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Chris Utley's commentary on School
Daze (1988)
Review Copyright Chris Utley,
2000
School Daze (1988) 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! :o)
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
.
Director: Spike Lee
Stars: Lawrence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Spike Lee, Tisha Campbell
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