Legendary filmmaker Spike Lee addresses the cynical press coverage that his seminal movie Do the Right Thing received when it initially premiered back in 1989. Upon the release of Do The Right Thing, many critics found the film incendiary, even so far as to question Lee’s motive for making it. The movie would, however, go on to numerous accolades, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
According to Entertainment Weekly, while accepting the Ebert Director Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, Lee acknowledged the crucial role that the late film critic Roger Ebert played in his career while also calling out the critics who claimed Do the Right Thing would incite violence and riots, and should therefore not be shown in the United States. Read his full comments below:
“Your husband was very crucial [in] my career. He was very crucial, 1989 in Cannes, to Do the Right Thing. Your husband got behind me because there was motherf—ers, excuse my language, in the press saying that Do the Right Thing was gonna incite Black people to riot, that this film should not be shown in the United States, that Black people riot, see the film, take to the streets. This film should not be shown, at least not let it come out in the summer. And the great Tom Pollock says, ‘Spike, we’re releasing the film on June 30th.’“
What Did Critics Say About Do The Right Thing When It Premiered
Today, Do the Right Thing is considered one of the most culturally and historically significant films to have been released in the last few decades. It has featured on numerous lists of the best films of all time, and it is arguably Lee’s best film to date. However, the classic film wasn’t well received by some critics when it was initially released, with many arguing the award-winning filmmaker was trying to fan the flames of racial tensions. A critic for New York Magazine wrote that, “The end of this movie is a shambles, and if some audiences go wild, he’s partly responsible.”
Another critic writing for The Village Voice noted that Do the Right Thing was simply a rancid fairytale, one that is expected from a racist. Another writer for New York Magazine echoed similar sentiments, claiming that if Black kids were to act on what they saw in the movie, Lee’s career would be destroyed.
The reactions and reviews to Lee’s Do the Right Thing weren’t all negative, though. Some critics argued that it’s an exciting, disturbing, and provocative film made by a filmmaker who was working in sync with the times. The late Ebert was particularly supportive of Lee’s movie, arguing it does not ask its audiences to choose sides and stating that articles suggesting that Lee was trying to incite violence say more about the authors than about the movie itself.
