HIGHER LEARNING
A film review by Andrew Hicks
Copyright 1996 Andrew Hicks / Fatboy Productions
(1995) *** (out of four)
If DO THE RIGHT THING had taken place on a college campus, it might have gone something like this. Director John Singleton (of BOYZ IN THE HOOD fame) brings us this compelling story whose theme is that people tend to congregate within their own demographic, whether it be age, sex, race or all of the above. Singleton mainly focuses on racism which, narrow-minded and primitive as it is, will never completely vanish in this country. Had America's background been different, racial harmony may have been achieved, but with things and people the way they are, it's not going to happen.
On one hand you've got the skinheads like Michael Rappaport, who goes through his first two months at college scared and alone before being recruited by a bunch of neo-Nazis, who offer companionship while filling his head with that Aryan Nation crap. On the other you've got the black people like Omar Epps, who sees the injustice inflicted on the African race and adopts the notion that all white people are to be distrusted and hated. Epps blames every wrong thing in his life on his skin color and soon withdraws to the comfort of "Super Duper Senior" Ice Cube's bachelor pad (also inhabited by charismatic rapper Busta Rhymes), where giant "Black Power" posters abound.
Singleton doesn't just focus on the race problems, he shows feminine problems as well, when Kristy "Buffy" Swanson is date raped her second night on campus and is taken under the wing of Jennifer Connelly, one of those penis-boycotting feminists. I could guess right off that Connelly's character was a lesbian, albeit one of those beautiful Hollywood lesbians. Connelly makes it clear that she doesn't want to pressure Swanson into swearing off the male gender entirely, but there's always a breast to cry on if she wants it.
Not every character is an extremist. There are some people in the movie with sense, like the Political Science professor (Lawrence Fishburne) who can actually look beyond sex and skin color and tries to explain to Epps that his defeatist attitude won't get him anywhere in the world; Epps' girlfriend, the lovely supermodel Tyra Banks, who also hasn't given up on success just because she was born black; Swanson's roommate, Regina King of "Family Matters," who's fought off Urkel's advances for six seasons and now has to worry about getting hit on by a lesbian roommate; and Epps' roommate, a white boy with no racial prejudice who tries to befriend Epps but can't break down the race barrier.
Eventually, as in DO THE RIGHT THING, the racial tension builds to the point at which it manifests itself in violence, but not in just one scene and not just in one way. In the end, little ground is gained by either side. Thankfully, Singleton's realistic outlook prevented him from making a sugar-coated, harmonious ending. As one of the characters points out, that kind of "We Are the World" outlook is a crock. Certain individuals will always think society has screwed them over for the wrong reasons. And other individuals will think themselves superior to everyone else. The rest of this know none of this is right but some people's minds just aren't going to be changed. The race problem can't be eliminated entirely, but intelligent films like this can change individuals' thoughts and actions for the better.
--
Visit the Movie Critic at LARGE homepage at http://www.missouri.edu/~c667778/movies.html
From noraruth@aol.com Mon Jun 10 15:04:47 EDT 1996 Article: 3656 of rec.arts.movies.reviews Path: nntphub.cb.att.com!not-for-mail From: noraruth@aol.com (Andrew Hicks) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews Subject: REVIEW: HIGHER LEARNING (1995) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: 10 Jun 1996 18:26:25 GMT Organization: University of Missouri - Columbia Lines: 69 Sender: ecl@mtcts1.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: ecl@mtcts1.att.com Message-ID: <4phpch$17o@nntpb.cb.att.com> Reply-To: noraruth@aol.com (Andrew Hicks) NNTP-Posting-Host: mtcts2.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #05427 Keywords: author=Hicks Originator: ecl@mtcts2 Status: RO
HIGHER LEARNING
A film review by Andrew Hicks
Copyright 1996 Andrew Hicks / Fatboy Productions
(1995) *** (out of four)
If DO THE RIGHT THING had taken place on a college campus, it might have gone something like this. Director John Singleton (of BOYZ IN THE HOOD fame) brings us this compelling story whose theme is that people tend to congregate within their own demographic, whether it be age, sex, race or all of the above. Singleton mainly focuses on racism which, narrow-minded and primitive as it is, will never completely vanish in this country. Had America's background been different, racial harmony may have been achieved, but with things and people the way they are, it's not going to happen.
On one hand you've got the skinheads like Michael Rappaport, who goes through his first two months at college scared and alone before being recruited by a bunch of neo-Nazis, who offer companionship while filling his head with that Aryan Nation crap. On the other you've got the black people like Omar Epps, who sees the injustice inflicted on the African race and adopts the notion that all white people are to be distrusted and hated. Epps blames every wrong thing in his life on his skin color and soon withdraws to the comfort of "Super Duper Senior" Ice Cube's bachelor pad (also inhabited by charismatic rapper Busta Rhymes), where giant "Black Power" posters abound.
Singleton doesn't just focus on the race problems, he shows feminine problems as well, when Kristy "Buffy" Swanson is date raped her second night on campus and is taken under the wing of Jennifer Connelly, one of those penis-boycotting feminists. I could guess right off that Connelly's character was a lesbian, albeit one of those beautiful Hollywood lesbians. Connelly makes it clear that she doesn't want to pressure Swanson into swearing off the male gender entirely, but there's always a breast to cry on if she wants it.
Not every character is an extremist. There are some people in the movie with sense, like the Political Science professor (Lawrence Fishburne) who can actually look beyond sex and skin color and tries to explain to Epps that his defeatist attitude won't get him anywhere in the world; Epps' girlfriend, the lovely supermodel Tyra Banks, who also hasn't given up on success just because she was born black; Swanson's roommate, Regina King of "Family Matters," who's fought off Urkel's advances for six seasons and now has to worry about getting hit on by a lesbian roommate; and Epps' roommate, a white boy with no racial prejudice who tries to befriend Epps but can't break down the race barrier.
Eventually, as in DO THE RIGHT THING, the racial tension builds to the point at which it manifests itself in violence, but not in just one scene and not just in one way. In the end, little ground is gained by either side. Thankfully, Singleton's realistic outlook prevented him from making a sugar-coated, harmonious ending. As one of the characters points out, that kind of "We Are the World" outlook is a crock. Certain individuals will always think society has screwed them over for the wrong reasons. And other individuals will think themselves superior to everyone else. The rest of this know none of this is right but some people's minds just aren't going to be changed. The race problem can't be eliminated entirely, but intelligent films like this can change individuals' thoughts and actions for the better.
--
Visit the Movie Critic at LARGE homepage at http://www.missouri.edu/~c667778/movies.html
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