Higher Learning

HIGHER LEARNING

While watching the movie "Higher Learning" I noticed some of the numerous problems one may have to face as a college student. This movie was not only an extremely entertaining film, but one that dealt with many real life issues, such as importance of college education, sexuality, racism, and social equality.

The movie takes place in the fictional "Columbus University", in which Malik, a black track star, is attending as a freshman. The movie means a lot to me because it focuses on a lot of the problems and challenges that people face when they first push out on their own. They are no longer bound by what there parents want them to be, who there teachers think they should be, and how their friends see them. It is a learning period, a period where most see the true world for the first time, and discover in themselves who they want to be.

The story only continues to become more confusing as the track star becomes involved in the racial tension in the school, and is taken in by the left-wing "brothers" who feel handled by the system. Fudge, one of these brothers, and a 6 year super senior, is involved in a confrontation with his roommate Remy.

Remy at the time was just an oddball with poor communication skills who had a problem finding real friends. The only people who are willing to get to know him are "skin-heads". At first, they take him out for some beers and a good time, but slowly they corrupt him with their ideas. The corruption of this student's mind continues until violence breaks out between the "skin-heads" and the "brothers".

Both of our heroes feel the system has taken advantage of them, and that the pressure is too much. They both start to buckle under the pressure and the views that other people have of them. Malik almost drops out of school, but is saved by his English professor and partly by his girlfriend from making the wrong choice in life. He starts to discover who he is by working with his professor on his papers and his track skills with his coach. But he truly becomes a man when he steps up to the requirements of his girlfriend, and then has to watch her die in his arms.

This movie has taught me, in addition to other things, that the "World" owes nobody anything. From watching this movie I have seen a glimpse of the "real world" and seen how harsh