'School Daze' is 25!!
Has it really been that long??! 
Anybody else in our group remember when this came out??
'5 Little-Known Facts About 'School Daze' http://www.theroot.com/views/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-school-daze
To exacerbate on-camera tension and resentments between the light-skinned "Wannabe" characters and the dark-skinned "Jigaboo" characters, Spike Lee separated the actors off-set. The actors playing the Wannabes and the Jigaboo men -- including Tisha Campbell, Giancarlo Esposito, Laurence Fishburne and Jasmine Guy -- stayed at a nice hotel and got hair and makeup services, while those playing the Jigaboo women -- among them Lee's sister, Joie -- stayed at a cheaper hotel and didn't get hair or makeup.
'Deconstruction: Spike Lee’s “School Daze,” 25 Years Later http://dayandadream.com/2013/02/12/deconstruction-spike-lees-school-daze-25-years-later/
' Spike Lee welcomed viewers from all backgrounds onto the campus of a historically Black college and university (HBCU) – literally, onto the campuses of Clark Atlanta University and Morris Brown, Morehouse, and Spelman Colleges – and invited them to participate in conversations that were relevant to the Black community back then. Spike didn’t just slide in subtle hints into the script about issues like the identity crisis amongst African-Americans in the post-Civil Rights generation and the United States’ relationship with still-Apartheid-driven South Africa; he confronted them head on through his characters.'
The movie that launched Laurence, Giancarlo, Tisha, Samuel L. and Spike Lee himself into the stratosphere and put my hometown on the big screen is now a quarter of a century old. *smh*
I was in high school when this came out and it completely blew my mind. I LOVED this movie. Thinking about it now, though I'm disgusted about a few things (the misogyny of the GPhiG guys. Who the hell gives a pledge their girlfriend so that she can "prove" how much she loves them?), and still confused by others. The whole light skinned vs. dark skinned thing completely threw me for a loop. As someone who grew up in an all-black environment, I never knew it to be as deep as Spike made it out to be.
But some things about this movie I will love forever. It was my first introduction to step shows which just... I can't even explain how much I fell in love with step shows after this movie.
Also, thanks to School Daze for giving the world this absolutely amazing song which gives me shivers to hear to this day even though I will NEVER forgive Tisha Campbell for that hair:
= new reply since forum marked as read
Old I say! 
I was in high school too. It really is a time capsule of young, black, and questioning of EVERYTHING in the late 1980's. And it stood in sharp stark contrast to A Different World that only every so often touched on these issues. Think Whitney finding out her family owned slaves. 
Really - I think that's the only episode that ripped off the tiny band aid.
This movie ripped off the layers of packing and stitches and gauze that had covered up these issues from NON African American America.
The fact that every morning I have to walk down the stairs in our house one at a time because my legs don't start to bend properly until around 9 am!!! 
And it stood in sharp stark contrast to A Different World that only every so often touched on these issues.
Excellent point. I think it may have had to do with the audience. A Different World was all about happy, friendly NBC caught up in the grip of Cosby-mania. They were not going to mess up Bill's meal ticket by doing a show on some controversial isht! Spike didn't have to worry about any of that. I honestly think you would be hard pressed to find many white people that have seen School Daze. It wasn't until Do the Right Thing that Spike became a household name.
But in all honesty, I LOVED ME SOME Different World. Always will. Denise sucked and the show got so much better when she left even though Whitley worked my last black nerve and I never understood the appeal of Dwayne Wayne but I absolutely loved that show.
Last edited Sun Jun 9, 2013, 04:11 AM - Edit history (1)
He was sooo annoying but he was damn funny. And he was too cute with those little glasses.
Or are you talking about someone else?
