School Daze

This is my favorite movie of all time. I have seen it at least 300 times. I saw it the first time about a year after it came out. I was about ten years old and I was mesmerized. I really loved all the singing and dancing. But when I got older, thats when I got the message of movie. Thats what makes this movie such as classic. The only thing I don't like about it is that I read the book about the making of School Daze and Spike cut out so many scenes that would have been good for the movie. It would have made some of the scenes easier to understand. I wished he would've put them on the DVD. But still, one of the greatest black films of all time.

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.

School Daze is billed as a musical comedy but is better described as a comedy-drama with musical numbers as commentary--the only non-diegetic number is "Good and Bad Hair," Lee's all-girl fantasy homage to West Side Story that addresses colorism between the "paper bag-light" sorority Gamma Rays and the darker activist girls. Ebert wrote that this was the first movie he'd seen in a while where the black characters relate to each other instead of a hypothetical white audience--it is this that gives the movie its engrossing authenticity. (If it matters, I'm white.)

As funny as the movie can be, it's also incredibly hard-hitting--there's a sequence in the last 20 minutes where Julian, "Big Brother Al-migh-tee," insists his girlfriend "prove" her love, that's almost unwatchable and yet brutally honest. Lee has been called sexist for his underwritten female characters--there may be some truth to that but School Daze is far more critical of the men than the women. Rachel, Dap's girlfriend, is perhaps the most levelheaded, likable character in the movie, and is strong and supportive of Dap while still maintaining her independence. Even the Gamma Rays, who come off as shallow and colorist in the beginning, are sympathetic as they stand up for and try to aid the pledges during hazing. The characters who come off the worst are the GPG brothers who are, almost to a man, brutish, sadistic and crude. Julian in particular is unredeemable--clever, manipulative and almost sociopathic in his treatment of Jane. Lee supposedly based the movie on his observations at Morehouse and the movie stands as a scathing indictment against the black fraternity system and its abuse of the women's auxiliaries (aka "Little Sisters").

The movie has structural weaknesses (the ending is problematic and seems to come out of nowhere although it fits thematically) but its biggest problem is Lee's flat performance as Half-Pint (and, frankly, he looks a little too old for it). I love Lee's movies but his early tendency to cast himself in major roles was a real weakness--he's just not a good enough actor and his performance always jerks me out of the story. The rest of the cast is fantastic, though, especially Tisha Campbell as Jane and Giancarlo Esposito as Julian. Notice must also be given to Bill Lee's wonderful score. Ultimately it's a movie whose heart and imagination overcome its flaws.

There are things I liked about "School Daze." In particular, there was the scene near the end of the film between Giancarlo Esposito's Julian and his girlfriend. It's when he breaks up with her for sleeping with another student, all the while completely aware that he made her do it. I've actually seen guys do this -- trick their girlfriends into doing something that, later on, they can use as cause to dump them -- and the reality of the scene carried such a raw, emotional weight that it nearly derailed the rest of the film.

"School Daze" is, first and foremost, a period piece of 1980s pop culture. Many of the sequences, especially the ones requiring dancing and choreography, are hopelessly dated, like early break-dancing videos.

Dated is okay, as long as there are other elements to counterbalance its datedness. Example: "All That Jazz" is a relic of Bob Fosse's toxic, overindulgent mind, a '70s time capsule item. However, the untouchable authority and supreme confidence he brought to it, along with the visual beauty, and the letter-perfect performances, made up for any drawbacks, and then some. "...Jazz" went from silly to sublime inside of sixty seconds.

Lee's direction is alarmingly hesitant and amateurish, giving no hint of the originality, vitality, and sheer genius he would display in his later films. It's certainly difficult to believe he made this film between "She's Gotta Have It" and "Do the Right Thing." His editing is sloppy, his staging is slapdash, and the performances from his actors and actresses range from sleepy to histrionic. The stories lose their punch through careless juggling, and the illogical "Wake Up!" scene at the end is unearned and unwarranted. Most disappointing of all, the thing I value his films for most -- his constant pushing of the cinematic envelope in all sorts of unexpected ways -- is all but totally absent.

I love most of Lee's films. I'll go so far as to say that he's one of the last risk-takers left in the business (Stanley Kubrick is dead, Quentin Tarantino is MIA, and anything done by Spielberg, God love him, automatically becomes non-risk). His "Do the Right Thing" is as good as any other film released in the '80s. The best thing I can say about this one is: I'm glad he got it out of his system.

I pray that racism isn't the reason this film has such a low rating on here.

I'm a black college student who used to be in a white fraternity and this film is actually fairly accurate to the ideas those organizations promote.

The acting is stellar, Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Tisha Champbell, and Spike Lee steal the show but as much effort is put into almost every supporting role.

The cinematography is done pretty well, not flawless but as a film buff I appreciated it. The music is awesome and keeps you engaged, it really serves as a nice break for the more dramatic scenes.

The storyline is overall about finding yourself in college which is a very difficult task and even more difficult now in the age of social media.

The only complaint I had about this film is that the actors don't really look like college students, but it's minuscule in comparison to the film's themes.

I would recommend this film, but the primary audience is adults and I would keep high school students away from this film unless they're exceptionally mature for their age.

Go into School Daze with an open mind and be prepared for a powerful film that sticks in your mind well after your initial viewing.