First Friday Film: Do the Right Thing

Spike Lee's bold and nuanced work about the role of race in our country examines American identity in conjuction with Behold, America!. While its debut in 1989 was supposed to cause race riots according to some, the film instead won multiple Academy Award nominations and offered a poetic, thoughtful, if not intense look at the structure of American communities. Most importantly, Lee's fictional story about one afternoon in Bedford-Stuyvensant continues to resonate and prove relevant to the conversation on race in this country.