Sarah Jett Rayburn, Ph.D. Candidate "Everyone wants to know the whole truth but no one possesses it."

1. C) In The Blind Side, Do the Right Thing, and Gone Baby Gone the neighborhood that the characters are in plays an important role in the development of the stories. In Malcolm X’s “Ballot or the Bullet” speech he emphasizes the importance of making sure that the blacks run their own communities and do not let others come in and take the revenues that the blacks should be giving themselves. This concept applies to all of the stories because there is little interaction with the people of the primary neighborhoods and everyone else that lives around the main setting. In Michael Lewis’s The Blind Side, the issue of racial divisions among the community was important in the way that Michael Oher was raised and how he developed his views. The white people never associate with the black people and consequently never realize how hard life is for the black citizens of Memphis who live without the commodities of the whites. Also, in Do the Right Thing, the neighborhood is primarily all black people except for Sal’s Pizzeria and a small Korean store. The blacks do not have much interaction with whites except for the short amount of time that they spend with Sal at his pizzeria. In Gone Baby Gone the neighborhoods that the characters are living in and spending time in are poor and there is drug abuse and violence all the time. This area Boston seems to be neglected by the other citizens of the city because it is so rundown and shabby. It is hard for the people in all of these neighborhoods to see what is wrong with how they act because that type of behavior is all that they are exposed to and no one ever comes to help them try to change their ways.

2. A)b) In Do the Right Thing sound plays an important role in the development of the plot and to watch this movie without sound would limit the viewer’s ability to fully understand the movie’s purpose. Director Spike Lee uses non-narrative sounds to emphasize the chaos and confusion that exist in the Brooklyn neighborhood. One of the main sounds that is used is the radio that Radio Raheem carries with him at all times. It is always blasting “fight the power!” which is a theme of the movie that would not be as emphasized if the movie was watched without sound . Also, during the commotion at the end of the movie there are lots of sounds that add to the complexity of the scene. There are sirens and yelling that would be missed without the sound and it would take away from the scene’s impact.

3. B) The argument that the movie Gone Baby Gone makes is “do you ever really know what is right?” The film shows many circumstances where people have to make decisions that do not have a clear solution and cannot make everyone happy. Many times, one solution will help some but will hurt others and the characters in the movie have to deal with the pressure of making these decisions and hoping that they have chosen the better of the two even though there is no “correct” option. This film mainly uses the rhetorical appeal of pathos to help convince the audience of this idea. By letting the audience see how the characters in the movie feel about different situations and explaining their beliefs, the viewers can connect emotionally to the story. One bias that the filmmaker reveals in this movie is at the end when Patrick chooses to send Amanda back to her mother. The last scene shows that Helena, Amanda’s mother, has not changed since Amanda was returned to her and she still does not give her the attention or love that she needs as a small child. This implies that Patrick should have left Amanda with Jack Doyle, the retired police chief. The audience for this movie is broad but parents or anyone with children will respond the most to the film because it deals with parental issues and choices that would be difficult for most parents.

4. B) Do the Right Thing and Gone Baby Gone both have defining moments where one character’s opinion that has been consistent throughout the movie changes suddenly as they gain a new perspective on their situation. In Do the Right Thing Mookie is neutral toward white people for the majority of the movie. He never starts conflicts with the whites or talks bad about them even when the other black people around him continue to complain about them. In the scene at the end of the movie, Mookie is upset by all of the fighting and releases his anger on the one symbol of whites in the neighborhood, Sal’s Pizzeria. This is the first time he shows any aggression toward the whites and it is a pivotal scene in the movie. In Gone Baby Gone, Patrick Kenzie has to make many choices throughout the movie that never have a clear, correct choice. There is a pivotal scene at the end of the movie when Patrick has to choose whether to leave Amanda with Jack Doyle or bring her back to her mother. He decides that the mother deserves to have her child and so he calls the cops to come take Amanda home and arrest Jack. In the final scene we see that Amanda’s mother, Helena, has not changed since the return of her baby and still neglects her and does not give her attention. This is the first time that the movie hints at whether the decision made was right or wrong and the audience can see that Patrick sees that he made may have made a mistake.

BONUS
Both Do the Right Thing and Gone Baby Gone are movies that deal with decision-making and whether or not we can make the correct choices when the time comes for us to choose. Both of these films deal with a side of America that is not often shown and tell how life for the less privileged is different than what most people are used to experiencing. Both of these films suggest how some decisions in life can be difficult and when the time comes people must choose what they think is right even if those around them may not agree.