School Daze, Spike Lee, and Balazs

Erin Hill

Film Theory: 201

February 15, 2010

Midterm Essay

Spike Lee, a true artist, distinctly uses elements of formative film theory to present an explicit wake up call to his audience in his second feature film, School Daze. His style is profoundly straight forward, but allows plenty of room for controversy. Lee creates his own reflection of reality, exceptionally close to the one he himself experienced in college. Set in the late 80’s at Mission College (a fictional collaboration of the historically black colleges Morehouse and Spelman in Atlanta), School Daze tackles various disparities within the black community all on one illusory campus. Using techniques explored by film theorist Bela Balazs, Spike Lee’s manipulation of a real setting with rich significance allowed him to throw issues into the face of his audience before the plot even starts.

First of all, I think the proper way to look at this film is not as a musical (which I have seen many critics categorize it as), but as a drama with hyper-real elements. There is a blatant purpose to this work. The purpose itself maybe somewhat mystifying from a perspective of someone outside of the African-American community, especially during the anti-apartheid movement; therein lies what makes this movie so significant. It is not Do The Right Thing. Battles of racism and class discrimination occur within the same race, the same small college community. In reality, these controversial topics are very sensitive to many African-Americans, and are what makes the exposure Lee gives them so taboo. In his attempt to tackle these issues, Lee avoids beating around the bush. This method was nerve-racking to many black viewers at the time of its release and made many uncomfortable about its release. I believe Lee’s inherent ability to do so it what makes School Daze successful.

Such a real topic could have easily been tackled in a documentary. When what Spike Lee was able to accomplish in School Daze is considered, it is obvious why a formalist technique was chosen. Characters tend to speak in ideological monologues instead of dialogue. Politically incorrect moments that would not have been included in a traditional Hollywood film, or a documentary where an individual or group’s reputation would be at stake are decidedly included. These characters are meant to be judged. Lee has created an organized drama which weeds through the various exceptions and trivial aspects. As Balazs heavily focused on the dynamics of editing, Lee organizes his film in chapters that each offer a different issue to tackle, and simplifies reality. As Andre w explained: “Filmmakers must find the truth in the incomprehensibility and noise of reality; and they must set this truth free so that it can speak” (The Major Film Theories, 84). Balazs maintained that films that aim for social awareness and action are most successful when set in “small human dramas, showing social concern emerging in an individual rather than in a faceless crowd” (Theories, 95)

A major topic in the film, the animosity between the lighter complexioned girls and the darker skinned girls, reaches a peak with a musical sequence. The chapter begins with a confrontation of both groups: the “Jiggaboos” versus the “Gamma Rays”. It escalates to a song and dance filled production reminiscent of West Side Story. Initially, the break out into the fantastical feels comical and excessive. However, it becomes apparent that the addition of this scene to the dispute allows the issue to be explored in multiple artistic mediums. It becomes more than girls who hate each other because they look different and belong to separate cliques. The Jiggaboos and Gamma Rays are an example of a longstanding issue for African-American women. The Jiggaboos are a group of dark skinned girls who wear their hair naturally and oppose greek organizations. The Gamma Rays are the female counterpart of a fraternity, and are lighter skinned girls who straighten their hair, wear more make up, and see nothing wrong with it. Although in reality their hatred for one another would be expressed with derogatory quips and sideways glances, the musical scene offers the viewer even more. “Good and Bad Hair” allows each group to brag and insult the other, as well express the differences with alternative methods. The Gamma Rays dance in a softer and more classical American jazz style and sing in a higher key than the Jiggaboos. The Jiggboos utilize traditional African technique and a more athletic style in their choreography. These elements may go unnoticed, but contribute to the stereotypes each group carries: The Jiggaboos, a more authentic representation of African heritage and naturalness; The Gamma Rays, Caucasian influenced, superficial, and striving to fit white standards of beauty. Balazs would agree that dealing with this subject in multiple forms of art allows the viewer to consider various meanings. Balazs contends that a single form of media is not capable of fully grasping the reality of an event, so Spike Lee’s choice no longer seems arbitrary or for fluff, but supplementary genius.

Another idea Balazs found significant is the institution of film as an independently creative art. The production of School Daze set in a theater would not allow us to judge the characters from the perspective the camera can offer. For example, the Gamma Rays are allowed ample screen time, luxurious settings, and becoming framing. The Jiggaboos, however, are not nearly as prevalent on screen, and are viewed from harsher camera angles and less forgiving close ups. The “Good and Bad Hair” number does not just appear on the same set as previous action, instead it takes place on a set created for the choreography in the atmosphere of a beauty salon, standing out from all of the other scenes in the movie which were filmed on location.

In the final scene, Dap, the radical anti-apartheid student organizer, rings the bell resting in the center of campus early in the morning and shakes some of his peers awake. This dreamlike sequence strays the most from Balazs’ Marxist favoritism and is definitely the most unconventional aspect of the film. It is indiscernible whether this scene is a fantasy or steps so far into the real that it takes on a dreamlike appearance compared to the rest of the film. As an average viewer, I would probably consider it to be disarming and unfitting with the previous plot driven elements of the film. Truthfully, I probably wouldn’t even think very deeply about it. How unfortunate that would be. Now that I have viewed the film several times, I believe the “wake up” scene is absolutely fitting and speaks to the design and purpose of the entire movie. It is in your face in the most obvious way possible. It loses the mystification of the characters and wakes them into a reality that we are all a part of.

The social commentary of School Daze is made effective with the use of formalistic elements discussed by Bela Balazs in the early twentieth century. Spike Lee has garnered the potential of Balazs’ belief of the potential of film as a raw material: “Cinematic raw material exists only for those who have the talent and energy to seek it out in their experience” (Theories, 88). School Daze offers its viewer deep significance to itself as a material. By approaching this film as an independently creative art, with use of multiple forms of art and formation of the natural into signifying patterns, Spike Lee created a film that was unpretentious and spoke to its viewers by being direct, frank, and purely honest.