Do the Right Thing: setting and props emphasize tension in the community

When Mookie first entered Sal’s Famous Pizza, the shop was so realistic that I wondered if I had been there before. The booths against the wall, the counter situated only a few steps from the doorway and the tall windows by the sidewalk resembled any downtown pizzeria one might visit. This was a basic setting for much of the important action. The neighborhood teens spent a lot of time in the shop getting lunch or hanging out, but it was also a source of conflict between the owner and the customers. The setting was a natural hangout, familiar to anyone who has had a slice of pizza, but it was also significant in the way that certain props contributed to the meaning in the characters’ relationships. The counter where customers order pizza acts as a barrier between the owner Sal and Mookie’s friends. From behind the counter, Sal argues with Buggin’ Out over the price of a slice and he hollers at Radio Raheem until he turns down his boom box. Sal, standing beside the cash register and the pizza oven, has the power to refuse to serve Radio Raheem until the music is off, and he also has the power (as he makes clear) to hang photos of famous Italians on the wall. There is a distance between Sal and the neighborhood visitors. He is an authority figure in his pizzeria but he is also Italian while everyone else is black. Hidden behind the counter is a metaphorical prop representing Sal’s anger towards those who question his authority. Whenever he becomes really frustrated, Sal brings out a baseball bat. The first time, his son took the bat from him before he could take any swings. The second time the bat came from behind the counter it was the beginning of neighborhood-wide struggle between those who “belong” in the neighborhood and white figures of authority. Things as ordinary as a pizza shop counter and a baseball bat were used to bring to surface racial tensions within the community.