An Ode To 'Broad City's Best Homage

We should all spend more time talking about Spike Lee. I thoroughly believe that, not just as a film enthusiast, not just as a former liberal arts student, not just as a person of color, but as a human in general. We should especially be talking about him this week, which happens to be the anniversary of Lee's 1989 classic Do The Right Thing. And people are talking about him: There have been a lot of discussions recently about what Do The Right Thing meant (and continues to mean) when it comes to race.

So this time around, we'd like to talk about one very specific Do The Right Thing offshoot: Broad City 's 2010 tribute to the film.

No doubt some will find it odd to shine a light on something created by two white women on this particular occasion, but hear me out: Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer knocked this tribute out of the park. It's what a good homage should be. It gives credit to the work it's pulling from, but it simultaneously says its own thing. In this case, it was an indictment of street harassment and the general day-to-day crap women have to face just existing in public. It's not Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing, but it certainly proves the impact he's had — and why he's an icon.

It's also one of those things that really underlines why these ladies were trusted to turn their web series into a hit TV show.

They should really get Rosie Perez to guest star on Broad City.

And here's Lee's original:

Image: Broad City/YouTube