Mission College is a leading black college in Atlanta. Dap (Laurence Fishburne) leads the politically active group advocating for the school to divest from South Africa. He is opposed by the head of the college fraternity, Julian Eaves (Giancarlo Esposito). Jane Toussaint (Tisha Campbell-Martin) is Julian's girlfriend. Dap's cousin Darrell (Spike Lee) is actually a lowly pledge at the fraternity. Along with their girlfriends and the school faculty, most of the population is divided into two camps based on their political views, skin color, and even hair.
It's real interesting that Spike Lee is exploring black consciousness within their own community. It tackles some important black social divides. Lee's often surreal touches do detracts from the main topic and don't get me started with the musical aspect. The old Hollywood musical scenes completely take the movie out of its time and place. The story starts to lose its anchor to reality. The beginning with the South Africa protest has such a great sense of time. It does hurt to see the movie drift from time to time.
It's real interesting that Spike Lee is exploring black consciousness within their own community. It tackles some important black social divides. Lee's often surreal touches do detracts from the main topic and don't get me started with the musical aspect. The old Hollywood musical scenes completely take the movie out of its time and place. The story starts to lose its anchor to reality. The beginning with the South Africa protest has such a great sense of time. It does hurt to see the movie drift from time to time.