5 Little-Known Facts About 'School Daze'The Spike Lee classic turned 25 this year. Did you know all this drama was happening behind the scenes? |
The Spike Lee classic turned 25 this year. Did you know all this drama was happening behind the scenes?
Whether you were a kid excited and nervous about the possibilities of college or an adult reminiscing about the good ole days, you likely found something appealing about School Daze, the 1988 Spike Lee Joint about sororities, fraternities and colorism at a fictional HBCU, the first time you saw it.
As flawed a film as it might be -- it's difficult to make a perfect comedy-drama-musical, after all -- the cult classic has endured in part because of its themes. Dysfunction at black schools, hair and skin-color issues and black Greek life haven't changed an awful lot in our community since the film's release. To celebrate the anniversary of the film, which came out 25 years ago last month, check out some of these surprising facts about what went down behind the scenes.
1.
Scene from School Daze (Columbia Pictures)To exacerbate on-camera tension and resentments between the light-skinned "Wannabe" characters and the dark-skinned "Jigaboo" characters, Spike Lee separated the actors off-set. The actors playing the Wannabes and the Jigaboo men -- including Tisha Campbell, Giancarlo Esposito, Laurence Fishburne and Jasmine Guy -- stayed at a nice hotel and got hair and makeup services, while those playing the Jigaboo women -- among them Lee's sister, Joie -- stayed at a cheaper hotel and didn't get hair or makeup.
2.
Giancarlo Esposito and Tisha Campbell in School Daze (Columbia Pictures)Tisha Campbell said she was called the n-word for the first time when she came to Atlanta to shoot the film.
3.
Soul of AmericaAfter three weeks of filming at Morehouse College, Lee's alma mater, the production was kicked off campus, because, as Lee said in 1988, "the president felt that the film would be a negative portrayal of black colleges and black people as a whole." He filmed the remaining scenes at Clark Atlanta University and Morris Brown College.
4.
Vanessa Williams in 1988 (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection)Vanessa Williams was considered for the role of Jane Toussaint, which eventually went to Campbell.
5.
YouTubeLee personally commissioned "Da Butt" for the movie's soundtrack. The then-risqué EU track reached No. 1 on the R&B charts and is considered by many to be the biggest crossover go-go hit in history.
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