Mookie, played by none other than Spike Lee himself, is one character that causes some of the most problems in Do the Right Thing. He, like everyone else, demands respect but offers none in return. While some characters demand respect and don’t deserve it, many don’t necessarily act in a manner that directly opposes the respect they crave. Mookie does (act in a manner that opposes that which he requests). He wants to be a good father and husband/boyfriend but he never visits his son or his wife/girlfriend and when he does it’s only to “thank God” for her body parts. He wants to be paid but he shirks his duties. He is not the main problematic of the film, however. If one (and only one) man acted this way, he would not affect the events of the movie to a large degree. The problem is that almost everyone acts this way. Radio Raheem wants everyone to listen to his music but will not listen to theirs. The men on the sidewalk hate the Koreans for starting a business but refuse to get up and do anything for themselves. Pino diverts his chores to his brother but wants to be thought of as the responsible brother. The movie is filled with characters that do not take responsibility but wonder why no one respects them for it. Some of these characters, specifically Mookie, we can sympathize with. We see that despite is irresponsibility he wants to be responsible. How many times do people want to do something but can’t seem to find the will power to get it done? A student that wants to begin a paper early but watches a movie instead, an employee that knows paperwork needs to be finished but just can seem to find the drive to do it, or the parent that finds it easier to run away from their family rather than actually be there for them. These are natural responses that exist in everyone, but as Lee shows us, they can lead to disaster because one never knows if they are the Sal or Mookie of a story. If they lose it, then everyone else just might too.
Interesting stuff here, Jonathan. I appreciate the generosity of this reading of irresponsible actions, but these actions seem particularly dangerous in this environment. The lack of will we see in several of the characters seems to be a central problem, while in others, an excess of will leads to disaster. I do wonder, too, how much faith we can put in Mookie's desire to be a good father. He interacts once with his son during the film, and it's never clear what he's saving his money for.
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