Higher Learning (1995).
“One's primary purpose at university level is to learn how to think.”
Directed by John Singleton
Written by John Singleton
Starring Kristy Swanson, Omar Epps, Michael Rapaport, Ice Cube, Lawrence Fishburne, and more
The Stage.
In this true ensemble drama, Higher Learning follows three very different journeys of three freshmen as they start college at the fictional Columbus University in Los Angeles.
The Review.
Back when I saw Crash in 2005, my critique of it was that it felt like it was adapted from a racism pamphlet you might see in a college guidance counselors office. Higher Learning feels like Crash, but a little bit cooler and packed with as many other social issues as possible.
Our first stereotype is Kristen, played Christie Swanson. She’s the naive white girl, whose family was once rich but now has to deal with gasp her dad being laid off. She’s the “why can’t we all get along” person who also has to deal with a rape at the hands of a frat boy and has to reckon with her sexual confusion once she meets Taryn, a young Jennifer Connelly. Kristy Swanson had such an odd Hollywood career, now that I think about it - she was the female lead in a lot of films in the early 90’s - The Chase, Hot Shots Part Deux, The Program, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and then after the combination of The Phantom in ‘96 and 8 Heads in a Duffle Bag in ‘97, her career just fell off a cliff, netting her roles like ‘Woman In Car’ in One Tree Hill and the voice of ‘female scientist’ in the video game Crysis. Looks like she’s still acting today though which is great.
Our second is Malik, played by Omar Epps. He’s at CU on a track half-scholarship and at first, takes his educational opportunity for granted. He starts a romantic relationship with another track star at the school, Deja, played by Tyra Banks. His internal struggle is caught between taking advantage of his opportunity to earn an education, something that Deja is pushing him towards, and a violent proclivity brought on by hanging out with another college student named Fudge, played by Ice Cube. Fudge is probably the most perplexing character here - by all accounts, he hates school and resents the establishment, but is also said to have been there for six years. For all of his yapping about knowing how things work and posing as a smart dude, it seems like there are some evident cracks in his logic.
The third is Remy, played by a young Michael Rapaport. He’s an out-of-towner from Idaho who slides way too easily from being kind of socially awkward to going full Nazi. Out of all of the transformations of thought in this film, his was easily the least believable and felt the most rushed, as a skinhead recruits him from the steps of the school by inviting him for a beer and then just talking about white power stuff, and then seemingly the next day, he’s a skin head reading Hitler literature.
Finally, the lone adult in the film is Professor Phipps, played by Lawrence Fishburne. He’s a political science teacher who’s kind of the voice of reason, if you can figure out what voice he was going for. He has one of the weirdest accents I can remember listening to on-screen which sounds like a mix of Jamaican and African at times. He serves as kind of the grounded touchpoint for the audience, spouting moral guidance like, “One's primary purpose at university level is to learn how to think.”
Higher Learning is a mess. The film tries to tackle so many different things at once that a lot of it feels really rushed and half-baked. The characters don’t feel fleshed out and appear as caricatures based on stereotypes. Even the side characters like “bigot security guard” and “frat guys” have zero depth. It’s not without it’s merits though - the acting from Epps, Swanson, and Rapaport are engaging and Ice Cube is great as Fudge. The soundtrack bangs and it’s well shot. It’s even more interesting if you think of this film as a companion piece to Clueless, the other, grittier side of the coin.
As things come to a close, you’ll realize that Higher Learning doesn’t really have any surprises - as the melting pot that is Columbus University turns from a simmer to a boil, you know that, just like in Boyz N The Hood, there’s going to be some major explosion of violence during the climax and you’ll have a pretty good idea of who’s going to be delivering said violence and who’ll be on the receiving end.
The End.
HIgher Learning is one of those instances where the parts are greater than its sum. The cast is terrific - there are other small roles I haven’t even mentioned, like Busta Rhymes and a young Regina King - and aside from Fishburne and Banks, the actors are tremendous.
I think the main thing I took away from this film is that since this was made in 1995, nothing has changed in this country. Looking at it as a microcosm of the United States - clearly the intent as we open on an American flag and see them repeatedly through the film - we still face the same issues today with the same lack of accountability. There’s a scene in which a black man is beating up a white man who had just delivered a devastating act of violence in the school and the security guards rush up and start beating down the black man with nightsticks, and it really just made me sad. Nothing has changed. The film ends with one word on-screen - “Unlearn.”
Will we? Ever?
