School Daze Paper

1062 Words5 Pages
As with any era in the history of society popular culture, the music, stage entertainment, and any form of artistic expression, often reflects the feeling and morals of the current time. During the 1980’s African-Americans continued to redefine how American society viewed and considered the African-American experience in the United States. Examples included ‘The Cosby Show,’ ‘A Different World,’ ‘The Jefferson’s,’ among others. In film, no other movie was more poignant than Spike Lee’s ‘School Daze’ released in 1988. The film portrays college life in a realistic, often negative, light by highlighting the need for acceptance on college campuses. The film captures moments in which the characters are put in varying situations in which the need for acceptance among their peers is often in conflict with acceptable, normal behavior at the time. Surprisingly the telling of the story arc is a revolutionary approach found in a daffy story, about undergraduates at an all-black university that resonates with people of any ethnicity. First, social order and a hierarchy among the students play a major role in how the characters interact with each other. It deals with divisions within the student body - between Greeks and independents, and between political activists and kids who just want to get good grades. The character, ‘Dap’ (portrayed by Laurence Fishbourne), is an activist who hopes to united the entire student body for a common cause against the atrocities within the South African government. His involvement in the cause is in stark contrast to the aspirations of his younger cousin, ‘Half-Pint,’ who is pledging to join an inclusive fraternity, Gamma Phi Gamma (GPG). It is through the interaction of the cousins that one begins to see the need for people to be a part of something that is bigger, or greater, than any one accomplishment that one can attain alone.

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