ABSTRACT
It has been more than a decade since Do the Right Thing was released. Yet its impact on post-soul Black cinema still resonates. Spike Lee's successful track record prompted Hollywood studios to invest in a host of low-budget Black films that they expected to yield high profits. House Party (New Line Cinema, 1990), Boyz N the Hood (Columbia Pictures, 1991), New Jack City (Warner Brothers, 1991), Menace II Society (New Line Cinema, 1993), and Friday (New Line Cinema, 1995), to mention only a few, were all direct beneficiaries of Lee's success. An industry that has historically suppressed, diminished, and caricatured Blacks had become willing to take a chance on African-American filmmakers, especially when their films were financially successful.
