Rent School Daze (1988)

Spike’s Wake-Up Call - School Daze review by griggs

American campus comedies usually leave me cold, but Spike Lee’s spin on the genre brings some heat. The setting is a historically Black college, where fraternities and sororities hold sway that, to a British eye, feels like Oxbridge drinking societies with Greek letters. The hazing is nasty, and Lee skewers it with gusto.

The film sharpens in its subplots: the rivalry between lighter- and darker-skinned women, the clash between activists and careerists, the musical flourishes that break the flow yet stick in the head. It’s political theatre staged as a dance-off, daring you to laugh while feeling the sting of recognition.

The satire, though, wobbles—sometimes too broad, sometimes too insidery. Being British, I stood half outside the joke, admiring the energy more than the execution. Still, the film closes on Spike’s bluntest note: Dap’s cry of “Wake up!”—a call to arms for the audience as much as the students. School Daze isn’t his tightest joint, but you glimpse the filmmaker he was becoming—provocative, playful, and unwilling to let anyone doze through class.