I recently saw an interview with Tisha Campbell where she discussed how she got started in the business. The interview talked a lot about her time on Martin and, of course, House Party.

Now, I love Tisha Campbell as an actress and a person. My favorite TV show of hers is My Wife and Kids, but my favorite movie of hers—for very selfish reasons—is School Daze.

I'm dating myself here, but with age comes wisdom, experience and an IDGAF attitude.

(Leave Whitley alone.) But I digress.

I come from a supportive family. My father, who had his first child at 14 and was raising his last when he died at the early age of 56, was very creative. He could draw. He created art. He was an interior designer. And he was a writer himself.

But with mouths to feed—and having a baby at such a young age—he didn't have much time for the arts.

So, he poured that love into me.

As early as I can remember, my father would tell me I was going to be a playwright.

I have no idea where he got that from or what I’d shown him up to that point that made him believe it. But at eight years old, I'd won my first writing award, and from that moment on, my path seemed pretty solid.

I was going to be a writer.

More specifically, a playwright.

Honestly, I think for a lot of Black Americans at that time, making movies wasn’t even on the radar. But theater? That's where we shined. Or is it shone?

I don't know. The point is we (Black people) were the shit. 😂

So my father pushing me toward becoming a filmmaker probably wouldn't have even occurred to him or me.

Until I saw School Daze.

Then Spike Lee Messed Up the Plan

School Daze was Spike Lee's second feature film. I hadn't seen She's Gotta Have It yet, but the trailer for School Daze had me at hello.

I already loved A Different World, and I fantasized about what my own college life would eventually be like. (More on how that turned out another day.)

But there was something different about School Daze and not just because it was a musical. Yeah, a musical.

Maybe it was the Cooley High of my generation—although not tragic.

Maybe it was our Breakfast Club—although I love that movie too.

I don't know.

I just connected with it on so many levels.

The locals who called themselves the ‘N” word. The colorism. The class issues. The idea of coming into your own at college, where all the thoughts and ideas that had been swirling around in your head finally started to make sense.

Tisha Campbell singing “Be Alone Tonight.” By my third time seeing the movie in the theater, I would stand in the aisle and sing along with the songs, much to the chagrin of the other audience members. I can still remember every lyric.

Her character's lack of self-esteem and need for Julian's love.

The late, great Phyllis Hyman.

And, of course:

WAKE UP!

A message that I think later became almost a trope in '90s Black movies.

And here's what's funny:

School Daze received mixed reviews. Even today, when people talk about Spike Lee's greatest films, School Daze doesn’t seem to get nearly the love some of his other films do.

Doesn't matter to me.

Because that was the movie that made me want to make movies.

Not just write them.

I wanted to write and direct movies.

And just like that, the plan changed.

The thing I love most when I think back on it is that my father didn't fight me on it.

He didn't tell me that becoming a filmmaker wasn't practical. He didn't try to redirect me toward the dream he'd already imagined for me.

He just fell right in line.

The message went from:

She's going to be a playwright.

to:

She's going to be a filmmaker.

That was it.

That's What Art Can Do

One movie changed the trajectory of my life.

And I think that's what great art can do.

It makes you feel something, yes. But the really good stuff lives with you.

Years later, you remember where you were when you saw it. You remember the music. The characters. The feeling it gave you.

Sometimes it even changes what you believe is possible for yourself.

And maybe that's part of the difference I've been trying to articulate when I talk about movies versus "content."

I'm not saying something has to be on a giant screen to be art. It doesn't.

Big screen. Small screen. Something somebody watches on the device in their pocket.

The screen isn't the point.

The intention is.

Did we make something just to fill the pipeline, feed the algorithm and keep people watching until the next thing appears?

Or did we make something we hoped might actually stay with somebody?

We should aspire to make work that lasts. Because you never know.

Some girl sitting in a movie theater might watch your film, start dancing in the aisle, go home and announce that she's changed her entire career plan.

That's what happened to me.

Thank you, Spike.

I love art. 😊