8A
Friday, January 27, 1995
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
KU Weekend
Jayhawker Yearbook, 1992
Higher learning
The movie shows race relations at fictitious Columbus University. But is it accurate? KU students respond.
By Eduardo Molina
Professor Phipps (Laurence Fishburne) consoles Malik (Omar Epps) in the movie "Higher Learning."
t's the first day of classes.
Black, white, yellow and many more colors of faces mingle. It doesn't matter the race. The U.S. flag in the background and a statue of Columbus — a statue that symbolizes their university — makes all of the faces one team.
Despite their togetherness though, racism hides inside most of the people at Columbus University. Neo-Nazi skinheads with swastikas fight for white supremacy by beating up gays or by killing African Americans. African Americans protect each other with hatred toward whites. Racism, cultural diversity, homophobia and sexism surround Columbus University students.
This university doesn't exist. It is the setting of the new John Singleton movie, "Higher Learning." In this movie, Singleton, director of "Boyz N the Hood" and "Poetic Justice," presents his own image of the United States through a college campus.
The controversial issues the movie presents evoke different reactions from its viewers.
Brian Johnson Winfield
brian, ashlerh, Whitfield
jimmy, ashlerh, movie didn't show the
average racist
are racist. The average racist really scares me because it is not quite obvious what they think. Those kind of racist are a majority."
"It brothers me they show a Neo-Nazi to represent the white racist," Johnson said. "The normal racists don't say they
Brian Gresnick, Lawrence resident,
fair image of whites.
"No way! We are not like that," Gresnick said.
"There are people who are as racists as the white Neo-Nazis in the movie, but we are not like that. Those are stereotypes."
Gressnick also said that African Americans were not fairly represented in the movie.
"We can see gang members," Gresnick said. "But those characters are just stereotypes."
Tessa Vantrece, Paola junior, said that despite the extremes shown in the movie, African Americans were fairly represented.
the opposite points of view of African Americans shown in "Higher Learning" were what people can find in real life.
Vantrece said that
KU is not an exception. We have had some problems here."
"I people hide what they think." Vantrece said. "But
Vantrece said that one day a white friend invited her to a party. However, when she arrived, people let her know,
politely, that she was not welcome. "In other words, they asked me to leave," she said.
Ponfa Bali, Lagos, Nigeria, senior, said he liked the way the movie showed the different social problems in the United States.
"The movie presents the extremes of these problems" he said. "The director picked up Blacks' and whites' conflicts to represent the problems among races."
Bali said the problems presented in the movie were the same ones that some students faced at KU.
"There are no Africans that haven't faced any form of racism in their lives," Bali said. "It is not like in the past. Racism is more mental."
Bali said that racism was expressed in the way people treat him, in the way instructors talk to him or how instructors react to his comments in class.
Octavio Hinojosa, Hutchinson senior.
"Iam conscious of the conflicts between Blacks and whites," Hirojosa said. "But I haven't experienced any kind of racism at KU. The movie presents so many problems that it is hard to experience all them."
said the movie presented the different social problems in the United States in an exaggerated way.
Jose Urdaneta, second-year medical student, said the movie showed both sides of the racism problem.
"The movie has good messages," Urdaneta said. "What I don't like is the extremist way to present these problems. The movie has a good purpose, but it deals with a lot of problems that are not common in a real university."
Columbus University exists only the movie.
Diversity is real, though, as the different opinions about the movie demonstrate.
Events
Toniaht
Salty Iguanas with 66, 10 p.m. cover charge, at The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St.
The Day After, 10 p.m., cover charge, at Mulligan's,1016 Massachusetts St.
Rio, 8 p.m., $3, at Cadillac Ranch, 2515 W. 6th St.
Lie Awake, 9:30 p.m., $2, at Johnnie's Tavern, 41 N. 2nd St.
Beef Jerky, 10 p.m., $3, at The Jazzhaus of Lawrence, 926 1/2 Massachusetts St.
Sons of Hercules with Ricky Dean, The Eudoras and The Spiney Urchins, 8.p.m., $6, at Liberty Hall, 644 Massachusetts.
Caribe, 9:30 p.m., $5, at The Grand Emporium, 3832 Main, Kansas City, Mo. Tomorrow
D. J. Roland with global dance music, 10 p.m., $3, at the Granada Music Theater, 1020 Massachusetts St.
The Lonesome Hounddogs, 10 p.m., cover charge, at Mulligan's.
MU 330 with Slackjaw and Power & Fear, 10 p.m., cover charge, at The Bottleneck.
My Childhood Hero, 9 p.m., no cover charge, at Full Moon Cafe, 803 Massachusetts St.
Lie Awake, 9:30 p.m., $2, at Johnnie's Tavern.
Beef Jerky, 10 p.m., $3, at The Jazhwaus.
Caribe, 10.p.m., $6, at the Granada Theater.
Johnnie Johnson, 9:30 p.m., $7,
at The Grand Emporium.
Sunday
Grumpy with Mercy Me. 9 p.m., $3, at The Grand Emporium. Monday
From Good Homes with The Day After, 10 p.m., cover charge, at The Bottleneck.
Acid Jazz, 10 p.m., cover charge, at Mulligan's.
Shiner with Popsicle and Halcyon, 9:30 p.m., $3, at The Grand Emporium.
Tuesday
The Cats with KU Jazz. 10 p.m., cover charge, at Mulligan's.
Typewriter Man and Friends, 10 p.m., cover charge, at The Bottleneck.
Jazz with Tim Cross and Ben Graham, 7 p.m., no cover charge, at Full Moon Cafe.
John Hammond, 8 p.m., $8, at The Grand Emporium.
Wednesday
Dead Eye Dick with Sunday Drive, 10 p.m., cover charge, at The Bottleneck.
Open Mic Night, 9 p.m., $1, at Mulligan's.
Minneapolis All Stars, 9:30 p.m. $5, at The Grand Emporium.
Thursday
Catherine with Mercy Rule and Velveteens, 10 p.m., cover charge, at The Bottleneck.
Chubby Carrier and The Bayou Swamp Band, 10 p.m., $5,
at The Jazzhaus.
Salty Iguanas, 9 p.m., $3, at The Grand Emporium.
Movies about college: booze, broads and few brains
Movies about college have fascinated me nearly all my life. I've spent a lot of time on college campuses, from Louisiana State University to the University of California at Davis to Northwestern University to the University of Kansas.
College life appeals to me because of its uniqueness. Most students spend their time poised between childhood and adulthood. Some cross the line and become husbands, wives and parents, while others spend the rest of their lives wanting to capture the inouciance college allows.
What college brings, more than anything, is experience. And the experiences — be they racial, sexual or intellectual — will probably be remembered for the rest of our lives.
Sadly, though, good movies about college life are rare. One of the best, "The Graduate," technically doesn't qualify as a college movie because its
But the movie works within the genre because it effectively shows the fears Benjamin Braddock, Dustin Hoffman's character, has after graduation. The final scene, in which Hoffman and Katherine Ross fade away
protagonist has just graduated from college.
a city bus, captures the joys and anxieties of life after college: so much can happen and so much to do.
Probably the most well-known college movie points out a problem with the genre. Though "Animal House" is a classic movie, the sophomoric humor it inspired bled over to such awful movies as "The Revenge of the
Nerds" (all parts), "PCU," "Spring Break" and "Back to School." Those are the movies that stereotype college life as a 1950s party in which the highest possible achievements are booze and broads. I guess seeing women in and out of blinkis is infinitely more exciting than seeing a classroom discuss the allegorical implications of Kafka's "In the Penal Colony."
The 1880s gave way to attempts at serious college movies. "St. Elmo's Fire" typified the era, essentially arguing that 21 is old, dude. "Less than Zero" could be added to this list, although its anti-drug message (the movie could have been produced by the Partnership for a Drug Free America) didn't jibe with what was going on on college campuses.
Now, in 1995, we have "Higher Learning." In many ways it's the broadest college movie made in awhile; certainly no other movie in
the genre took on racism, feminism and homosexuality in two hours and seven minutes.
That the movie is so broad may be its downfall, however. In its rush to portray so much, "Higher Learning" glosses over many important issues. A fascinating subplot between a lesbian and a younger female who is tempted ends without concrete resolution, as if finality isn't necessary. Worse, the American flag hovering over everyone — racist skinheads, Blacks, feminists — lacks any kind of subtlety.
In many ways, the movie succeeds where other college movies have failed (or at least didn't have the guts to tread). It deals with race relations more honestly than any other movie of its type. It shows how funny both white and black party cultures can be, from the excessive drinking to the excessive bass lines in speakers.
It is unfortunate because the movie's best scene is subtle. It occurs at the beginning, when a Black man steps into an elevator with a white woman. She looks at him and reaches for her purse. He notices and smirks in a way that suggests he has seen it all before.
For the most part, though, subtlety is forgone for the sake of predictability. After the final battle — a kind of revenge fantasy that is out of place in a college movie — two protagonists meet, and a Black hand touches a white shoulder. It's a glimmer of hope but a bit too obvious.
Maybe someday someone will make a movie about college that shows the joys and pains, the bars and the classrooms. That shows college students as people, not as stereotypes or as idealized remembrances. Until then, I guess I'll just have to keep hoping.