Why School Daze is the best black college movie ever!
- Thread starter Bartram
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enswaclopedia
New Member
The sad thing about it is that there have only been two movies and one television sitcom with a Black College theme. Drumline wasn't half as good as School Daze but it did prove that there are other people besides Black College graduates and students who want to know what is going on on our campus's. If Hollywood put's out a quality product it will make money and cross over.
renegade_diva
New Member
i loved both movies..
but school daze was the bomb....
even before i went to skegee i told my self i have to go to a black school just from seeing school daze
but school daze was the bomb....
even before i went to skegee i told my self i have to go to a black school just from seeing school daze
dSWACizJSU
New Member
some say it was the best hbcu movie because if you were half active in campus activities, then you can relate to the movie, some better than others. it also brings back some wild memories. i ain't gone lie, we ate at kfc, went to parties, saw the greeks have it out, had problems with the admin, and lived in a wild dorm. it was the best experience of my life. i learned a lot of life experiences and gained some lifelong friends and would do it again, only better.
JSU*Toi
New Member
Chris Utley's commentary on School Daze (1988)
Review Copyright Chris Utley, 2000
School Daze (1988)
Director: Spike Lee
Stars: Lawrence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Spike Lee, Tisha Campbell
I was Asleep when I saw this film. By the time the credits rolled, I Woke Up just like Fishburne told me to.
THE PLOT: A weekend in the life of a Black college campus...and a divided one at that. In This Corner: The "Wannabes", the light-skinned fraternity boys and their groupies, led by Julian a.k.a. Dean Big Brother Almighty-Most Eloquent Leader of Gamma Phi Gamma Fraternity (Giancarlo Esposito), who's sporting the lovely Jane (Tisha Campbell), leader of the G-Phi-G groupies, the Gamma Rays. And Their Opponents, The "Jigaboos", the down home soul brothers and sistas leading the charge of revolution and uplifting the race, led by Dap, the campus hell-raiser (Lawrence Fishburne). Caught in the middle, is Half-Pint (Spike Lee), who's Dap's cousin and is pledging G-Phi-G.
WHAT MAKES THIS A CLASSIC: Ask anyone who had the pleasure of attending a Black college. Raw, funny, and brutally honest. Not just in it's depiction of college life, but in that "secret" civil war between light-skinned and dark-skinned Blacks...although the musical depiction of this battle, shown in the scene "Straight and Nappy," is straight up OVER THE TOP! That minor flaw aside, the scenes move briskly, everybody turns in a pretty good performance, and the music is hot. Real Real Hot! That love scene with Tisha licking Giancarlo's forehead stll cracks me up. Watch for appearances from Samuel L. Jackson and just about half the cast of Cosby Show spinoff A Different World in significant minor roles.
And then there's the minor post-release history: Not only did this film expose America to Black college life for the first time, but this film spawned not one, but two dance crazes (well, sorta). DC Go-Go group makes an appearance at the Homecoming Dance and teaches us to do "Da Butt." (Don't front, yall wore out that song and the dance at many a house party in 88, just like me!!!) In addition, a brief step-show routine done by real life Black fraternity Alpha-Phi-Alpha was the genesis of the infamous "Running Man" dance. Now the Alphas had been doing that step for years but with School Daze giving them and that step national exposure took that dance from the step-shows to the dance floors.
THE HOT HOT MUSIC: I have this soundtrack...which made me real popular in college (more on that later). In additon to Da Butt, a Go-Go track, we have inspirational ("I'm Building Me A Home"), girl-group diva stuff ("Be Alone Tonight" with Tisha Campbell singing lead), jazz by the late Phyllis Hyman, a Stevie Wonder track ("I Can Only Be Me" a big hit for beauty pageant contestants...if I had a dime for all the times I dubbed that song for pageant prospects, I'd be able to fund 3BC my damn self!) and lots of instrumentals. If you can find it on Amazon.com or something, look it up, cause I ain't about to burn mine for yall...unless the price is right!
)
MEMORIES, MEMORIES: I adored this film...until I lived it for real. I was in 9th grade back in 88 when this film dropped. I got the video. I learned every song and memorized every line. Then I enrolled in the mighty mighty Grambling State University-the Notre Dame of Black Football. I graduated in 1995. I haven't watched this movie since. Why? Because it hurts like heck! Watching School Daze now gives me major Grambling flashbacks. When I see G-Phi-G, I see the frat guys at GSU flaunting their stuff on campus like gods. When I see "The Gamma Rays," I see Deltas and AKA's. When I see Dap, I see a cat named Rico Rivers, who had an underground newspaper exposing the dirty laundry at GSU the same way Dap did to the college administration. When I see Half-Pint's struggles with getting women and being teased for being a virgin, I see myself. One day I'll get the courage to watch it again. And I'll be able to appreciate it.
Finally, I close this review with an explanation of my opening statement. When this movie dropped, I was oblivious to my own identity as a Black man. I spent my childhood in the burbs of St. Louis until I experienced a bad case of culture shock when I moved to South Central LA. My color was brown but my mind was still in those burbs. I adapted that surbuban style and culture. I was 10 seconds away from buying U2 and George Michael tapes and totally immersing myself in that style. Then I saw this movie...and woke up. This was the first film I ever saw with people who looked like me and my friends and talked like me and my friends. Heck, this was the first time I saw Black folks in college. I was a changed man. I dropped the burbs style and raised my fist and began to lay in wait for the revolution. And I have Brother Spike to thank.
Now time has changed me yet again, and I'm not waiting for no revolution. I am a lot more mature and not into this "Black vs. White" thing. Black folks got dirt. So do White folks. But, thanks to School Daze, my identity is shaped and I know who I am in America.
Thanks Spike, for waking me up.
As always, holla back at utz_world@yahoo.com or flava@3blackchicks.com .
Review Copyright Chris Utley, 2000
School Daze (1988)
Director: Spike Lee
Stars: Lawrence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Spike Lee, Tisha Campbell
I was Asleep when I saw this film. By the time the credits rolled, I Woke Up just like Fishburne told me to.
THE PLOT: A weekend in the life of a Black college campus...and a divided one at that. In This Corner: The "Wannabes", the light-skinned fraternity boys and their groupies, led by Julian a.k.a. Dean Big Brother Almighty-Most Eloquent Leader of Gamma Phi Gamma Fraternity (Giancarlo Esposito), who's sporting the lovely Jane (Tisha Campbell), leader of the G-Phi-G groupies, the Gamma Rays. And Their Opponents, The "Jigaboos", the down home soul brothers and sistas leading the charge of revolution and uplifting the race, led by Dap, the campus hell-raiser (Lawrence Fishburne). Caught in the middle, is Half-Pint (Spike Lee), who's Dap's cousin and is pledging G-Phi-G.
WHAT MAKES THIS A CLASSIC: Ask anyone who had the pleasure of attending a Black college. Raw, funny, and brutally honest. Not just in it's depiction of college life, but in that "secret" civil war between light-skinned and dark-skinned Blacks...although the musical depiction of this battle, shown in the scene "Straight and Nappy," is straight up OVER THE TOP! That minor flaw aside, the scenes move briskly, everybody turns in a pretty good performance, and the music is hot. Real Real Hot! That love scene with Tisha licking Giancarlo's forehead stll cracks me up. Watch for appearances from Samuel L. Jackson and just about half the cast of Cosby Show spinoff A Different World in significant minor roles.
And then there's the minor post-release history: Not only did this film expose America to Black college life for the first time, but this film spawned not one, but two dance crazes (well, sorta). DC Go-Go group makes an appearance at the Homecoming Dance and teaches us to do "Da Butt." (Don't front, yall wore out that song and the dance at many a house party in 88, just like me!!!) In addition, a brief step-show routine done by real life Black fraternity Alpha-Phi-Alpha was the genesis of the infamous "Running Man" dance. Now the Alphas had been doing that step for years but with School Daze giving them and that step national exposure took that dance from the step-shows to the dance floors.
THE HOT HOT MUSIC: I have this soundtrack...which made me real popular in college (more on that later). In additon to Da Butt, a Go-Go track, we have inspirational ("I'm Building Me A Home"), girl-group diva stuff ("Be Alone Tonight" with Tisha Campbell singing lead), jazz by the late Phyllis Hyman, a Stevie Wonder track ("I Can Only Be Me" a big hit for beauty pageant contestants...if I had a dime for all the times I dubbed that song for pageant prospects, I'd be able to fund 3BC my damn self!) and lots of instrumentals. If you can find it on Amazon.com or something, look it up, cause I ain't about to burn mine for yall...unless the price is right!
) MEMORIES, MEMORIES: I adored this film...until I lived it for real. I was in 9th grade back in 88 when this film dropped. I got the video. I learned every song and memorized every line. Then I enrolled in the mighty mighty Grambling State University-the Notre Dame of Black Football. I graduated in 1995. I haven't watched this movie since. Why? Because it hurts like heck! Watching School Daze now gives me major Grambling flashbacks. When I see G-Phi-G, I see the frat guys at GSU flaunting their stuff on campus like gods. When I see "The Gamma Rays," I see Deltas and AKA's. When I see Dap, I see a cat named Rico Rivers, who had an underground newspaper exposing the dirty laundry at GSU the same way Dap did to the college administration. When I see Half-Pint's struggles with getting women and being teased for being a virgin, I see myself. One day I'll get the courage to watch it again. And I'll be able to appreciate it.
Finally, I close this review with an explanation of my opening statement. When this movie dropped, I was oblivious to my own identity as a Black man. I spent my childhood in the burbs of St. Louis until I experienced a bad case of culture shock when I moved to South Central LA. My color was brown but my mind was still in those burbs. I adapted that surbuban style and culture. I was 10 seconds away from buying U2 and George Michael tapes and totally immersing myself in that style. Then I saw this movie...and woke up. This was the first film I ever saw with people who looked like me and my friends and talked like me and my friends. Heck, this was the first time I saw Black folks in college. I was a changed man. I dropped the burbs style and raised my fist and began to lay in wait for the revolution. And I have Brother Spike to thank.
Now time has changed me yet again, and I'm not waiting for no revolution. I am a lot more mature and not into this "Black vs. White" thing. Black folks got dirt. So do White folks. But, thanks to School Daze, my identity is shaped and I know who I am in America.
Thanks Spike, for waking me up.
As always, holla back at utz_world@yahoo.com or flava@3blackchicks.com .
dSWACizJSU
New Member
the college experience is what you make it. what he needs to do now that he is probably 30 is:
1. get a piece, it's been a long time coming.
2. get a life, it is no one to blame but himself.
3. get the movie "animal house" since he can't relate to the hbcu
experience.
finally
4. go to kfc, go to a party, go to any college campus and watch
greeks have it out, etc...and see how is experience is then.
take 2 doses and call me in the morning.
1. get a piece, it's been a long time coming.
2. get a life, it is no one to blame but himself.
3. get the movie "animal house" since he can't relate to the hbcu
experience.
finally
4. go to kfc, go to a party, go to any college campus and watch
greeks have it out, etc...and see how is experience is then.
take 2 doses and call me in the morning.
BluPearl98
SheSoSassy
Both School Daze and a Different World were inspirational to many. It caused many to go to college, but for some of the wrong reasons. You know the two P's, pledging and partying. But most eventually do what Dap encourages everyone to do, WAKE UP. Sometimes its a little late but hey.... Anyway School Daze launched a dozen careers so in that regard it was the greatest. There aren't too many black actors who have never acted with someone who was not thrust into fame by by this movie.
northern tiger
Active Member
I am a big Spike Lee fan. I asked someone last week about what movies they likes and I brought up "School Daze". They said that they did not like it and did not know what Spike meant by "WAKE-UP". Mentalities like this still blow me away. It was hard for me to let it slide in '88 but '03 (damn, has it been that long). Comments like that really make me wonder what our future looks like in this country (I do it anyway but this makes me think that its much more bleaker than it already looks). EPMD's "Crossover" is really in effect. Also, the following semester after "School Daze" and "A Different World" came out (Fall'88), it was like the population of Chicago students doubeld almost tripled. That wasn't a bad thing but I was suprised the influence those to shows had on perspective students.