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School Daze

Decent Essays

Do the Right Thing and Stay in School It is amazing how much abuse, hazing, and punishment people will go through just to be accepted into a group (be it a Frat, Sorority, or life in general). Real life for minorities is not as easy as its polished representation on television. Many people every day and nearly everywhere suffer because of their living conditions and even their race. School Daze (Lee, 1988) and Do the Right Thing (Lee, 1989) both open with an African American artist singing but in two very different style. In School Daze, it begins with “I’m Building Me A Home” by Morehouse which is an African American spiritual dealing with preparing for your eternal home and the trials and tribulations this temporary home will present. In Do the Right Thing we see Tina (Rosie Perez) dancing in the opening scene to the song “Fight the Power” which blares in the background. This song is played throughout the film about fighting the racial inequalities that faced and face the African American population. Lee wanted an angry song to play throughout the film so he hired Public Enemy to write the song to serve as a leitmotif. In other words, …show more content…

Dap and Julian (Giancarlo Esposito), in School Daze, are similar to Salvatore (Danny Aiello) and Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito) in that they both have conflicts with one another. Mister Señor Love Daddy (Samuel Jackson) hollers “Time out! Time Out!! Y’all take a chill” in the same way that Dap (Laurence Fishburne) woke everyone by screaming “Wake Up!!” many times even after everyone has gathered around the bell. The plots are related by the common theme of racial inequalities whether it be between several races or even inside of a single race. The ending in Do the Right Thing is very tragic with the dramatic death of Radio Raheem. On the contrary, in School Daze, there is a semi peaceful ending with the realization that everyone is equal and that we need to wake up and understand

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