The Uniting and Dividing Of A Diverse Community
Twenty-five years destroyed in one
night. Sal’s Famous pizzeria may have
divided parts of the community in the end, but it also nourished people
physically and unknowingly mentally throughout the life of the restaurant. The restaurant nourished people physically
because of the food element (pizza).
More importantly, it nourished people mentally because it brought people
together and in a way subtly brought together the different races in the
community. Sal’s pizzeria nourished
people mentally by helping people speak out for a belief they had, but it also
helped reveal certain people’s insecurities.
For the twenty-five years this restaurant lasted it was beneficial to
the community for awhile.
Sal’s pizzeria nourished people
mentally because it was the one, if only, thing the different races had in
common. Many of the blacks in the
community ate there frequently. The
“white” cops (who at times gave the blacks a hard time) ate there. The Italians were the ones who owned it. Across the street a Korean couple owned a
little market and Sal would give out a friendly “hi” and or wave to them. During the scene when Mookie’s
sister is eating at Sal’s Famous Pizzeria, all of Sal’s attention is drawn to
her, and he sits at her table and has a conversation with her (Do the Right
Thing). Sal’s pizzeria caused the
friendship that was formed between Sal and Mookie’s
sister. Sal’s pizzeria also caused a
slight friendship between Vito and Mookie. In another scene, Mookie
encourages Vito to stand up for himself when his brother bosses him around (Do
the Right Thing). Mookie took the time to listen to Vito unlike Vito’s
family. This restaurant was probably the
only thing in the community that brought the different races together.
Sal’s Famous Pizzeria helped people
speak out as well as reveal their insecurities.
During the scene when Mookie’s sister comes to
the pizza place, Sal sits and talks with her, Mookie
things Sal is being too friendly and takes his sister outside and tells her not
to come back to the restaurant. Then he
tells Sal to leave his sister alone (Do the Right Thing). Mookie shows that
he cares for his sister because Sal is quite a bit older than her but another
factor for wanting them to stay apart could easily be that they are of
different races. Mookie
seems to be insecure about a “white” man being too friendly with his “black”
sister. Mookie
makes it a point to tell Sal to leave his sister alone not knowing it is partly
his racial insecurities actually talking.
Buggin’
Out also decides to speak out. Buggin’ Out gets mad at Sal for only having white-Italian
American pictures on his wall. Buggin’ Out then decides to boycott Sal’s pizzeria. He roams the streets asking people to boycott
Sal’s. The only people he can find to
help him are Radio Raheem and Smiley. The three of them storm into Sal’s restaurant
after closing time with Radio Raheem’s stereo blaring
and begin yelling back and forth across the counter with Sal. Sal makes some racial comments and after
awhile takes a bat to the blaring stereo (Do the Right Thing). This could easily look like a battle of the
races but it is actually a battle of insecurities. Way before this scene Buggin’
Out would try to get free cheese on his pizza and give Sal a hard time. Sal simply took control of him by kicking him
out. Buggin’
Out may have felt insecure of the fact that he had no control. He now wants to redeem himself by creating a
new situation and being in control of it as well as Sal. Before Buggin’ Out,
Radio Raheem , and Smiley formed their little conspiracy, Radio Raheem had an incident with Sal. In another scene in the movie, Radio Raheem goes to Sal’s with his radio blaring and tries to
order pizza. Sal refuses to serve him
until he turns the radio down. In the
end, Raheem turns his stereo down (Do the Right
Thing). Radio Raheem,
being the immense guy he is, was insecure about being told what to do. By Sal controlling Radio Raheem’s
stereo, Radio Raheem felt he lost control of the
situation and eagerly became a part of Buggin’ Out’s
conspiracy. When [people] get angry,
they bring about a change (Malcolm X part 1).
Buggin’ Out and Radio Raheem
are angry with Sal. They barge into
Sal’s restaurant and pick a fight with Sal.
Sal became intimidated and insecure.
Sal has been in control of every other situation that took place in his
pizza place. He takes his anger and
frustration of the situation out on Raheem’s
stereo. Sal is use to being in control
of people in his restaurant. He kicked Buggin’ Out out of his restaurant
when he was making a scene about the lack of African American pictures being on
the wall and got Radio Raheem to turn his music off
before he was served pizza. Now Sal is
in a situation where he has no control and that makes him insecure. Sal simply has a “lack of assurance” (The
Random House College Dictionary, Pg 688).
As a result Sal begins to yell out racial comments and breaks Radio Raheem’s stereo (Do the Right Thing). Doing this makes him feel more powerful and,
once again, in charge. Sal’s pizzeria
becomes a place where people speak out and also inadvertently becomes a place
where certain people’s insecurities are revealed.
Sal’s pizzeria did not just nourish
people physically. His restaurant drew people
from the different races in the community together subconsciously. While certain people spoke out, their
insecurities surfaced which, in the end, caused Sal’s Pizzeria to burn down. Sal’s Famous Pizzeria proved to be beneficial
to the community until it was burned down.
Twenty-five years destroyed in one night.
Works
Cited
Do
the Right Thing. Dir. Spike Lee. MCA Home Video, 1989.
“Malcolm
X: Quotes to Inspire You.” 2003:
Par. 1
http://www.cyber-nation.com/victory/quotations/authors/quotes_malcolmx.html
The Random