Although everyone going to a movie to watch a good film, is seldom prepare him for anything more than entertainment, the appreciation of a film might increase, when it has a particular social message. In that regard, “School Daze”, a 1988 film directed by Spike Lee, can be considered as such a film, or at least shot with such intentions. Telling the story of a fraternity in an all-black college, the film mixes musical performances with satirical social messages, which look on the ideas of race, class, language in the black community from a new perspective. This paper analyzes how such categories as race, class, and language affect the perception of the film’s main characters of themselves.
In terms of race, it can be seen that even in an all black characters, this category has a huge affect on the perception of the characters of themselves. In that regard, the race issue is defined by several attributes such as skin tone and hair type. In that regard, the usage of such distinctions set degrees for the level of blackness in the film and how the characters viewed it honestly. Such a distinction, especially in the hair type issue, can be evident in the scene at the Salon, where women rated each other based on their hair type. Accordingly, in terms of skin tone, the film criticizes the perception of the character, where they believed that the lighter the skin color the more you belonged to a somewhat higher caste, for which there were more opportunities. Accordingly, the division in the film between the “wannabees’ and the ”Jigaboos” might resemble the two polar direction of being truly black and being closer to the white, where wannabe might represent want to be white.
In terms of the class, the division might be based on educational level, where the person who went to college was considered as forgetting the idea of fighting the discrimination. This can be apparent through the scene where Vaughn “Dap” Dunlap and his friends have an encounter with the locals. Although Dap can be considered as the sense of conscious in the movie, where leading anti-apartheid demonstrations and protesting the divestment from Africa, in the eyes of the local blacks he faced in the fast-food restaurant, he and his friends are privileged boys who forgot the idea of fighting the apartheid.
The same perception of being closer to white to more black can be paralleled to the use of language, where the common language used and often misunderstood by white people is used by the more black people which perceive themselves as staying loyal to the ideas of the brotherhood and anti-apartheid, unlike those who speak in good English imitating white. Additionally, the force of language can be seen through the emphasis on militarism as the only way to solve problems, and the reinforcement of African practices.
It can be concluded that “School Daze” is an example of demonstrating how perceptions and stereotyping are used not only in different groups, but also within a single group. In that regard, the film is a call for the black community to wake up, and acknowledge their false perceptions. Each of the mentioned categories is a reflection of how the blacks, although fighting for the equality and anti-discrimination, are practicing the same wit themselves.