Crossroads Cinema: ‘Do The Right Thing’

It’s a blistering day in the Bedford-Stuyevesant neighborhood of Brooklyn and things are poised to heat up even more due to pent-up racial tension. Producer/writer/director Spike Lee’s 1989 masterpiece does the impossible: It makes us empathize with almost every character onscreen. ‘Do The Right Thing’ ends with two quotes, one decries violence; the other casts it as self-defense. Both are proven right in a film that is eerily prescient and absolutely relevant right now.