Scarlet Masque Theatre Journal New Beginnings and Fond Farewells Vol. 1 | Page 72

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drugs, the inclusion of “all walks of life” is not the crux of ​ Do the Right Thing ​ . The racial tension
between Italian Americans and African Americans serves as “substantial enough subject to
sustain any number of films” (47). And while there is a point of tension involving
Asian-Americans at the site of the Korean deli across the street from “Sal’s,” the focal point of
Do the Right Thing ​ is the action that revolves around “Sal’s” itself. To criticize Lee for not
accurately reflecting the population of Bed-Stuy demographically would be similar to criticizing
a film like ​ Taxi Driver ​ for doing the same. The city in which Travis Bickle drives is New York as
well, and yet most of the characters in the film are white. But that is not problematic, because
it fits the narrative. The same is true for ​ Do the Right Thing ​ .
The next aspect of the critical reception of ​ Do the Right Thing ​ that requires close
examination is critics’ reaction to Sal (played by Danny Aiello). Richard Corliss has much to say
about Lee’s portrayal of Sal. He writes first that, during a scene in which Sal and Pino discuss
the merits of abandoning Bed-Stuy and opening a new “Sal’s” in their own Italian American
neighborhood, “Sal . . . brags that the locals ‘grew up on my food.” Later, he contends that the
development of Sal’s attitude is severely lacking, saying that “​ One minute, Sal delivers a moony
monologue about how much he loves his black neighbors; the next, he is wielding a baseball
bat, bound to crack skulls” (Corliss).
Joe Klein, meanwhile, takes a more acidic stance in his review. He says the message of
this film is abundantly clear for black teenagers—that “the police are your enemy [and] white
people are your enemy, even if they appear to be sympathetic. Like Sal, the pizza-store owner.”
Without providing any justification for this perspective, Klein assumes the burdens both of
interpreting the film for an entire demographic that he is decidedly not a part of (black