Jewish Community Arts and Temple Sinai to present virtual panel discussion
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Saratoga Jewish Community Arts and Temple Sinaiwill present a virtual panel discussion on the 1989 film “Do the Right Thing” this weekend as part of an ongoing event series.
The program, funded by a grant from the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York, is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 25 online via Zoom.
It has been 31 years since Spike Lee’s “Do theRight Thing” was released.
It was such a prophetic, and controversial, film that it merits attention today, not just for its historic significance, but because it is still fresh andrelevant and so clearly foretold the future of interracial relationships in America, Saratoga Jewish Community Arts coordinator Phyllis Wang said in a press release.
“The film explores how racial inequality drives conflict in a predominantly African American community on the hottest day of the summer,” the release said. “It does not provide answers to the problems it exposes. Rather, the film reflects back to its audience their own perspectives on prejudice and compliance. The film was made as the result of provocations, and so it in turn provokes. It reacts to white supremacy and paternalism with a justified rage, drawing attention to systemically racist institutions and the injustices they produce; injustices that still exist today.”
While some critics admired the film, others in the media at the time publicly speculated that it would ignite violence, the release said, sharing that Lee criticizedwhite reviewers in turn for suggesting that black audiences were incapable of restraining themselveswhilewatching a fictional motion picture.
“At its most basic, Lee’s intent in Do The Right Thing is to demonstrate how in the context of a racially polarized society the slow accumulation of small irritations, the heat, some casual slights, bit of anger left over from old injuries, the constantmild abrasions of different cultural perspectives rubbing against each other, can swell to something huge and ugly and lethal,” the release continued.
More than three decades later, Lee’s film remains profoundly relevant. “‘Do the Right Thing’ is essential in speaking to the present.” The release said. “It served and still serves as a window into a country that has historically devalued the lives of African Americans.”
While the film did not win an Academy Award, it is often listed among the greatest. In 1999, it was deemed “culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress, in its first year of eligibility and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Program participants are encouraged to watch the film beforehand and then join the socially distanced online forum. The movie is available through one or more of the following: Netflix, HBO, YouTube, Amazon, Amazon Prime or other outlets.