University Life ◆ Trial and Error at the Threshold of Adulthood
- Director, Kayukawa Clinic, Yuhei Kayukawa, M.D.
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Chunichi Shimbun, Morning Edition, November 3, 2006
Higher Learning (1995, USA)
University is a time when young people meet all kinds of people, learn about many different things, and grow as individuals. Yet life at an American university seems quite different from that in Japan. Directed by John Singleton, sometimes dubbed the “Black Spielberg,” Higher Learning is a film that brings together many of the social problems of contemporary America within the setting of a university.
The story revolves around three students—Merrick, Remy, and Kristen—who enter a prestigious university.
On campus, students tend to form groups along racial lines, and conflicts are frequent. Emergency call stations have been installed around the campus, and security guards patrol the grounds.
White students can hold loud, unruly parties without much interference, while security guards quickly arrive when Black students hold parties. Merrick is deeply resentful, complaining that “we’re always treated unfairly.” Philip, a Black professor, urges him to focus on his studies, telling him, “Knowledge is power. Knowledge is what will eliminate discrimination.”
But tensions only grow as rival groups compete with one another and individuals try to demonstrate their power within their own circles. Remy, who had hoped to become an engineer, is humiliated when he is mocked by a group of Black students. He eventually joins a neo-Nazi group and adopts the extreme belief that “white people are superior.”
Kristen, who is nearly raped after becoming intoxicated at a party, becomes involved in the movement against sexism and even begins to explore the world of homosexuality.
As they stand on the threshold of adulthood, all three are wounded in different ways and struggle to find ways to heal themselves. Then a shooting takes place on campus. The title Higher Learning takes on a profound and disturbing meaning in the context of the film.
What about Japanese university students?
Today, with more than 120,000 international students in Japan, racial conflict may not be as visible on Japanese campuses, and university life may appear relatively peaceful. Yet young people can become involved in cults, predatory sales schemes, or gambling, or inflict emotional trauma on others through selfish and irresponsible relationships.
To be young is, in part, to search for oneself—while becoming lost, struggling, and trying to find one's way into adulthood.
