do the right thing
... fullest. Spike Lee believes that as long as he has some money on him that he will achieve happiness. Spike Lee also uses his money as power. Living in a small, impoverished neighborhood, Spike Lee has power over all his friends who do not have jobs and do not have as much money as he does. What Spike Lee fails to realize is that every person is different, and even though it is nice to have money, people have different priorities in life. Some people need money to stay alive, and others do not need it at all. Spike Lee needs money to stay alive, because he has to take care of his son. Most of his friends do not need money like he does because they do not have obligations such as a child. Because Spike Lee lives in an enclosed world where the only thing that he understands is that without money, a person can not exist. Which is true, but when money is the only thing a person lives for, as is the case with Spike Lee, then that type of person can not exist either. Spike Lee lives the life many young men choose to live. His surroundings and his friends also do not positively influence his decisions. Spike Lee grows up in New York City and is the subject of much oppression. He grows up in a place where young blacks are constantly harassed by the police and are subject to a great deal of racism. The only business around is the local grocery store owned by Koreans, who do not take kindly of the local children. Also, there is Sal’s Pizzeria, where Spike Lee works. Italians run this place. The local African Americans have no stores run by fellow African Americans, therefore, the money that they spend at these fine establishments will not stay in the neighborhood. In other words, their money will not come back to benefit them in no way. As a result, he can not go into a store without people constantly worrying about him and his friends stealing something. This is one reason why he is always flaunting his money to everyone. He must show society that he does not have to steal from it to make a living. It is a shame that people must think this way. This is how Spike Lee thinks, and he feels as if the world is out to get him. The environment is the main reason why Spike lee and his friends act and think the way they do. Another important character in the movie is Radio Raheem. He is the stereotypical black criminal. He is very big and muscular, tall, and strong. He strikes fear into the hearts of many people who do not know him. He constantly walks around with his radio playing really loud. The song that is always playing on his radio is “Fight the Power,” which is symbolic. This song explains how Radio Raheem feels every time he passes someone and they automatically categorize him as a criminal. As a result, he wears two rings, one on each hand. One ring says LOVE written across his hand the on the other the word HATE. Love is on the right hand showing people that that is what is morally right. Hate is on the left hand showing people that that it is morally wrong to hate. But in life, it is all switched around. People would rather hate someone before loving him or her, and Radio Raheem is a victim of that. People assume that because he is big, black and carries his radio around with him all the time that he is a bad person, and they never really take the time out to get to know him as a person. Spike Lee does and he realizes that Radio Raheem is not a bad person. This is also seen at the end of the movie when the police kill Radio Raheem. He is an innocent bystander to the whole situation but yet the police pick him out of the crowd and decide to assault him because they say he looks the “most dangerous.” They ultimately end up killing him, when he did nothing at all to resist arrest. Radio Raheem was a victim of something he had no control over. Because of his skin color and his build other people forever saw him as wrong. Another person who meant well but people saw as bad was Sal. Sal just like Radio Raheem had no control over what ultimately led to his downfall; his skin color. Sal owned the local pizza parlor and even though he was Ital...