Higher Learning

"The opposing groups are just too clearly defined and what we are left with is a comic strip or a caricature, even down to the pipe smoking professor".They even did a bad job on their stereotyping. Laurance Fishburn's accent sounded scottish when you just really anticipate an english accent to go with that pipe.

In one scene where the two parties have their first confrontation I just kept waiting for them to start laughing and it turn into a comedy. I had the hardest time believing these people were serious. They expect you to believe this is *really* how people live but you just dont see it cause you're blind.

Hard to believe the extremes of the reviews of this film. It's either genius or crap. I found it somewhere in between, and I have to say I enjoyed it, owing mostly to Omar Epps. I believe he's one of the best actors in America right now, and his performance in this movie really made it watchable as far as I'm concerned. Many of the characters were not developed well, and were two-dimensional at best. Rappaport's character, and in fact all the white supremacists, were mere cut-outs and actually painful to watch. I didn't get the good guy/bad guy (name your race -- I think it depends on who's reviewing) theme at all. I think Epps was the protagonist and naturally he was shown in a better light than most of the other characters, black or white. There was some intelligent dialog and some inane dialog. However, it was overall an interesting film and I'm glad I saw it. Not perfect by any means, and with its share of clichés, but a good film nonetheless.

The film's design seems to be the alpha and omega of some of the major issues in this country (U.S.). We see relationships all over at the university setting for the film. Befittingly, the obvious of student v.s. teacher is present. But what the film adds to its value is its other relationships: male v.s. female, white v.s. black, and the individual v.s. society. But most important of all and in direct relation to all of the other relationships is the individual v.s. himself.

I was amazed at how bilateral a point of view the director gave to showing the race relations on campus. Most films typically show the injustices of one side while showing the suffering of the other. This film showed the injustices and suffering of both sides. It did not attempt to show how either was right, although I would say the skin heads were shown a much crueler and vindictive (quite obvious towards the end). The film also discusses sex and rape. It is ironically this injustice that in some ways brings the two races together, for a time. Lawrence Fishburne does an over-the-top performance as the sagacious Profesor Phipps. He crumbles the idea of race favortism and instead shows the parallelism of the lazy and down-trodden with the industrious and positive. Other stars that make this film are Omar Epps, Ice Cube, and Jennifer Connelly. Michael Rapaport gives an excellent portrayal of a confused youth with misplaced anger who is looking for acceptance. Tyra Banks make her film debut and proves supermodels can act.

Higher Learning gets its name in showing college as more than going to class and getting a piece of paper. In fact, I would say the film is almost a satire in showing students interactions with each other, rather than some dry book, as the real education at a university. It is a life-learning process, not a textual one. I think you'll find "Higher Learning" is apropos to the important issues at many universities and even life in general. 8/10

I have read a lot of reviews for this movie where people accuse the film of promoting stereotypes, and that it portrays whites in a negative light. I really think that those who wrote those reviews missed the point.

1) There ARE stereotypes in this movie. It's intentional. Not every white character in this movie is portrayed as a skinhead, as some reviewers may have lead you to believe. Not every black character in this movie is portrayed as a victim either. In order for people to overcome racial stereotypes, we have to at least take a good look at what other races see when they look at us, and this movie does a good job of that. There are also characters (both black and white) who try to persuade Omar Epps' character to not use his race as an excuse to "play the victim," so I really don't see this movie as "one sided".

2) The rape scene, where some reviewers complain that Kristy Swanson's character gave consent, wasn't supposed to be a clear cut, "awful drunk bad-guy" rape. In order for people to understand the causes and effects of date rape, we need to take a closer look at where the line is between right and wrong, and this movie does a good job of asking the viewer where that line is.

There are other situations where characters choose violence and revenge rather than thinking of a better solution. But - some of these situations seem justified, and others do not. Once again, you as the viewer have to decide if what you're seeing is right or wrong.

I must admit that I was troubled by the portrayal of the campus security as being overly suspicious of blacks, and overly sympathetic towards whites. But this movie is meant to ask questions; not suggest that ALL white security guards are this way. The fact that I am troubled by this portrayal means that I was forced to think about what suspicions are justified, and which are not. This movie is full of things that make you take a stand one way or another. It's not meant to make you feel comfortable, or to decide for you...

If you like movies that overtly tell you what you're supposed to think, you may misinterpret this movie. But if you want to see thought-provoking film that will make you ask yourself a lot of questions on where you stand, I recommend seeing this film. Great performances by Epps, Swanson, and Michael Rappaport. I was even pleasantly surprised by Tyra Banks performance. 8 out of 10 stars.

I found this film to be heavily laden with stereotypes - everything from the depiction of fraternity members being sexist, skirt-chasing rapists, to the african-american male doing the 'hood walk, to the white male hick who just has to end up becoming a neo-Nazi. The ending was uncalled for and decidedly cheesy. Makes you wonder if the writers/director ever went to college, and if so which ones, cause the one I went to was not nearly as exciting. I realize that Mr. Singleton was attempting to deal with multiple issues in a limited timespan, which accounts for the film having very little by way of realism, but that doesn't excuse many of the situations being as over the top as they were, nor does it warrant such heavy usage of stereotypes.

And the near lack of non-black and non-white (I don't count Jewish people as not being white) characters only served to lessen my respect for this piece of work. I am South Asian myself (that's the Indian subcontinent for those who feel geographically challenged) and, in general, find our lack of presence in any mainstream production about higher education just a little bit annoying, especially given the large numbers of such people on any college campus. And by presence, I don't mean "boy at fountain" or "girl in classroom" cardboard characters. I mean real, live people with relevant parts.

The cinematography, on the other hand, was great. His crowd scenes in particular were shot beautifully.

After being blown away by Boyz n' the 'hood, I was very disappointed by Higher Learning. I give it a 4 out of 10.