>^pril 29, 1988
The Compass
■
Page 5
( features ^ The Compass ( E^?^I^NMENT)
Movie Review
School Daze: controversial film
focuses on black conflicts in U.S.
By Lisa Gregory
I
wouldn’t give
my college educa
tion up for anyone,
not even Jesus Christ him
self,” says a college student in
Spike Lee’s hit film School
Daze.
Set in Mission College, a fic
titious black institution lo
cated somewhere in the south,
the fUm deals with many top
ics that are part of everyday
life for black college students.
First, School Daze deals
with the social activist who
feels that it is his duty to en
lighten his fellow students as
well as the world about the
problems faced by South Afri
can blacks.
The outspoken apartheid op
ponent, played by Larry Fish-
burne, also has to deal with his
on-campus enemies: the
Gamma Phi Gamma frater
nity, and their witty leader,
portrayed by Giancarlo Espo
sito.
The Gamma Phi Gamma’s
are by far the most elite and
influential fraternity on the
Mission College campus.The
pledges of this fraternity
would do anything, say any
thing or be anything to get into
this socially prominent organi
zation.
Spike Lee, who also directed
School Daze, plays a Gamma
pledgee in the fUm. The frater
nity’s initiation rituals are
mentally and emotionally
draining, physically unbeara
ble, socially disgraceful, and
down right inhuman.
“We were most kind to the
college fraternities,” Lee said
in an interview. “Most initia
tions are much worse.”
School Daze also focuses on
the prejudices that are within
the black race-on which
lighter skinned blacks look
down on their darker skinned
brothers and sisters.
The poor, short-haired,
dark-skinned blacks were
called ‘pick-a-ninnies; the
middle class, long-haired,
light-skinned blacks were re
ferred to as “wanna-be’s,” as
in “wanna be white.”
Lee’s treatment of this issue
makes a powerful and rele
vant statement about preju
dice in the black community;
however, his catagorizations
are oversimplfied and over-
Above, Lee directs a scene
from School Daze, featur
ing Fishbume, who por
trays a student civil rights
activist.
emphasized. Many blacks can
not be neatly placed into either
of these two catagories.
School Daze also exploits
black women and presents
most of them in a negative
light.
The female characters lack
substance and the ability to
stand on their own. They are,
for the most part, portrayed as
stereotypes, whose only values
lie in their singing, dancing
and performing sexual favors
on command.
Yet, Lee has said he is pre
pared for the controversy that
will result from the film.
“School Daze” is a much
more mature work than She’s
Gotta Have It (Lee’s first
film),” he said.
“It deals with bigger, more
important issues. This film is
about “our existence, about
being black in white America,
and to me, there is nothing
more important than that.”
The film fails to reflect Lee’s
viewpoint, however. The film
does not deal with black exis
tence in white America;
rather, it deals with black con
flicts in black America—in the
black culture.
School Daze covers many
aspects of college life, ranging
from homecoming to ro
mance. Scenes switch back
and forth between characters
who have individual problems
and interests. In spite of the
confusing plot sequence, the
film’s ideas and messages are
conveyed clearly.
Although School Daze has its
shortcomings, the film is good
because it has the power to
make the viewer think.
Book Reviews
Gaines spins a tale of murder
sBy Lavette Washington-Bias
Ernest Gaines, author of
The Autobiography of
Jane Pittman, again
;captures the South’s oppressive
attitude in his newest novel, A
Gathering of Old Men (Alfred
.Knopf, New York).
Set in Louisiana during the
■'early 1970s, the story chronicles
the events foUowing the murder
of Beau Bouton, a Cajun farmer.
The murder takes place on Mar
shall Plantation, owned by a
strong-willed and head-strong
young white woman, Candy Mar
shall.
C^ndy does everything to pro
tect her residents, and treats
them as equals. Candy claims to
have killed Beau Boutan, but no
one believes her. Just before she
calls the sheriff to report the
crime, she gathers together a
dozen or more aging black men,
each of whom carries a recently
fired shotgim; all the men claim
to have shot Beau.
Sheriff Mapes, in his effort to
find the real kiUer, finds that he
can’t penetrate the circle of pro
tection the old men have formed
around the real murderer. The
story reveals that the Boutan’s
family years of oppressive prac
tices have given the old men
more than enough reason to seek
vengeance.
The novel is told through the
voices of the men and women af
fected by the Boutans:
The narrators include Mathu,
Mapes, and Candy.
Mathu speaks for all the black
men gathered when he voices his
fears of the consequences he
might suffer due to his actions;
Mathu also speaks for the others
when he admits he feels good
standing up for something, just
this once.
Mapes gains respect in the old
men because of their suffering,
as he listens to each one’s en
counter with the Boutan family.
And Candy is determined to
stand against the law and the
Boutans alone before she lets
anyone harm her people-even if
it means she must defy the people
she is trying to protect.
Other characters include Gil
Boutan, Beau’s brother, who
tries to convince his father that
seeking revenge would serve no
purpose, and who is disowned by
the family as punishment. Gil,
the only one to leave the Bayou, is
an all-star football player for
LSU.
As the story reaches it climax,
the reader sees the complex
relationships between blacks and
whit^, the reasons behind the
burst of courage in the old men,
and Candy’s pride. And the
reader sees conflicts between old
and new ways, between the dark
past and the more hopeful future.
Ernest Gaines has created a
novel of tension and drama in A
Gathering of Old Men. The novel
is a powerful portrayal of the
strug^es of our ancestors, both
distant and recent, and the hard
ships they had to endure. It is
truly a memorable story.
iBeloved evokes haunting power
I In Beloved, Toni Morrison’s
ilatest novel, the main character,
Seth, strug^es to separate the
past from the present.
ISethe, an escaped slave, also
jeopardizes her life, because she
refuses to live as a slave. She is a
' strong, vividly drawn character,
1 who is able to maintain her sanity
I despite the loss of her husband,
\ Halle, and a child.
Beloved is an intruder who has
aU connections to Sethe’s past.
Beloved is a strong force, almost
appearing as the supernatural in
the narrative. The past has be
come a ghost in the house, run
ning Sethe’s two sons away, and
stirring up Baby Suggs’ sadness.
In Sethe, the past becomes a
major part of her life since Be
loved’s appearance.The presence
is both haunting and soothing.
Paul, a fellow slave, also be
comes a big a big part of Sethe’s
life. They each share their years
of captivity and freedom in the
apparition of Beloved, whose ex
pressionless eyes and doomed
childhood belong to the hideous
logic of slavery. Beloved comes,
as daughter, sister and seduc
tress from “the place over there”
to claim retribution for all she
has lost.
Sethe’s biggest struggle is to
keep Beloved from gaining full
possession of her present, and to
keep the past where it is. This
struggle forms the dramatic cen
ter of the novel.
Beloved is as intense as it is en
joyable. Morrison is the prize-
winning and renowned author of
such novels as Song of Solomon
and Tar Baby. Beloved is stUl an
other example of her remarkable
talent for writing powerful fic
tion.
^Bravo!^
Photos Richard Mclitfire
1 ^ .aft. '
(left to right)Freshman Vincent Swift, Bonnie Cuffie, Sean Sharpe, and
Harvey Bullock, Jr. shrug during the University Player’s production of
Fantasticks. The production received high praise in area newspaper re
views.
Harvey Bullock shows his dis
gust at his son (Sean Sharpe),
whom he se^ as a “hopeless
case.”
4
Sean Sharpe, the hopele^ly ro
mantic son, gazes di^mOy into
spajce.
Play Review
Young lovers tricked by dads
in hit musical,The Fantastiks
By Nancy Porter
The University Player’s
production of The Fan
tastiks truly lived up to
its name. The play was fantastic.
This highly successful and
long-running musical relates a
charming tale of two young
lovers who sneak around the wall
their fathers have built in order
to prevent them from meeting
each other.
At least, that’s what the young
lovers think. Like the cardboard
moon over the set, their assump
tion about the wall’s purpose is
an illusion. The young lover’s fa
thers have built the waU to make
their children think they are try
ing to prevent them from meet
ing.
The fathers—delightfully por
trayed by Harvey BuUock, Jr.
and Vincent Swift— actually
want their children to fall in love.
The wall is only a trick.
In their efforts to play CXipid,
the fathers enlist the aid of a
mysterious bandit, El Gallo,
played by Carlotta Jordan. Jor
dan’s beautiful mellow voice fiUs
the Little Theater, as she sings
her first song, “Tiy to Remem
ber.”
Jordan—perfectly cast as the
narrator—puts great feeling into
her lines, and executes her
movements with bewitching
grace. Joran’s professional train
ing at the Manhatten School of
Music is evident in her diction,
her bearing, and her style.
The fathers hire El Gallo to at
tempt to kidnap the daughter,
and force the son to fight for her,
thereby winning her love.
Bonnie Cuffie plays the 16-
year-old girl with exuberance
and feeling; Sean Sharpe is
equally effective as the boy.
Sharp’s shy sensitivity presents
an interesting contrast to Cuffie’s
verve and impulsiveness.
Cuffie and Sharpe perform sev
eral songs together, including the
beautifully wrought, “Meta
phor,” and “Soon it’s (Jonna
Rain.”
After their initial declarations
of love, the young couple argue,
and Sharpe goes off to explore the
world, and experience life. He re
turns to find that what he wanted
all along was right under his
nose.
El Gallo’s accomplices are
Henry and Mortimer, played by
Jonathon Baxley and AUen Tom
WiUiams.
Baxley and Williams played
their parts well and with humor.
It was especially funny to see
Williams, dressed as an Indian
but speaking in a british accent
The antics of Williams and Bax
ley provide some of the funniest
moments in the play.
The mute, played by Carmen
D. Lord, adds many magica
touches to the play. Lord demon
strates the power of a mime to
involve the audience’s emotions
She greatly enhances the mood 0:
tenderness between the young
lovers, when she stands behinc
them, streaming confetti to cre
ate the illusion of falling leaves.
The two young lovers are
happy until the wall is destroyed
and then they are not sure about
their love. It takes the boy’s suf
fering—and the wisdom they both
gain from their separation—to
reunite them.
A yell of “bravo” from the au
dience at the final curtain sums
up this review of The Fantastiks
The production was directed by
Shawn Smith, and choreo
graphed by Gene Owens. Lynne
Chapman was the production
stage manager, and BUly C
Hines the vocal director.
The musicians were B. Dexter
Allgood, piano; Willie McElroy
synthesizer; Robert Thomas
bass, and David Albert, percus
sion.