Higher Learning
The film follows the changing lives of three incoming freshmen at the fictional Columbus University: Malik Williams (Omar Epps), a track star who struggles with academics; Kristen Connor (Kristy Swanson), a shy and naive girl; and Remy (Michael Rapaport), a lonely and confused man seemingly out of place in his new environment.Fudge's roommate Remy, a quiet white man from Boise (Idaho) and fellow freshman who is studying to become an architect, contacts campus police to break up the party due to the loud rap music.Shortly afterwards, feeling increasingly isolated from his peers at the University, Remy befriends a group of white supremacists led by Scott Moss, who live close to the Campus; influenced by their neo-nazi racist beliefs, he eventually joins their ranks as a Nazi skinhead.While suffering a nervous breakdown Remy tries to apologize for his actions, laments that he will never become an architect, and (in a last effort to avoid further humiliation and imprisonment) commits suicide in front of Malik and the police by shooting himself in the mouth.The neonazis celebrate Remy's actions, hailing him as a hero, making the nazi salute and loudly chanting "white power", while Moss quietly sits back and slowly starts to smile.While Kristen believes the shooting was her fault for organizing the peace festival, Malik reassures her that she is not to blame, and that it was the right thing to do at the time, before walking away from the campus, leaving his fate at the university undisclosed.[5] Time Out wrote: "A stylish, intelligent film-maker, Singleton interweaves the threads of his demographic tapestry with assurance, passion and a welcome awareness of the complexities of the college community's contradictory impulses towards integration and separatism.The site's consensus states; "It's hard to fault Higher Learning's goals; unfortunately, writer-director John Singleton too often struggles to fit his themes within a consistently engaging story.[12] In addition to "Higher", performed by Ice Cube, the soundtrack includes original music by OutKast, Liz Phair, Tori Amos and Rage Against the Machine.