Higher Learning

Higher Learning

Battles of Life

A college, dealing with a politically and racially tense time, has new students who must learn to make their way in the world. A track store, who believes the world owes him; an out of place kid looking to fit in. Both are caught up in things they do not understand, and they preconceptions of others on who they should be.
The movie, Higher Learning, means a lot to me because it encompasses 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.  
One of the characters, the track start, has to learn that you must earn things in life. For instance, in the beginning of the movie, the track star does not want to put in a lot of work because he feels he has already proven himself, and the coach throws him for a loop. The coach informs him that he has to earn his spot just like everybody else, or he can sit on the bench.   Another example with this same character is in his English class. He has an African American teacher, and feels that because he is African American that his papers should benefit because of this. The teacher, played by Lawrence Fishburne, tells the young student in no uncertain terms that he must earn his grade, or should drop and be a washout forever. The story only continues to become more confusing as the track star becomes involved in the racial tension in the school, and is wooed by the left-wing “brothers” who feel put upon by the system. This situation continues to quagmire, and leads us to the other “protagonist” of the movie.
A young student from the middle of nowhere Kentucky who just wants to fit in and find some friends. He is somewhat shy, does not have very good communication skills, and almost no confidence. He is...