School Daze

I had not seen Spike Lee's School Daze in 13 years, the first weekend of its release. This movie has a very special meaning to African Americans like me who were college students in the 80s. The school setting acts as a microcosm of black life as a whole. The social issues it tackles are all too familiar to black life: light skin vs. dark skin, college kids vs. the surrounding economically disadvantage community, and the social responsibility of African Americans to Africans across the entire black diaspora among others.

Watching it in 1988 I thought the dance sequences were too long, but in 2001 I now see their worth. The DVD is visually beautiful, while being gritty in spots where it should thanks to the beautiful work of the great Ernest Dickerson. This was a huge leap for Spike as a director, coming from a $175,000 budget for She's Got To Have It to School Daze.

This film does a great job of giving us some of the inner workings of Black Greek letter organizations. It also shows what abuse people will go through to belong. I was actually living School Daze when I saw it in 1988, so I come from that perspective. It was thrilling to figuratively see myself on that screen in 1988.

If you are looking for Academy Award winning performances, then this isn't the film for you, although there are some really fine actors in the film. If you haven't ever lived this existence, it is really hard to appreciate School Daze. I have a great appreciation for Spike, the era, and the story Spike has written and brought to the screen.

Most folks don't get the ending "Wake Up" scene, but it absolutely belongs. The entire movie and most of Spike's works are wake up calls to America, but specifically to the black community.

So what if you went to Harvard and not Hampton, this film is still well-shot, well-acted and damn funny. If you can't understand the light vs. dark, town vs. gown, Greeks vs. GDI conflicts, maybe you don't... under... stand... English... well. I never saw the movie in its entirety until I was about 20 (and pledging at an HBCU, but that's another story) but it just got better as I got older. This movie is like many of Spike's: it's for a group of people (Black ones) that rarely get to tell their own stories. If other people get it, super. On a sidenote, what's so "universal" about Dirty Dancing? I've never had to drop out of a contest because of my botched abortion that Lenny from Law & Order had to come help me out with. I've also never been a small, Jewish man in New York City, but people seem to find Woody Allen's movies "universal" enough. Why don't these issues come up with movies made by whi... (ahem) other filmmakers?

I am only 18 years old and I just saw the movie School Daze. I do not attend a H.B.C.U., but I have friends that tell me what goes on there. To the older people out there, can you believe that that type of stuff is still going on?! My friends and I were just talking the other day about how this guy on her campus would only date lighter skinned girls. If that is his thing, than it is, however, he would not date them because of their personality. He said they just "looked better on his arm." My mother and I always discuss the future of African-Americans and I am going to tell the truth. I am scared. We hurt each other more than any other race and we have to stop. I am a dark-skinned female and I just learnd to love myself. I thank Spike Lee for not being ashamed to call us out when we needed it. No, I do not think that the movie was an Oscar winner, but I do know that it was a mind opener and should be a lesson to all of us on how we allowed the European standard of beauty to shape our self-worth.

This film dealt with a lot of inner conflicts that African-Americans where unwilling to deal with at the time. Class struggles, light skinned vs. dark skinned and greeks vs. non-greeks. I just purchased it on DVD, but I remember seeing this film when it first came out in February of 1988 and it is just as powerful and entertaining now as it was then. It's amazing to look at this film now and see all of the actors who went on to successful careers afterwards, like Laurence(then Larry) Fishburne, Tisha Campbell, Giancarlo Esposito, Roger Guenveur Smith, Kadeem Hardison, Jasmine Guy, Darryl Bell, Rusty Cundieff(director of "Tales From The Hood"), Bill Nunn, Branford Marsalis, and of course I can't forget Samuel L. Jackson. Three years after this film came out a cousin from Seattle came to visit, I showed him this film and he was surprised to discover that there were actually historically black colleges and universities(HBCU's) in this country. He later attended Southern University here in Baton Rouge. That was the effect this film had and continues to have on young African-Americans and their views of HBCU's.

Spike Lee's School Daze is an interesting film, one that reveals the struggle of black society in the 1980's. This was the time period when they were struggling to keep their head afloat in this world despite the civil rights movement some decades before. This film has many flaws, but it's not a letdown thanks to the clear message Spike Lee was able to bring across. The opening of this film is powerful as Lee is showing the history of his people and the end.....well it came out of nowhere but I think it's rightly justified.

Spike Lee's film takes place at a historically black college during homecoming weekend and it's about how the sororities and the fraternities clash against each other.

The acting is decent: nothing to rave home about, but nothing to be ashamed of either. Laurence Fishburne may have had the best role as the revolutionary leader who wants to change how his school is ran.

Overall, School Daze is very interesting and it sends the message to America and more specifically to black people, to wake up and be proud of their heritage. These morals are a strong presence throughout the film and quite frankly, they elevate the movie. For the music itself, it's quite enjoyable though some songs are a tad too long. Kudos to Spike Lee for going somewhere that directors rarely go. I rate this film 8/10.