School Daze (1988)

A not so popular young man wants to pledge to a popular fraternity at his historically black college.

Director:

Spike Lee

Writer:

Spike Lee

Stars:

Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Tisha Campbell-Martin

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Laurence Fishburne	...	Dap Dunlap (as Larry Fishburne)
Giancarlo Esposito	...	Julian 'Big Brother Almighty' Eaves
Tisha Campbell-Martin	...	Jane Toussaint (as Tisha Campbell)
Kyme	...	Rachel Meadows
Joe Seneca	...	President McPherson
Ellen Holly	...	Odrie McPherson
Art Evans	...	Cedar Cloud
Ossie Davis	...	Coach Odom
Bill Nunn	...	Da Fella Grady
James Bond III	...	Da Fella Monroe
Branford Marsalis	...	Da Fella Jordan
Kadeem Hardison	...	Da Fella Edge
Eric Payne	...	Da Fella Booker T. (as Eric A. Payne)
Spike Lee	...	Gammite Half-Pint
Anthony Thompkins	...	Gammite Doo-Doo Breath

Storyline

In the South of the United States are taking place confrontations between two groups of students who have different ideas and are not able to accept the one of the opponent.

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Plot Keywords:

satire | black college | college | fraternity | black cast | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Musical

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 February 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

School Daze

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,802,656, 15 February 1988

Gross USA:

$14,545,844

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$14,545,844

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film came out when A Different World (1987), which was also set at a fictional historically African-American college, was in the middle of its first season. Jasmine Guy, Darryl Bell, and Kadeem Hardison starred on the show. Tisha Campbell-Martin appeared in two episodes as Josie Webb, an HIV-positive student. Roger Guenveur Smith appeared in five episodes as Professor Howard Randolph, an African-American History professor.

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Goofs

Toward the end of "I Don't Want to Be Alone Tonight", the audio is slightly ahead of the video.

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Quotes

Rachel Meadows: [as the "Jiggaboos" and the "Wannabes" encounter each other in the hallway] The word is "Excuse me."
Jane Toussaint: No one told you to stand in the hall, either. "Excuse me."
Rachel Meadows: That's better, Ms. Thing.
Doris Witherspoon: [as Jane turns and flips her hair] It's not real!
Dina: [as the Jiggaboos laugh] Say what?
Lizzie Life: You heard
Rachel Meadows: It... ain't... even... real.
Jane Toussaint: You wish you had hair like this.
Doris Witherspoon: Girl, you know you weren't even born with blue eyes!
Lizzie Life: That's right. Blue contact lenses.
[...]

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Connections

Featured in The Directors: The Films of Spike Lee (2000)

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Soundtracks

Da Butt
Music and Lyrics by Marcus Miller and Mark Stevens
Performed by Experience Unlimited (as EU)
Produced by Marcus Miller
Sunset Burgandy Inc./Tootsie Songs/MCA Publishing, A Division of MCA Inc./(ASCAP)

User Reviews

A Breath of Fresh Air

I am only 18 years old and I just saw the movie School Daze. I do not attend a H.B.C.U., but I have friends that tell me what goes on there. To the older people out there, can you believe that that type of stuff is still going on?! My friends and I were just talking the other day about how this guy on her campus would only date lighter skinned girls. If that is his thing, than it is, however, he would not date them because of their personality. He said they just "looked better on his arm." My mother and I always discuss the future of African-Americans and I am going to tell the truth. I am scared. We hurt each other more than any other race and we have to stop. I am a dark-skinned female and I just learnd to love myself. I thank Spike Lee for not being ashamed to call us out when we needed it. No, I do not think that the movie was an Oscar winner, but I do know that it was a mind opener and should be a lesson to all of us on how we allowed the European standard of beauty to shape our self-worth.