Sound Analysis in Do The Right Thing

Explain how different spectators may interpret the same use of sound differently. Give two examples from one film from 1961–1990 that you have studied. [10 marks]

- Do The Right Thing

Spike Lee's 1989 film 'Do The Right Thing' layers a diversity of sound to illustrate character conflicts associated with race and culture which provoke a negotiated spectator reading of each interaction within, applying to Start Hall's 'response theory' wherein Lee's film techniques, such as sound, encode meaning to be interpreted differently by different spectators.  Most significantly this is exampled as non-white members of Bed-Stuy's community cool off from the intense heat at the opening of a fire hydrant. Carrying on with the preceding non-diegetic music with lyrics 'You can't stand the heat' setting the tone for the sequence, the sound gradually increases in volume and intensity once water gushes out onto the street, with the community's reactive cries layering in simultaneous volume to the diegetic water jets, this noise parallel to the visual chaos and immersion of the camerawork. One could argue the slow melody of the reggae song is contrapuntal to the chaotic soundscape and visuals, while it may also be interpreted that the song's relaxative rhythm contributes to the playful mood within the scene and sense of realism within the community, as well as the intense layering of sound to be interpreted as chaotic and overwhelming or playful and immersive.

The introduction of Radio Raheem's boombox blasting the diegetic song 'Fight The Power' overriding the non-diegetic music is respectfully acknowledged by the two youths controlling the water, though the diegetic sounds of the community remain populous in the audio, creating interpretations that Raheem is both separate and respectfully integrated within the community. In contrast, the diegetic offscreen car beeping from a passing white man disrupts the playful atmosphere, the dilution of the layered community sounds encoding the man's unwanted presence, each shot of the man and two youths synchronous in conflicting dialogue while remaining separate from each other as opposing forces. The man shouts to keep his car from not getting wet while the youths after persistent profanity start to provoke and mock him, ultimately blasting his car, the volume parallel to the magnitude of the water and man's anger. Like the whole film, Lee utilises an intense layering of sound to demonstrate conflicted race relations and a fractured community beneath the diverse surface, the equal giving to each opposing side provoking a negotiated reading of each interaction, ultimately linking to the film's message: 'what is the right thing to do?'. Through the exampled analysed sound, was the behaviour justified, unwarranted, or deserved? Such spectator readings depend on how they view and accept the given context of each scene in association with their social and cultural self in relation to response theory.