Featured Image: (Pacer Graphic / Darby Self)
For years now, there’s been a notion floating amongst the world of creation. The earliest thoughts of this notion can be attributed to ancient philosophers like Plato, who viewed art as a mimesis (or imitation) of life.
Over time, this concept has become consistently more prevalent. While it can be associated with other forms of art in media like books, songs and video games, it’s much easier to understand when you associate it with movies.
We live in an ever-changing world where anything is possible. Similar to this world, the messages in movies are always changing to bring attention to a problem that our world is facing at that time.
An example of this is Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 classic, “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” (colloquially known as “Dr. Strangelove”). This was a film that was released around the era where the fear of nuclear war was still prevalent. Despite being a political satire and black comedy, its effect on the American people cannot be understated. “Dr. Strangelove” made the general public reflect on their leadership at the time, causing them to wonder how truly zany and impossible the movie really seemed. This was Kubrick’s goal, to raise awareness for a situation at the time.
While “Dr. Strangelove” was important at the time of its release, it has become much less so in the years since. Its impact cannot be understated, but it’s not something that people would talk about today. What about a film with a message that reaches beyond the period that it was released?
Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” is a film that perfectly fits into this mold. “Do the Right Thing,” released in 1989, focuses on the rising racial tensions of that time. While it takes place in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, it aims to bring attention to this problem so deeply rooted in American society that it occurs everywhere. Until a few years after its release, many people feared that it would incite riots. It’s controversial in the way that it doesn’t offer a solution to these problems, rather it ends abruptly with the death of one of the film’s most prevalent characters in an eruptive street brawl. This unsettling, unresolved ending reflects the topic that it tries to convey perfectly. The threat of racism is never-ending. It’s been 37 years since the film’s release and its message is still realized in our country today. The film offers no solution to this problem because it focuses on the realistic, gritty world that it was released in. Until people as a collective make the change, “Do the Right Thing” will always be a warning on what can happen when tensions get too high.
“Do the Right Thing” and “Dr. Strangelove” are just two examples of many films that have a message behind them. They imitate the world around them while also showcasing possible scenarios of what can occur if their lessons are not heeded by their audiences. So while art can imitate life, it can also provide warnings and messages to be used to better this life.
