Cha Mae Ri

February 20, 2012

Day 13: A movie that makes you think

Do the Right Thing (1989)

This is a masterful film on so many levels (aesthetically, narratively, culturally). It’s also very provocative, and not just for the sake of being provocative. This is not the kind of movie you watch when you want a mindless night of fluffy entertainment. Nor is it the kind you watch for escapism or romanticism. It’s the kind of film you watch when you want to grapple with some gritty, unpretty truths.

It opens and closes with two quotes, one from Martin Luther King Jr. saying, “Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral,” and the other from Malcom X saying, ”I am not against using violence in self-defence. I don’t even call it violence when it’s self-defence, I call it intelligence.” Both of these conflicting sentiments are woven throughout the story, without the movie explicitly saying which is right. And yet I think it favors the latter, challenging the former. (Otherwise why would the film be so controversial?)

My feelings about this film have evolved quite a lot since the first time I saw it. What’s so brilliant about it is that not only did it prompt a visceral, gut reaction in me while I was watching it, but it then stayed in my head long after it was over, eventually forcing me to question that initial reaction and what it implied about me as a person. Anyone who’s seen the movie probably knows exactly what I’m talking about, but let’s just say I was very shocked by the film’s violent, vitriolic climax, and truly angered by it. It really quite sickened me. But the more I thought about it (and I couldn’t stop thinking about it) the more I felt like my anger was woefully misdirected. I had latched onto the crowd’s violence and vandalism and all but forgot the tragedy that inspired it. Did I really care more about the destruction of white property than the destruction of black life?

This is a film of hard questions, and I respect it for that. It’s also a film that makes me uncomfortable, because on some level it makes it difficult for me to respect myself.

Day 12: Best holiday movie: A Christmas Story (1983)

Day 11: Movie with the most beautiful scenery: Bambi (1942), The Lord of the Rings(2001-2003)

Day 10: A movie you like with an actor/actress you hate: Matchstick Men (2003)

Day 09: A movie that makes you cry: The Land Before Time (1988)

Day 08: A movie you thought you’d hate but ended up loving: She’s the Man (2006)

Day 07: A movie from your childhood: The Adventures of Milo and Otis (1986/89)

Day 06: Best love story in film: Jane Eyre (2011)

Day 05: A movie sequel you’d like to see made someday: Peking Opera Blues (1986)

Day 04: A movie you’re embarrassed to admit you like: Underworld (2003)

Day 03: A movie you wish more people had seen: The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982)

Day 02: A movie you can recite word for word: Victor Victoria (1982)

Day 01: The first movie you remember seeing: Aladdin (1992)