MovieChat Forums > School Daze (1988) Discussion > It was good up until the end.

It was good up until the end.

posted 13 years ago by kyle-348
8 replies | jump to latest

What was that heavy handed bs? You don't get a pass on ending a movie like that because you're trying to make a point.

[–] Sparky48 13 years ago

Assuming you're referring to the final scene where Dap tells everyone on campus, as well as the black movie audience, to "wake up," Spike was trying to convey to all black people that they needed to get beyond their own inherent racism.

I don't know how far you can go back Kyle, but during the 80s, black people in this country were very misguided. The mentality at that time was that the less black you looked, the more appealing and attractive you were. Many black guys were processing their hair with Geri curls and many females were wearing contacts to change their eye color and weaves to camouflage their natural hair (the latter unfortunately still persists today). And as evidenced by the "Jig/Wannabe" scene, many light-skinned blacks, believing they were status symbols because they could fit the white version of beauty more closely than dark-skinned blacks, looked down on dark-skinned black people.

I think Spike was trying to convey the message that black people need to get away from such superficiality, because it only divides the race. I noticed that attitudes began to change among African Americans after they viewed this movie, so I guess he was successful in this endeavor.

[–] crysjumar 12 years ago

and a little further to your statement, there was a also a message for "darker" blacks to stop lashing out @ the "lighter" blacks. We're all black and that divisive behavior is counterproductive to all blacks...period.

- C'mon back to my room and I'll give you a Rusty Venture.

[–] Sparky48 12 years ago

Very true. That's why during the "wake-up" scene in the end, all of the black people featured in the movie, both light-skinned and dark-skinned, are standing together. It was supposed to symbolize unity.

[–] HaveYouEverNoticed 9 years ago

As a biracial light skinned "high yella gal" as some people have called me, I remember getting picked on more by dark skinned girls for having "good hair" or light eyes. I'm in my 40s, and I still feel like I have to prove my blackness. I've actually had a few people tell me I would have been a house n---er back in "slavery time" come on, SERIOUSLY??

[–] Alfabeta 12 years ago

Absolutely. There's symbolism and then there's beating you on the head screaming "message".

It just feels like he couldn't come up with a satisfying way to wrap everything up so he decided to just cop out in the most forward way possible.

It's like writing a highly involving romance novel only to end it with a b***s out porn scene described in the most explicit detail possible.

[–] bradford-1 11 years ago

And how would YOU have ended the movie, eh?
"May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?"

[–] Alfabeta 11 years ago

If you want to keep this approach to the ending, a dream sequence maybe, or a huge black on black fight scene while dean's just watching so Fishburn is provoked to act (and shout)? Basically, anyway other than this. Talking directly to your audience is pretentious, but more importantly pointless and it takes you out of the movie. It breaks the fourth wall so hard, it takes the whole movie down with it. Spike creates a (more or less) realistic movie with engaging characters, plots and subplots only to quit the story all of a sudden, shout "wake up, fool, do something about this", and roll credits. WTF was that? Shock cinema? I was watching an actual movie up until the last 60 seconds, wasn't I? Am I that dumb that he actually has to scream at my face about the obvious message? And why would I change my world views once he does that? "Oh, s-t Spike, you're absolutely right man, what a sleepy dumbass I was, thanks for opening my eyes, brother!" Again, wtf?

If you want to address your audience that directly, either try to frame the fourth wall breaking in such manner that it doesn't feel completely out of place, or on the other hand, don't make a "real" movie at all. Do a stand-up or a spoken word performance, or a semi-documentary. Do the Right Thing didn't need final 60 seconds of "shout outs" to leave a much much stronger impression than this.

[–] gilmcmil 11 years ago

Totally agree with Alfabeta. I remember leaving the theater going "WTF?". I knew what he was trying to convey as well, but thought he could've done it better.