What are some symbols from the 1989 Spike Lee movie “Do the Right Thing”?
Bill Nunn plays a young man “Radio Raheem” who plays his boom box at top volume wherever he goes. He is a symbol of Black expression. Giancarlo Esposito plays a young man who seems at war with everybody at once, though nobody pays him any mind. Someone accidentally steps on his shoes and he says “Yo. Yo.” The person is oblivious which infuriates the young man. It is a comic scene and I think Lee means for us to find the character likable if slightly overly sensitive. But those shoes are certainly symbols of his manhood, his personal space, his pride all of which finally comes to Black pride.
