Do The Right Thing : Belief & Postmodernism
Da Mayor
He is the one character that ironically gets the most respect and attention in Bed-Stuy. Always known for constant inebriation, Da Mayor (played by Ossie Davis) walks around town always giving advice to the young and old. His most practical, yet best, advice that he gives is to Mookie at the beginning of the film by simply stating "Do the Right Thing." The philosophy is so generic and broad but is almost applicable to any circumstance. He believes that one must choose between the good evil or the bad evil but whatever it is, one must do the right thing.
One Day to Do the Right Thing
Da Mayor also reminds the audience of what can happen in one day. For the duration of the film, da Mayor is constantly in pursuit of Mother Sister, another elder in Brooklyn. At the beginning of the film, Mother Sister wants nothing to do with Da Mayor, even after he tries to woo her by sweet talking her and bringing her a bouquet of roses. After he demonstrates courage by saving a small child from being run over by a car, Mother Sister sees the positive aspects of Da Mayor, and the end of the film reveals the two waking up together in the same room, with Mother Sister stating that she had a good night.
One scene typify's postmodernism from a conversation between da Mayor and a little boy in the town named Eddy. Da Mayor approaches him asking what makes Sammy run. This confuses the boy and he replies that his name isn't Sammy but it is Eddy. Da Mayor asks the question again and he gets back the same answer. He associates himself with his name because he has given himself an identity and he wants to firmly hold on to it. Da Mayor wants to experiment with the boy to see if he can loosen up with the idea of identity and comply with him, but we are so obsessed with our identity and trying to keep ourselves from losing it.
Then he asks the boy how much its going to cost him for the boy to get him what he needs from the store. They boy responds, "How do I know how much its supposed to cost when I don’t even know what I’m buying?" Again, this refers back to Friedrich Nietzsche's postmodern idea that there are no real truths. We don't know how much anything is going to cost even if someone tells us how much it is going to cost. The boy is confused and just spits out a random number like 50 cents, but obviously that is not reliable because his spoken word isn't the actual thing that he is trying to figure out. Nietzsche correspond's with the beliefs that Da Mayor is trying to push onto Eddy by explaining that just because it is said doesn't mean it is the actual truth. A picture of a leaf isn't a leaf, it is a picture
Then he asks the boy how much its going to cost him for the boy to get him what he needs from the store. They boy responds, "How do I know how much its supposed to cost when I don’t even know what I’m buying?" Again, this refers back to Friedrich Nietzsche's postmodern idea that there are no real truths. We don't know how much anything is going to cost even if someone tells us how much it is going to cost. The boy is confused and just spits out a random number like 50 cents, but obviously that is not reliable because his spoken word isn't the actual thing that he is trying to figure out. Nietzsche correspond's with the beliefs that Da Mayor is trying to push onto Eddy by explaining that just because it is said doesn't mean it is the actual truth. A picture of a leaf isn't a leaf, it is a picture
