“Radio Raheem”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

Radio Raheem is a fictional character in the 1989 film Do the Right Thing produced, written and directed by Spike Lee. The character is played by Bill Nunn. Radio Raheem's name is a reference to the boombox that he carries wherever he goes.

Raheem's death leads to the film's climax, in which tensions between the Brooklyn neighborhood's local black community and the Italian owners of a local pizzeria peak.^[1]

Role

Radio Raheem is among the wide range of unique characters that make up the film's Brooklyn neighborhood. Raheem brings his boombox everywhere he goes, playing the song "Fight the Power" by Public Enemy, which also appears in the film's opening scene.

Raheem is quiet through most of the film, but offers key lines that inform major themes of the film. He lives in harmony with the other black locals, but is at odds with other races primarily due to his loud music.

When protagonist Mookie (Lee) runs into Raheem during a pizza delivery, Raheem greets him warmly and explains to him the philosophy behind his "love" and "hate" four fingered ring worn on his right and left hands, respectively. This concept is taken from the black and white 1955 film, The Night of the Hunter, where the psychopathic preacher Powell has "LOVE" tattooed on the knuckles of one hand and "HATE" tattooed on the other. Similarly to that preacher, he describes the story of life of how love and hate are constantly in opposition, but how love will win in the end. At the end of his speech he pauses and then says to Mookie, "I love you bro."

In response to Sal's restriction of music at his pizzeria, Raheem decides to join Buggin' Out's initiative to boycott Sal's pizzeria. They enter the pizzeria blasting "Fight the Power", repeating the demand the Sal should put black people on his Wall of Fame. In a fit of rage Sal destroys Radio Raheem's boombox with a baseball bat and calls him "nigger". Raheem wrestles Sal to the ground and the fight breaks out into the street. The police arrive and in effort to break up the fight, choke Raheem to death.

Symbolism

Kulczycky comments on Spike Lee's use of direct address in Radio Raheem's solioquy on love and hate as a "break from realism", thus creating an "atypical effect".^[2] Kulczycky cites the influence of Jean-Luc Godard's film Weekend. Kulczycky describes Raheem's direct address as having the dual effect of reminding viewers of the constructed nature of the film, but also "fueling their involvement".

Lubiano comments on Raheem's murder by the police as a cinematic cliché.^[3] Lubiano emphasizes Lee's particular representative selection of Raheem as a victim of police violence, when he could have easily turned off his boombox to avert the tension.

References

1. ^{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/09/26/what-inspired-do-the-right-thing-character-radio-raheem-and-why-hes-still-relevant-today/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5437fcd9f15d|title=What inspired ‘Do the Right Thing’ character Radio Raheem, and why he’s still relevant today|last=Izadi|first=Elahi|date=|website=The Washington Post|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=20 January 2019}}
2. ^{{Cite journal|last=Kulczycky|first=Ted|date=May 1996|title=By Any Means Necessary: Conflict and Its Resolution in Do the Right Thing|url=https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-30342053/by-any-means-necessary-conflict-and-its-resolution|journal=CineAction|volume=40|pages=|via=}}
3. ^{{Cite journal|last=Lubiano|first=Wahnemma|date=July 1991|title=Lubiano, W. (1991, July). But compared to what?: Reading realism, representation, and essentialism in School Daze, Do the Right Thing, and the Spike Lee discourse.|url=|journal=Black American Literature Forum|volume=25|pages=253-282|via=JSTOR}}