When I went to watch this film, I had no idea I would see big names that I recognized like Laurence Fishburne and Eric Payne. I also did not know that it was a musical centered completely on a historically black college. I have seen one other Spike Lee film, In the Heat of the Night, and that film was mostly centered around the black cast. This gave me some inkling that this film would focus more on black characters as well since that appears to be how Spike Lee likes to form his films. I appreciate his drive to highlight black characters however he pleases. He isn’t focused on pleasing a white audience but more so trying to give black audiences something to enjoy and find pleasure in. When I was researching this movie after I watched it, I found some reviews online that I want to highlight. A renowned critic named David Ehrenstein did an in depth review of the film highlight why people have found problems with it and taking down those comments. Within his review he highlighted that this film was not given high reviews by white critics. Each white critic said they “didn’t get it,” or “found many parts of the film unnecessary and hard to understand.” Just as I said above, David also agreed that these white critics simply weren’t meant to get it. This film was not made with the intention of inciting some sort of feeling within a white audience, it was meant to do that for a black audience. Before the 80s and even within the 80s, films were still made to appease white audiences so when a white audience is sat in front of a film such as this they are taken back. I personally enjoyed this film and didn’t feel like I needed to “get it.” For me this film was about sitting back and taking in what I was viewing. A lot of films I will try to understand more or sit there and really think about what each scene meant. However, I knew this film was made during the 80s and how Spike Lee films are so I went in to take it all in. I enjoyed watching it and it kept me engaged the whole time which is sometimes hard to do. I enjoyed seeing that parallel between the black sorority and black fraternity and how the two interact and differ. I have always heard stories about hazing and the brutality of black fraternities and so it was interesting for me to see how they may actually be. I have no idea if this was an extremely dramatized version of how it is, but never the less it was interesting. One scene I particularly enjoyed was the scene a little over halfway through the film where the sororities and fraternities came into the basketball court and did their Greek chants/little dance numbers. It made me smile to see the brotherhoods and sisterhoods they were portraying and made me feel really connected. Overall, I enjoyed this film and look down upon the severely negative reviews.
Nice response. I like how you invoked a published critic but also gave your own reaction. One correction, In the Heat of the Night is not a Spike Lee film.