Mother Sister embodied the "back in the day" of black culture. She is one of the elders of the neighborhood and plays the role of guardian, watching over the inhabitants from her stoop and window. She stays in her dwelling throughout the majority of the film, only coming out when the Pizza Shop is burning. Her reclusive tendency symbolizes the older members of the black community- watching from a distance and offering their wisdom and past experiences to the younger men and women, encouraging them in times of struggle and admonishing them in times of stupidity. Mother Sister recognizes that she can't interfere with the lives of Mookie and the others, but she can wish him well and warn him to stay out of trouble, reminding a voice of wisdom. Mother Sister also tries to keep in touch with the young kids and adults by having them over to talk and "sit a while". She never leaves her stoop unless there's an emergency, always having people visit her besides calling to them in passing. This habit represents the acknowledgment of the elders that their time is past but still wanting to stay in touch with their hope for a brighter future, the current generation.
Mother Sister provides a balance in the film by being a resource of positivity and tranquility. While the heat of the day fuels the anger and tension of the neighborhood, Mother Sister's wishes and interjections provides a cool release to those that commune with her. Spike Lee represents this aspect in film by dynamics in music, whenever there is tension in the movie there is blaring rap music with a strong muffled bass to illustrate the throbbing of heads and fast pulsing of blood, two strong indicators of anger. However, whenever Mother Sister is on camera, the music changes to slow soft jazz, almost like a calming balm. The presence of Mother Sister and the stylistic expression of her both provide relief in the film as if they were the rare cool breezes during a summer scorcher.
The one negative with Mother Sister is her weakness to conflict. While she does offer words of encouragement and has wisdom, this is the limit to her strength. When ever she is faced with turmoil, whether it be the presence of the Mayor, or the murder of Radio Raheim, it's crumbles and falls. Lee also makes a reference to her weakness while she is having her hair combed, where she complains of being tender headed. metaphorically, the comb is the pain life brings and mother Sister's sensitivity is the weakness of the old ancestors to the threat of present day struggles and their lack of understanding and power to withstand it. to further prove this, revisit the scene of the night riot, when the pizza shop is burning, all Mother Sister is able to do is to crumble in the street in a heap of tears, shouts , and writhing. Mother sister may be a source of power in support, but not in fighting, for her time for that is over and also she can do now is stand on the sideline as a footprint of the past for others to acknowledge and move on from, to be left behind, and soon forgotten.
Interesting stuff here, Jeremy. You make some great points about Mother Sister's role in the neighborhood and the limits to her effectiveness. The one thing that still puzzles me about her character is the shot of her yelling "burn it" as the crowd storms into Sal's. Her breakdown later makes sense based on what we know of her. But this moment of joining in with the crowd, in a way, is troubling. What should we make of it?
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