Do the Right Thing Page #2

Pino looks at his father. He wants to be backed up on this;

all he gets is an amused look, and a smirk from Vito.

PINO:

Who's working for who?

There's a knock on the door and Da Mayor enters.

SAL:

Come on in, Mayor.

DA MAYOR:

Good morning, gentlemens. It's

gonna be a scorcher today, that's

for sure. Need any work done

around here?

Sal looks at Pino, who reluctantly gives Da Mayor the broom.

DA MAYOR:

It will be the cleanest sidewalk in

Brooklyn. Clean as the Board of

Health.

Da Mayor almost runs out of the pizzeria in his hurry; soon

as he finishes he'll be able to get a bottle.

PINO:

Pop, I don't believe this sh*t. We

runnin' welfare or somethin'?

Every day you give dat bum--

MOOKIE:

Da Mayor ain't no bum.

PINO:

Give dat bum a dollar for sweeping

our sidewalk. What do we pay

Mookie for? He don't even work. I

work harder than him and I'm your

own son.

MOOKIE:

Who don't work? Let's see you

carry six large pies up six flights

of stairs. No elevator either and

sh*t.

SAL:

Both of youse--shaddup. This is a

place of business.

VITO:

Tell 'em, Pop.

PINO:

Me and you are gonna have a talk.

VITO:

Sez who?

PINO:

Sez me.

SAL:

Hey! What did I say?

MOOKIE:

Who doesn't work? Don't start no

sh*t, won't be no sh*t.

SAL:

Mookie, no cursing in the store.

MOOKIE:

Talk to your son.

EXT:
SAL'S FAMOUS PIZZERIA--DAY

Da Mayor sweeps the sidewalk, happy as can be. As soon as

he finishes he can get that money and get that bottle.

EXT:
STOOP--DAY

A group of youths sit on a stoop, waiting for someone. They

are CEE, PUNCHY, and the lone female, ELLA.

ELLA:

What's keeping him?

PUNCHY:

You call him, then.

Ella stands up and yells.

ELLA:

Yo, Ahmad!

PUNCHY:

I coulda done dat.

ELLA:

Yo, Ahmad!

She looks up into his window, then sits down.

ELLA:

Punchy, if ya want to do some more

screaming, be my guest. I'm too

through.

The door swings open at the top of the stoop and AHMAD

appears.

AHMAD:

Who's yelling my name?

ELLA:

Punchy told me to.

AHMAD:

Don't listen to him, it will get ya

in trouble.

ELLA:

Heard that, Punchy.

Ahmad sits down with them.

AHMAD:

Ella, you have a brain, use it.

In the BG, we hear the dum-dum-dum of a giant box. The

sound gets louder as the box gets closer. The youths look

down the block and see a tall young man coming towards them.

He has a very distinct walk, it's more like a bop. This is

RADIO RAHEEM. The size of his box is tremendous and one has

to think, how does he carry something that big around with

him? It must weigh a ton, and it seems like the sidewalk

shakes as the rap music blares out. The song we hear is the

only one Radio Raheem plays.

MEDIUM SHOT--RADIO RAHEEM

Radio Raheem stops in front of the group, looks at them, and

turns down the volume. It's quiet again.

RADIO RAHEEM:

Peace, y'all.

ELLA:

Peace, Radio Raheem.

CEE:

Peace.

10.

PUNCHY:

You the man, Radio Raheem.

AHMAD:

It's your world.

CEE:

In a big way.

Radio Raheem nods and turns up the volume. Way up.

AHMAD:

My people. My people.

EXT:
WE LOVE STOREFRONT--DAY

Radio Raheem waves to Mister Señor Love Daddy as he walks by.

INT:
WE LOVE CONTROL BOOTH--DAY

Mister Señor Love Daddy gives Radio Raheem a clenched-fist

salute.

EXT:
FRUIT-N-VEG DELIGHT--DAY

Da Mayor walks into a newly opened fruit and vegetable deli

stand that is owned by Koreans.

INT:
FRUIT-N-VEG DELIGHT--DAY

Da Mayor is looking for his beer in the refrigerated cases,

his ice-cold beer.

DA MAYOR:

Where's the Bud? Where's the Bud?

KOREAN CLERK:

No mo' Bud. You look what we have

and buy.

DA MAYOR:

No more Bud. What kind of joint is

this? How come no mo' Bud? Doctor,

this ain't Korea, China, or wherever

you come from. Get some Budweiser

in this motherf***er.

KOREAN CLERK:

You buy 'nother beer.

11.

DA MAYOR:

Alright. Alright. Y'know you're

asking a lot to make a man change

his beer, that's asking a lot,

Doctor.

EXT:
MOTHER SISTER'S STOOP--DAY

Da Mayor has his can of beer (not Budweiser) and the brown

paper bag is twisted into a knot at the bottom. He stops

and takes a long swig.

MOTHER SISTER:

You ole drunk. What did I tell ya

about drinking in front of my stoop?

Move on, you're blocking my view.

Da Mayor lowers the can from his mouth and looks up at his

heckler. It's obvious from the look on his face he's heard

this before. Da Mayor contorts his face and stares at her.

MOTHER SISTER:

You ugly enough. Don't stare at me.

Da Mayor changes his face into a more grotesque look.

MOTHER SISTER:

The evil eye doesn't work on me.

DA MAYOR:

Mother Sister, you've been talkin'

'bout me the last eighteen years.

What have I ever done to you?

MOTHER SISTER:

You're a drunk fool.

DA MAYOR:

Besides that. Da Mayor don't

bother nobody. Nobody don't bother

Da Mayor but you. Da Mayor just

mind his business. I love everybody.

I even love you.

MOTHER SISTER:

Hold your tongue. You don't have

that much love.

DA MAYOR:

One day you'll be nice to me. We

might both be dead and buried, but

you'll be nice. At least civil.

12.

Da Mayor tips his beat-up hat to Mother Sister and takes a

final swig of beer just for her.

INT:
TINA'S APARTMENT--DAY

An elderly Puerto Rican woman, CARMEN, is telling off her

daughter TINA in Spanish. Tina, having heard enough, closes

the door on her mother's ranting and raving.

ANGLE--TINA

Tina bends down and scoops her baby son HECTOR up from the

bed and holds him for dear life to her breasts. She talks

to her son while walking around the room.

TINA:

Hector, I shouldn't be telling you

this but you would find out sooner

or later. Ya father ain't no real

father. He's a bum, a two-bit bum

in a hundred-dollar world. Your

father is to the curb. You're

smart. I see that look on ya face.

You're saying if he's such a bum

why am I with him? Good question.

Like I said before, you're no dummy.

He talked his way into my panties,

I thought being a mother would make

me happy, make me whole. He's a

mistake, but you are not.

Tina kisses her son. Tina is seventeen years old, another

teenage parent.

EXT:
STREET CORNER--DAY

Every day on this corner, summer or winter, spring or fall,

a small group of men meet. They have no steady employment,

nothing they can speak of; they do, however, have the gift

of gab. These man can talk, talk, and mo' talk, and when a

bottle is going round and they're feeling "nice," they get

philosophical. These men become the great thinkers of the

world, with solutions to all its ills; like drugs, the

homeless, and AIDS. They're called the Corner Men: SWEET

DICK WILLIE, COCONUT SID, and ML. All three are sitting in

folding chairs up against a wall in the shade.

ML:

The way I see it, if this hot

weather continues, it will surely

melt the polar caps and the whole

wide world--the parts that ain't

water already--will be flooded.

13.

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