Spike Lee's 'Do The Right Thing' Is Available To Rent For Free Until The End Of June
Racism, protests, police brutality, a New York neighborhood in turmoil — those are all topics that Spike Lee's incendiary 1989 drama Do The Right Thing touched on. And naturally, it remains painfully relevant today. With studios making Black-led films more freely available in response to the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement, it was only a matter of time before Lee's Do The Right Thing was made available to watch for free too. Universal Pictures will do you even better: the studio is offering a Do The Right Thing rental for free until the end of June, with an online discussion with Lee this week to discuss his film.
Universal Pictures has made Do The Right Thing available to rent for free across more than a dozen platforms — including Amazon, Apple, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Dish, DirecTV, FandangoNOW, Google, Microsoft, Redbox, Sony, Verizon, Vudu — until Monday, June 29.
The newly free availability of Do The Right Thing will be capped off with an online discussion this Thursday with director Spike Lee on hand to discuss his film's incisive depiction of racism and police brutality, and potentially how much more prophetic the film is in relation to the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement sparked by the killing of George Floyd by Minnesota police. The American Film Institute will host the discussion with Lee on Thursday at 8:00 P.M. EDT on its YouTube channel.
Also, Lee will join @AmericanFilm's Movie Club for a live conversation about his groundbreaking movie on Thursday, June 25, at 5pm PDT, viewable on their YouTube channel. 2/2
— Los Angeles Film Critics Association (@LAFilmCritics) June 23, 2020
While announcement does not directly mention the recent worldwide anti-police brutality protests, AFI President Bob Gazzale said in a statement that the film "is a timeless and timely classic" and that Lee "has forever proven himself the voice for change that we need now more than ever."
It's amazing and a little upsetting that Lee's films remain startlingly relevant amid the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests. Do The Right Thing came out more than 30 years ago and remains as explosive a depiction of racial tensions as it was back then, perhaps even more so now as it becomes abundantly clear that little has changed in the ways of systemic reform. And Lee continues to show that he has his finger on the pulse, finally winning an Oscar for 2018's BlacKkKlansman and commenting on racism and white supremacy in his new Netflix film Da 5 Bloods. But among other Black-led films about systemic racism that are being made available for free like Just Mercy and The Hate U Give, the 31-year-old Do The Right Thing's loud, sweaty statement still rings the loudest.