suggesting it was like his own child. Sal throws five one-hundred-dollar bills at Mookie who throws two back and says he owes Sal fifty dollars. Mookie doesn’t want a handout, only what he earned. Sal is subdued now and asks what Mookie will do. He quietly says he has to go back to be with his son. Is Mookie going to start to live up to his parental duties? Perhaps he had to go through a painful rebirth to leave his pseudo father so he could be with his real family.

The story ends the way it began with Love Daddy talking like a DJ god, providing the big picture. He says that the Mayor of New York will investigate the prior night’s events, but insists that the city “will not let property be destroyed by anyone.” Love Daddy urges everyone to vote, suggesting a peaceful alternative to voice the protest against injustice. He says, “The election is coming up. There’s no end in sight from this heat wave.” Seeing this movie now, one just has to look at the news and see parts of the film playing out on the TV.

The film concludes with quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. King’s words deplore any violence which humiliates another instead of convincing the opponent of the error of his ways, turning a “Dialogue into a monologue.” Malcolm X’s quote accepts that some people are just bad, and using violence for self-defense is just using one’s “intelligence.” The last image is the picture of the two men together on the “wall of fame,” The movie implies that they tried to bring justice to their people, but used different tools. What is the right thing to do? The movie suggests we should know what’s right, but how to act depends on what is happening.

The next film is Silkwood.

Selma

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Selma (2014), directed by Ava DuVernay (amazing that she didn’t receive an Oscar nomination) finds its dramatic center by zeroing in on one event in the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. The march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital in Montgomery highlighted possibly the most important goal that Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders wanted to achieve: the elimination of impediments established to prevent African Americans from voting. In the course of this story King is seen as a master strategist who was dedicated to his cause, but who was also filled with guilt about the collateral damage that resulted along the road to justice.

The film opens with King (David Oyelowo, another absurd omission from Oscar consideration) looking at himself in a mirror, preparing the acceptance speech for the 1963 Nobel Peace Prize. But, he tells his wife, Coretta (Carmen Ejogo), that it’s not right. He’s looks too dressed up, too fancy, and that doesn’t sit well with how it will play with the disadvantaged back home. He truly feels that the ceremony makes him feel strange since he is used to being in places where poor people just try to get by each day. But he also understands the media, so he knows that the optics of himself in opulent surroundings will not play well. But, given how the stress level of their lives is always in the red zone they both agree it’s nice to get away a bit. King says he longs for being a pastor in a small college community. But, he does allow for giving a speech occasionally, so even in his daydream he sees himself trying to influence others. Then they both look sad as they realize this version of King’s dream can’t materialize if he wants his other dream about racial equality to become a reality.

The voice-over of King’s uplifting acceptance speech is undercut by the segue to the next shot of the explosion at a Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama, which killed four young girls. This horrendous act shows how the racial war is still being waged. The next scene is of Annie Lee Cooper (Oprah Winfrey, who is one of the film’s producers) filling out a voter registration form. There were state laws in force in the South that suppressed African American voting by placing restrictions on the process, such as administering tests that could not be passed. The man at the county registrar desk is condescending, saying he doesn’t have all day, and that Cooper is causing a fuss. He implies a threat to her job, saying that her boss wouldn't’ want to hear that she was making trouble. She says she did the paperwork correctly, but he shows his power by saying, “It’s right when I say it’s right.” She is told to recite the preamble the U. S. Constitution (the man is again belittling toward Cooper, asking if she knows what “preamble” means). She does so correctly, which the man testing her probably couldn’t do. She knows that there are sixty-seven county judges in Alabama, but he says she must name them. So, she is again denied her legal right to vote.

President Lyndon Johnson (Tom Wilkinson), a stubborn and proud man, does not like being pressured by King, saying to his aid that King has to get on board with his program, not the other way around. He ascribes arrogance to King about not settling for anything else but his “dream.” This attitude reflects a form of white privilege. (The film’s depiction of Johnson has been criticized by some as not accurately reflecting Johnson's commitment to the civil rights movement). In a meeting with King, Johnson says he was proud of the Civil Rights Act that was meant to end segregation. He apparently wanted King to work as an official member of his White House team, but that would mean King would have to pledge loyalty to one man, and he needs that uncompromising distance to advocate for change. Johnson is glad that King, and not the militant Malcolm X, is the main leader of the civil rights movement. His approach mirrors the white resistance to, and fear of, abrupt change in the relationship between the races, even if the current conditions are intolerable for a vast segment of the population. King raises the impediments to registering to vote for blacks. Johnson says that his priorities are to allow desegregation to work its way through the South, and then he wants to start his “War on Poverty” program. He says enforcing changes to local voter registration must wait. King says it can’t wait because murderers go unpunished, protected by white government officials put in office by white voters. Killers are acquitted by all-white juries because blacks are not registered to vote and can’t get on juries. King’s argument is flawless. But, political practicality can be an enemy of what is obviously rational. Johnson says he has to set the voting rights issue aside for a little while. After leaving the meeting, King tells his staff members that they must go to Selma to protest and thus put pressure on Johnson by swaying public opinion.

On the drive to Selma with black leaders Ralph Abernathy (Colman Domingo), Andrew Young (Andre Holland), James Orange (Omar J. Dorsey), and Diane Nash (Tessa Thompson), King says he doesn’t want to rush into anything, showing how he wants to have a solid plan in place before acting. Instead, he wants to get a feel for the situation, showing his wariness of potentially inflaming an already heated confrontation between the white and black residents. One of his companions says with ominous humor that Selma is a nice place to die.

We immediately see the racial divide when they pull up to a hotel that declares, in defiance of the current law, that it’s for whites only. They go into the hotel, and a white man punches King in the face, an act which undermines the reputation of Southern Hospitality. (The film displays typed notes introducing various scenes that provide context for what is happening. But, these bits of information ironically are from FBI surveillance logs, creating a chilling effect as to how a hostile government can monitor the everyday actions of citizens that it deems as subversive).

Johnson asks FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (Dylan Baker) what his investigative agency knows about King. Hoover declares that “King is a political and moral degenerate.” Johnson, a strong figure, must still be careful not to irritate Hoover, whose powerful position can bring a politician down just by insinuating that there is anything negative about a person. So, he accommodates the Director by saying that if Hoover thinks King is a “degenerate” he’ll accept his finding. But, Johnson notes that King is non-violent, and reiterates his preference for King as opposed to the more incendiary civil rights leaders. Hoover is menacing when he tells the President, “we can shut men with power down, permanently and unequivocally,” which sounds as if he is offering to have King assassinated. Johnson, of course, backs away from such an implication, saying he just wants to know what the FBI knows about King’s future plans that may cause problems. Hoover reveals that he knows that there is friction in King’s home and says that they can use it to destroy his family life, thus weakening King through distraction. This scene adds to the film’s theme that suggests the only place to go when the heads of law enforcement are corrupted by their own bigotry is outside of the system to seek justice. Like Gandhi, King knows that one has to humiliate the oppressors by revealing their crimes to everyone to get backing for change.

Hoover’s police-state-like targeting of King’s family is effectively followed by a scene showing King back home in Atlanta with his wife and children. Coretta receives a call threatening her children, but she handles it without hysteria. King asks if the call was like the others, showing that they must be courageous daily in the face of hatred. King is leaving the next day for Selma, and despite Coretta admitting there are a lot of good people living there, King says he’s worried by those that aren’t so good, since those are the ones that can do harm. He says that the local sheriff, Jim Clark (Stan Houston), won’t concede anything without a fight. Since they are nonviolent, he repeats the phrase about it being a good place to die. Coretta does not like the joke since she has not developed the thick skin needed to hear gallows humor. King wakes up gospel singer Mahalia Jackson (Ledisi Young), who sings a hymn over the phone. King feels he needs “to hear the Lord’s voice,” most likely to give him strength and hope for the fight ahead, as he goes “through the storm/ Through the night.”

At a local church in Selma, King’s speech points out what amounts to the devil’s arithmetic (the title of a young adult book about the Holocaust) which shows that African Americans number fifty per cent of the population there, but only make up less than two per cent of the registered voters. King’s evangelical way of getting his points across and galvanizing others to action is seen here in Oyelowo’s interpretation of the great man (the actor spent seven years trying to get the film made with him in the lead role). He gets the crowd to repeat “No More!” as he states that there have been too many people who did not have control over their own destinies because they were denied the right to vote. He asks them to protest, to march, and to disturb the peace, which means that they must accept going to jail and suffering as the consequences for their willing to take a stand. He wants to expose the bigots so they can be seen as the hateful people they are instead of allowing them to hide their awful actions with the help of local government officials.

John and James of SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) are also there, and these students have some jurisdictional concerns because it’s their territory. They don’t want to be pushed aside by outsiders coming in to take over their cause and then leaving, with the locals having to continue the long-term fight to, as King says, “raise the consciousness” of the local black people. Those with King say that SNCC hasn’t accomplished enough concerning voting rights. King interrupts the disagreement saying there is no time for this internal bickering. He says their national movement does three things: negotiate, demonstrate, and resist. That is their game plan, and if it causes their opponents to make mistakes, it helps the cause. When they were in Albany, the sheriff treated them humanely, and so there was no “drama,” and as the James adds, “No cameras.” King agrees, implying that publicity derived from sensationalism is required to address wrongs. King says they have to raise white consciousness, too, in particular the President’s, and they must be on the front page of the newspapers and on the TV so Johnson will be forced to not ignore their fight. King says that the short-tempered Sheriff Clark will provide the necessary drama. He doesn’t control the streets, only the county courthouse, so King says, “we have clear avenues of approach to a defined battle zone.” This scene illustrates the planning, diplomacy, and strategy that King mastered to get the job done.

In a voice-over, King continues his analysis of the battlefield. He notes that when segregation is everywhere it is a harder task to concentrate the drama. But, in Selma, the focus is on the courthouse, a place of laws, which, ironically, has illegally denied voting rights, and which they can pinpoint as “a citadel, defended by fanatics.” So, King, his leaders, and the locals march the streets (where he noted the sheriff could not stop them) and go to the courthouse, whose tyranny is “defended,” as King observed, by police with their clubs. King poetically calls the courthouse “a perfect stage” for the “drama” he wants to play out. Sheriff Clark uses the excuse that there are too many of them there for the general public to gain access to the building and that they have to go in the back door, which is a form of segregation, which King tells him is illegal. Clark uses his bullying size to push people out of the way under the pretense that they must keep the sidewalk clear. He knocks over an old man. When he starts to jab his club into a young black man’s chest, Oprah’s Cooper whacks the Sheriff on the head. King winces as he sees the confrontation leading to the violence he abhors but must tolerate as Cooper is hit and wrestled to the ground.

The scene flows into the voice-over words of then Governor of Alabama George Wallace (Tim Roth), a major proponent of segregation, stating in a public address that he won’t tolerate “A bunch of nigra agitators.” Wallace, like other Southerners at the time, used the word “nigra” as a way of not using the “N” word, but communicating that was exactly the racial slur they meant. King is in jail having been arrested for disturbing the peace. Wallace is then seen talking about how liberals and progressives have undermined the intent of the Founding Fathers to make us one “mongrel” (a demonization of the process of diversification) nation instead of keeping the races separate. Unfortunately, the architects of American democracy did not grant the equal rights to blacks or women. But, they did allow for amendments to the Constitution, the type of change that Wallace decries in his speech.

Johnson listens to Wallace speak, and he sees a picture of Cooper being manhandled by the Alabama cops on the front page of the newspaper put on his breakfast table, probably giving him indigestion. Of course, Johnson’s inability to escape the disturbing behavior of his fellow Southerners is exactly what King intended.

In the Selma jail, King feels the heartbreaking frustration of their cause as he speaks to Abernathy. His words are like a confession for his part in adding to how much torment his people have endured. Abernathy offers encouragement and says President Johnson will be moved to act. But King wonders what they have accomplished if a black person can be served food anywhere, but can’t afford to pay for it, or is unable to read the menu. The civil rights activist Medgar Evers stood up against injustice and was shot in his own driveway. King has empathy for the sense of futility experienced by those that follow a leader who is then struck down (a sort of foreshadowing of what will happen once he meets his fatal end). Abernathy says that they just have to work “piece by piece,” laying down the road for others to follow. He quotes scripture which again seems to be the well from which these civil rights leaders sustained themselves, despite, as Malcolm X noted in his speeches, those same biblical teachings were used to placate blacks by urging them to tolerate their earthly plight for delayed happiness in heaven. Although being in jail, King is still able to use humor to lighten the dire situation, saying that the cell was “probably bugged.”

Amelia Boynton (Lorraine Toussaint), a civil rights activist, encourages Coretta, who feels unsure of herself as she heads toward a secret meeting with Malcolm X (Nigel Thatch). Boynton says they are descended from a mighty civilization that persevered despite crushing obstacles, so she is basically telling Coretta she will find her strength in her bond with her cultural past. The meeting with Malcolm X takes place in a church, the stained-glass windows again suggesting how religion was a key force behind the civil rights movement. Malcolm, who at this point has alienated himself from the Black Muslim establishment, now allows for other possibilities to achieve the goals of black people, including letting white people join the movement. He assures Coretta that he respects what her husband is trying to do. She is her husband’s defender and points out that Malcolm has said disrespectful things about her husband, and Malcolm agrees that he has been outspoken against the non-violent path. He stresses that although they have disagreements, he is not the “enemy.” She does not want his militance to destroy what her husband is trying to achieve in Selma. He counters by offering a strategy of his own, asking that he be the alternative to King that will scare whites to the point that many will rush to King’s side. In this war, allies must come from different camps and many tactics are advanced to defeat the real “enemy.”

King, still in jail, is upset with Coretta’s advocating for Malcolm, since at one point he called King and fellow leaders, “ignorant Negro preachers,” and said King was an Uncle Tom who the white man paid to keep “Negroes defenseless.” Coretta says Malcolm was different now, and his disagreements were not aimed in the form of personal attacks against King. King says that their movement made conditions better by actually passing laws, which he says Malcolm has not done. He blurts out that Coretta seems “enamored” of Malcolm, then immediately apologizes, saying he didn’t mean it. The disparity in the ways to improve African Americans is examined here, and it shows how those impassioned alternative ways of seeking progress sometimes led to jealousy and animosity.

Wallace is not happy about both King and Malcolm X stirring up the black people in his state at the same time. He is worried that Johnson might be provoked to push for voting reform, which Wallace doesn’t want since elections are coming up, and he wants to maintain a predominantly white electorate. A sharp increase in black voters could throw segregationist leaders such as himself out of office. He tells Colonel Al Lingo (Stephen Root) that he wants “white trash” Sheriff Clark restrained so that physically abused blacks don’t appear on the news, generating sympathy for their cause. Wallace, despite his racist leanings, somehow sees himself as better than violent bigots. But he also is being politically practical, not condemning the violence, just not wanting it displayed in public. But, Lingo, to stress the local Sheriff’s uncontrollable hatred of African Americans, tells Wallace that even if Elvis Presley and Jesus came back and told Clark to be nice to the blacks he would beat them both and put them in jail. Then, astonishingly, he says that Clark is an okay person, but has been aggravated by outside influences. Apparently the bar for constitutes a good person is pretty low for Colonel Lingo. Then a dark strategy sanctioned by the state is proposed. Lingo says that King will be released and is going out of town to a rally elsewhere. Lingo received information from Hoover about a march at night where it will be easy to terrorize the local blacks so they won’t want to cause any disturbances in the future. Since Hoover is aiding the segregationists, the racial bigotry is not just local and is here abetted, ironically, by the FBI, who are supposed to enforce civil rights laws. Wallace realizes that with King not there and the demonstration being at night, the press won’t be around to generate that “drama” that will expose the ugliness of what these two are planning.

The next scene, which is one of the two most brutal in the film, shows the authorities not warning the night marchers to disperse, but rushing toward them and beating them. They pursue them, as if they were hunters, going in for the kill. Some of the African American protestors try to lay low in a restaurant, but the troopers rush in and brutally beat them, including one man and his mother. When the man, Jimmie Lee Jackson (LaKeith Stanfield), tries to resist, a trooper shoots the unarmed man to death. This horrible event is followed by King meeting with Mr. Lee (Henry G. Sanders), Jimmie’s grandfather, to offer his condolences. Lee says that Jimmie promised that Lee would be able to vote before the old man died, something that he already had the right to do when he was a young man himself. The movie wants the audience to see that the fact that there has to be a battle with fatalities to attain what is obviously just is truly unbelievable.

King asks in an impassioned speech, “Who killed Jimmie Lee?” He lets nobody off the hook. He answers his question by saying that although one trooper pulled the trigger, the guilt is shared by the law enforcement officers in general who terrorize minorities. So are the politicians who create an environment that feeds “on prejudice and hatred.” He also incriminates white preachers who are supposed to stand for morality and do not protest these crimes. And, he also blames blacks who don’t fight with their brothers and sisters in trying to overcome this violence against other African Americans. King suggests that they all contribute to a climate that permits tragic crimes such as this one to take place. He notes the death of President Kennedy, and the recent assassination of Malcolm X, to point out that there have been deaths of those at all levels of society due to the struggle for equality. He says that they will continue to fight for what Jimmie Lee died for. He promises to go to Washington to tell the President that his administration caused the death of Jimmie Lee by spending millions of dollars every day for a foreign war in Vietnam, while lacking the “moral courage to defend the lives of its own people here in America.” King here accuses the Federal Government of hypocrisy because its image as a protector of democracy is a sham if it doesn’t ensure liberty in the homeland.

In a strategy meeting discussing the voting rights abuses, King says they need to be specific about what they want done. Unfortunately, the list of obstacles is daunting. The poll taxes exploit the poverty of people, and there is an exorbitant provision that makes an individual pay back taxes for the years one wasn’t registered. The voucher system requires an established voter to vouch for the prospective voter. In many instances, there are no black registered voters, so it’s impossible to get someone to vouch for a black citizen. It’s a sort of Catch-22. The chain of linked impediments to prevent African Americans from voting makes prioritizing what to attack difficult. First, it is difficult to get someone to vouch for a black person. Even if that were accomplished, overcoming that hurdle would only allow admittance into the court house, where a poll tax must be paid, followed by the publication of the name and address of the person trying to register, and which eventually could lead to that person’s death at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan.

King meets with Johnson again and says he is planning a march from Selma to Montgomery to “amplify” the need for a change in the voter registration process.

Johnson says that King’s tactic will put his marchers in danger. King again is negotiating, putting pressure on the President, hoping he will push for voting rights legislation. Johnson, however, is a stubborn and willful man and does not like to be manipulated.

We get a quick cut to one of Johnson’s advisors, Lee White (Giovanni Ribisi), where he tells black leaders working with King that there are credible threats against the civil rights leader’s life, and he shouldn’t be on the front line of the march. Later, Johnson says he wants to talk to Hoover and we know that he is ready to try to undermine King by getting Hoover to release information implicating King in extramarital affairs. These scenes emphasize that there is an inherent danger when one challenges an entrenched system fortified by appealing to the darkest impulses of human prejudices, and that even the President will compromise his morals to maintain political power.

Hoover sends recordings anonymously to King. The audio tapes have sounds of two people having sex. King and Coretta say they know that it is not him on the tapes. But she knows that there were other women with whom her husband was involved and asks if he loved any of them. King’s extended pause before answering is an admission of guilt about his affairs. He is honest with her and says he never loved anyone else. Coretta, crying, admits that what really shakes her are the threats of death to her family, which foreshadow what is to come for her and her husband.

There is voice-over conversation detailing plans to march from Selma to Montgomery, and, again, the exchange sounds like it comes from FBI recordings which, while telling of the strategy of these civil rights leaders, also reminds us that they were constantly being monitored by obstructive forces within the government. There is a cut to Wallace saying there will be no march because it will be disruptive to traffic, his excuse for trying to shut down any demonstration that will be covered by the national press. On the protesting side, strategies are discussed about closing ranks among the marchers and not having all of the civil rights leaders arrested at the same time. They even do role playing to prepare for confrontations with the local citizens. The participants are told that non-violence is not “passive” but instead is quite courageous, indicating that standing up against violence offers a higher moral alternative. The SNCC member John questions his fellow member James for saying King is just grandstanding for himself since he isn’t there in Selma right then (he feels he must be close to his family at this time after his talk with Coretta). John says that the people of Selma want King to lead them, and he will march to Montgomery. We learn that John is John Lewis who has become a leader in the civil rights movement for decades. The local cops, standing literally in the grass roots of the rural white areas, advocate the usual states’ rights call to keep outsiders away from their local domain. They basically are telling the Alabama residents to maintain state sovereignty, that point seeming to be more important to them than just doing what is right. The back-and-forth cuts give the impression of two armies preparing for battle. The effect is to ramp up the tension for the film audience.

In place of the FBI narration we now get a reporter’s description of the marchers as we see these people carrying supplies as they begin their historic journey. The press is there to deliver the “drama” to the American public. Both the FBI reports and the coverage by the journalists add a feeling of accuracy to the proceedings and lend weight to their significance. The state troopers are waiting for the marchers, along with local white spectators. The music combines strings, which seem plaintive reflecting the plight of the protesters, with drums, which provide marching rhythms, indicating the act of the demonstrators, but which also sound ominous. A policeman warns the protesters that their activity is illegal, and tells them to go back to their homes or their “churches,” which is a subversive way of introducing a comforting religious element while also threatening to end the march. King and his companions find justification from religious texts for their efforts, while their adversaries use religion to back up their opposition.

The troopers will not agree to any discussions to prevent violence. They put on gas masks and helmets and charge into the marchers in the other horrific scene in the movie. They knock people down, gas them, and beat the protesters with clubs while on foot and on horses. One uses a whip, a reminder of how slaves were brutalized on Southern plantations during the time of slavery. John Lewis receives a head wound but leads people back to safety. The white spectators cheer the troopers, using the “N” word and displaying the Confederate flag, showing that for them the Civil War continues. The event is broadcast to millions on television, which shows what a sad situation it is that people have to be brutalized before progress can be achieved. The reporter notes that Lewis said he could not see how President Johnson could send troops to Vietnam but not to Selma, implying that the country says it is fighting for freedom abroad while allowing tyranny to exist at home.

While some blacks look for guns to fight back, Young warns them that they don’t have a chance against the firepower of the troopers. One black man quotes the Old Testament about how it preaches “an eye for an eye.” The thrust here is that religion, which, as was shown, can be a source of inspiration for those who want to do good can also be perverted to promulgate violence. Young counters by saying, “I ain’t talking what’s right by God. I am talking facts, Cold, hard facts.” He says, “We have to win another way.” Young tries to temper the understandable desire to retaliate against those that have attacked them. He, being a follower of King, knows that they can only fight for their cause against superior numbers and arms by exposing the hatred of others while not indulging their own violent tendencies.

King returns to Selma and says that they will walk again over the bridge that leads to Montgomery. In front of the reporters he gets the word out by saying that responsibility for the hateful violence inflicted on the “unarmed” (important word, which would not have its sympathetic force if guns were used by the protesters) people of Selma must be shared by all citizens if they let injustice and repression to continue. King uses the situation as a rallying call to recruit all races to join their nonviolent army.

We again have a voice-over which accompanies shots of people leaving their homes, the images backing up what is said by Fred Gray (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) as he tells Judge Frank Johnson (Martin Sheen) that many white people, most of them from the clergy, are coming to Selma. Gray, representing the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, is trying to get a Federal court order to stop the state of Alabama from interfering with the marchers. Judge Johnson says he will not overturn the state mandate without proper proceedings that are scheduled, unfortunately, after the date on which the march is to occur. There is an attempt here by the civil rights movement to prevent violence despite its pragmatic “drama,” but not to the point of rescheduling the protest. The civil rights leaders probably don’t want to allow Wallace the chance to have the court rule in his favor.

President Johnson fumes about all of the protesters he is witnessing outside the White House who are probably increasing due to witnessing the beatings in Selma shown on the TV. White advises the President to allow the march. Then, the Selma event will be over, and he will be in control again. But, Johnson worries that the divide over the civil rights issue in the country is getting too extreme. The President wants both Wallace to call off his “hicks” and King to cancel the march. If they don’t cease what they are doing, he says, “I’ll stop them both.” Johnson is caught in the middle between these opposing forces because he does not want to take a side. But, the opposing forces are increasingly not allowing him to stay on the sidelines.

Assistant Attorney General Joan Doar (Alessandro Nivola) meets with King and Young and asks them not to march. King, who knows how to speak intelligently and persuasively, tells the man that Doar should talk with Wallace and Sheriff Clark about stopping their violence instead of trying to prevent “a peaceful protest.” Doar wants to make a deal to postpone the march, and says the President will back King down the road. Although not stated, King knows he must use the forces that have already gathered and keep up the momentum, or it will dissipate with further delays. Instead, he simply says that those that have gathered want to show their “dignity.” He puts the responsibility on the Federal Government by saying that Johnson can end all of the tensions with “a stroke of the pen,” by securing voting rights. King’s stance, which is politically impressive, is that his way is the only just way, so there is no alternative course of action for him to choose. By taking the higher moral ground, King is saying the President must take responsibility for any violence that results from the peaceful protest if he is not willing to do the right thing.

Many white people of different faiths are welcomed by the black leaders in Selma for the march. One man, James Reeb (Jeremy Strong), a clergyman from Boston, tells a reporter (the film emphasizing the importance of the press) that he traveled there because he heard King’s call to help “innocent people” being denied their “rights.” The point stressed here is that differences in creeds and denominations don’t matter when people are being oppressed. King says to those assembled that despite the government of Alabama and the President not wanting them to march, they must do so because of their “moral certainty.” Although holy wars have been fought based on self-righteous “moral certainty,” King ties his quest not to forcing others to think like him, but instead to have them gain a say in choosing their own paths. The loss of freedom is what he wants to “overcome.”

There is a shot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge (dedicated in commemoration of a Confederate soldier, the name adding more sodium chloride to the African American wounds). This structure is a literal expanse they must cross, but it also takes on symbolic meaning. It can represent the challenge for those who seek justice and freedom to endure, despite the danger, to vanquish those that preach (in a demonic sense) hate and the violence that is the expression of their bigoted rage. They march as a version of Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War” plays, which emphasizes the deadly control that rulers have over their citizens (as you Game of Thrones fans have seen). The troopers unexpectedly withdraw. It seems like a victory, but King is unconvinced. He kneels, and the other marchers follow his lead, as it appears that they are offering thankful praise to God. King then withdraws from the battlefield.

The movement’s leaders question why King did not keep going. King says that the troopers could have sealed off the road behind them, denying them the chance to get supplies or help. Although not stated, the plan of withdrawing the troopers may also have been to eliminate the media focus on the crossing of the bridge where the police beatings occurred before. James from SNCC says there was no trap and that the only reason the troopers didn’t attack was because there were many white people marching alongside the blacks. In this instance, King decided to forego the publicity generated from racially motivated violence. He was willing to have people be angry at him instead of taking the risk that followers might be injured or killed. He writes a letter to Coretta which voices the pain he feels for asking others to sacrifice for the cause.

His words set up the next scene where white racists beat to death two white preachers from Boston, one of them being James Reeb, showing how hatred once unleashed will target anyone. President Johnson keeps trying to maintain a separation between himself and the civil rights movement. Earlier, he told King that the preacher was an activist with one concern, while Johnson was the national leader who had many issues to deal with. He wants to distance himself from the bigots, but that doesn’t prevent him from yelling at King on the phone. He is upset because King’s rallying of the citizens led to some of them pretending to be on a tour and then staging a protest within the walls of the White House. King wants to make sure Johnson realizes he can’t escape the injustices. By influencing the American public with his acts and powerful words, King has been increasing the political pressure on Johnson, wanting to show Johnson that it is the President’s struggle, too. King tells the President that he can stop the unrest. He was elected President only four months prior by the largest margin in U. S. history, and he has the power to change things. King does not buckle under, but keeps advancing his efforts as he tells Johnson that he is “dismantling” his presidential legacy by dragging his feet on getting the voting rights bill passed.

King rides in a car with Lewis and tells him that Johnson won’t act. King is feeling dejected, saying protests aren’t enough. He is expressing feelings of defeat. Lewis now takes a turn inspiring the one who inspired him before. He says he was among a group that was attacked by whites that grabbed anything they could get their hands on to use as weapons. A little girl gouged her nails into Lewis’s friend’s face as the girl’s father beat the man, showing how the poison of hate is passed from parent to child. But, Lewis says that King gave him hope in a speech that declared they will not give up and will triumph. Lewis realizes that King must hear his own words so that he will continue the fight.

The civil rights movement takes the issue of the right to march to the court presided over by Judge Johnson. Coretta, despite their domestic problems, shows up to lend King moral support. While on the stand, King once again shows his intelligence by effectively arguing that he had to defy the order not to march because there were thousands of people who showed up to demonstrate and he thought if he didn’t let a peaceful demonstration proceed there may have been an unleashing of violent, pent-up emotions, causing harm to both sides. The judge decides in favor of letting the march take place because he says that the enormity of the wrongs against the people protesting far outweighs Alabama’s argument that a peaceful march will disrupt traffic. The judge is basically telling the state of Alabama that their argument is ridiculous given the circumstances of how the demonstration is to be conducted and the reasons for it taking place.

Wallace meets with Johnson, and the difference between these two types of Southern gentlemen is contrasted in this scene. Wallace tells the President in a snide, passive-aggressive manner that it’s Johnson’s “responsibility” to stop “malcontents” from disrupting his state. Johnson comes back at Wallace by saying the protests are about voting in his state and how his people are being treated. Thus, he says, “that’s your problem, your responsibility,” (using Wallace’s own word). Johnson points out that Wallace has always wanted to help the poor, so why is he going “off on this black thing?” Wallace shows his prejudice by saying that “you can’t ever satisfy them.” As if it’s too much to ask for someone to have the same rights as any other citizen. Wallace sees blacks as not deserving of sitting at the front of the bus, occupying parks, being allowed to be in the same schools as whites, getting the right to vote, and having an equal opportunity to get a job. Johnson says that they can go out in front of the White House and get rid of the protestors. That way, Wallace won’t have to worry about the President drafting invasive legislation if Wallace just declares that the blacks will be able to vote in Alabama. Wallace agrees that the law of the land states that African Americans have the right to vote, but he has no legal control over county registrars. Johnson knows that Wallace is just being obstructive since the Governor has the political power to influence what happens in the counties. King’s line about worrying about his legacy hit home with Johnson. He questions what will people think of them in 1985? Wallace reveals his narrow way of thinking by saying he doesn’t care what they will think of him. Johnson does, and he shows his contempt for Wallace when he says, “I’ll be damned if I’m gonna’ let history put me in the same place as the likes of you.”

Johnson addresses Congress. He says he is there for “dignity” and “democracy.” Referencing Selma, he says “there is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem.” Johnson has embraced King’s proclamation that everyone is responsible when injustice occurs. To make sure that the Constitution is enforced, Johnson says he is sending a bill to Congress to strike down all restrictions to voting in every kind of election in the country. He then echoes King by saying, “we shall overcome.”

Assistant Attorney General Doar urges caution for King since he fears for the preacher’s safety. He says he knows that King wants to live to witness the fruits of his labor. His words are, of course, tragically ironic, since King reaches the height of his influence only to be assassinated in a few years. King looks wary, saying he must not hide even though he may not be able to see the results of his actions. Of course, we know he will be killed at a young age, and this scene is especially sad.

The movie’s final march alternates with the footage of the actual events, merging the real story with the cinematic one. King gives a speech about the lies of bigotry that proclaim the white race as being superior to the black one, and that deny the truth about how people are entitled to the same rights. Notes at the end of the movie inform us of how Andrew Young and John Lewis excelled in public service. Wallace ran unsuccessfully four times for President, and was paralyzed in an attempted assassination. Sheriff Clark was defeated because of the black vote in the next election, never to hold that office again. But, in the midst of King’s hopeful speech there is a reminder of how deadly hatred can be. Viola Liuzzo, a white woman, driving marchers back to Selma, was murdered by Klansmen five hours after King’s speech. Coretta continued her husband’s legacy, and never married again. Five months after the Selma march, Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, with King at his side, the two finally joined in a righteous cause.

At the end of his speech, King asks “when will we be free?” He says soon, and that God’s truth keeps marching on. Many may still be asking whether freedom is safe from jeopardy, and must continue to be defended. There are those that are fighting for truth, because they believe it is currently under siege. The film’s Oscar winning song “Glory” notes that these wars are still being waged.

The next film is The Last Picture Show.