Q: Discuss what you notice about how Spike Lee breaks from Hollywood aesthetic and narrative conventions in Do the Right Thing. Think narrative construction, character arcs/hero’s journey, framing/camera angle. Use the info. from our class discussion on Monday.

A: Spike Lee breaks from Hollywood Aesthetic and narrative conventions by camerawork, the structure of the story, and the character arcs. The entire film really shows peoples human responses and the faulty ways they interact with one another. The entire film is set in the span of 24 hours and illustrates a swift and steady descent into chaos. Not only does the film have discontinuous editing in a continuous 24 hour setting, the different shots of the same action occur a few times. The angling of the camera and the setup of the narrative almost guide us to figuring out what will happen at the end. There are a ton of foreshadowing moments which help with that. The only character that could be claimed as a “protagonist” in the film is Da Mayor, even then he doesn’t have much effect on the story. There is no Hollywood fairytale ending but the film ends in looping back to the morning before.