Comparison of Spike Lee joints.

Comparison of Spike Lee joints.

The two Spike Lee movies I chose were 'He Got Game' and 'Get on the Bus'. They are both typical films of their sub-genres (Sports and Road Trips respectively) but with a slightly different motif. 

'He Got Game' follows a rising basketball player as he attempts to get into the sports college of his choice. However, his father wants to use this to get a shorter prison sentence. 'Get on the bus' follows a group of African-American people travelling across the United States to attend The Million Man March. 

'Get on the Bus' compares with 'Do The Right Thing' as they both deal with racial segregation in the US. Both films have points told from different people allowing the narrative to be told from different points of views. They both deal with themes of overcoming obstacles, standing up for what you believe in and racial justice. There are also characters that act as the voice of Spike Lee himself that are used to question the audiences ideologies. For example, in 'Get on the Bus' there is a scene in which an African-American man refers to himself and black people as "n*ggas" in a humorous way. He is then questioned by an elderly man on why he used that word. This character was most likely expressing Spike Lee's discomfort on the way that black people refer to themselves. This is most likely the case in 'Do the Right Thing' as well judging by Mookie's friend's remark about the lack of black people credited on the wall of fame. 

'Do the Right Thing' is also similar to 'He Got Game' due to the realistic suburban setting and character portrayals of young black men. They both have young adult characters who are finding their place in the world and trying to juggle their careers and their family lives. They also have scenes with direct camera angles focused on the faces of supporting character telling the audience how the film's main plot will affect their lives too. This allows the viewer to view differences in social opinions and allows them to construct their own.

All three films deal with the social injustices when it comes to African American's and the prison system. 'Do the Right Thing' probably goes the furthest with this as the police's brutality ended up with a person dead. They also deal with tension between fathers and sons. 'Get on the Bus' and 'He Got Game' have conflicts between fathers and sons due to one of the two being in prison. They also do not have the traditional ending to films with everything being happy and resolved. 'Do the Right Thing' ends with a death and multiple arrests- however Mookie finally stands up for himself. 'He Got Game' ends with the father still in prison but his relationship with his son having been resolved. 'Get on the Bus' deals with a death and they didn't get to attend the March-however they all come closer together and the father and son have their handcuffs removed.

In conclusion, the three Spike Lee's films all deal with regular characters who portray his social viewpoints on society at the time. They are all able to get a simple premise and have many character's stories bounce off of that.