Past Film/Video | Classics | Series & Festivals

Do the Right Thing

(Spike Lee, 1989)

Preceded by Standing in the Blink of a Night: For Casey Goodson Jr. (John Landry, 2020)

Info & Tickets

A young man in a Dodgers jersey holding a pizza box looks at an older man wearing a white apron to his right

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Aug 12, 2021 8:00 PM

South Drive-in Theatre

3050 S High St, Columbus, OH 43207

Free for all audiences
Gate opens 8 PM
Program starts approx. 8:45 PM

We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. If you have questions about accessibility or require an accommodation such as captioning or ASL interpretation to participate in this event, please contact Accessibility Manager Helyn Marshall at accessibility@wexarts.org or via telephone at (614) 688–3890. Requests made by two weeks in advance will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the Wexner Center for the Arts will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.

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Join us at the South Drive-In Theatre for Spike Lee’s still-relevant classic Do the Right Thing plus the recent Ohio Shorts Jury Prize–winning film that reckons with the murder of Casey Goodson Jr.

Do the Right Thing portrays a vibrant, predominantly African American Brooklyn neighborhood on the hottest day of the summer. The heat brings simmering tensions to a boil after neighborhood regular Buggin’ Out (Giancarlo Esposito) confronts pizzeria owner Sal (Danny Aiello) for not featuring any Black actors on his Italian Wall of Fame. The ensuing face-off leads to a tragic conclusion that, more than 30 years later, still seems ripped from today’s headlines.

The film’s illustrious cast also includes Spike Lee, Rosie Perez, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Samuel L. Jackson, Martin Lawrence, Robin Harris, and more. Named to the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry in 1999, this classic is backed by a beautiful Bill Lee score (Spike’s father) and numerous rap hits, most notably Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power.” (120 mins., DCP)

On December 4, 2020, a 23-year-old Black man named Casey Goodson Jr. was murdered by law enforcement in Columbus, Ohio. John Landry’s short film Standing in The Blink of a Night (2020) both honors Goodson’s life and reckons with the aftermath of his murder. Winner of the 2021 Ohio Shorts Jury Prize, selected by juror Prentiss Haney. (6:02 mins., DCP)

See the complete Wex Drive-In 2021 lineup

Know before you go

The South Drive-In Theatre is located at 3050 South High Street, on Columbus’s South Side. For more information about what to expect at the venue including concessions and COVID-19 policies, visit www.drive-inmovies.com.

Three Black men sit near a polka-dot umbrella against a red brick wall with a sign that reads “No Ball Playing Allowed”

Image courtesy of Universal Pictures

A man in round sunglasses and brightly patterned shirt and hat seems to shout at a microphone in a radio station

Image courtesy of Universal Pictures

A young man in a Dodgers jersey holding pizza boxes looks directly at the camera in front of a wall of 1988 Jesse Jackson campaign posters that read "Get Out and Vote / Your Vote Counts!"

Image courtesy of Universal Pictures

A young man in a Dodgers jersey holding a pizza box looks at an older man wearing an apron

Image courtesy of Universal Pictures

Tag(s)

FILM/VIDEO PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Cardinal Health
Kaufman Development

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Rohauer Collection Foundation

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
The Wexner Family
Greater Columbus Arts Council
Mary and C. Robert Kidder
L Brands Foundation
American Electric Power Foundation
The Columbus Foundation
Ohio Arts Council
Bill and Sheila Lambert
Adam Flatto
Huntington
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Nationwide Foundation
Vorys, Sater, Seymour, and Pease
Arlene and Michael Weiss

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Carol and David Aronowitz
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