Reclining on a wooden rocking chair in front of a packed Zellerbach Theatre audience, film director Spike Lee discussed the Eagles, rap artists and the ups and downs of his filmmaking career.
Lee began his talk by making an analogy between the Eagles' black quarterback Donovan McNabb and the bigger issue of civil rights.
"Some say that African Americans don't have the intellect to be behind center, that we have the brawn but not the brains," he said. Lee went on to say that McNabb defies this stereotype.
Continuing on his theme of education, Lee said that the modern-day "gangsta rap" culture, which he termed "dangerous," has caused black youth to "devalue education."
"Young people dumb down on purpose because of peer pressure," he said. "If they can speak a sentence without one word being profane they are called a sell-out, a 'white boy' or a 'white girl.'"
He lamented that many black youth see only three options for their future: "play ball, be a rapper or sell drugs."
He then posed a question to the students in the crowd.
"All you guys, when you leave here and go through life, there will be times when you are asked to compromise yourself. What will you do? How is your moral compass being shaped and formed?"
Lee explained that when he was a sophomore in college, his adviser asked him what he planned to do with his life after he had "exhausted all of his electives."
That following summer, he ran around his native New York City shooting pictures with his new camera. After that, Lee said that "film chose me; I did not choose film."
Lee told the story of one of his first failed movies, which contained "helicopter chases and people jumping across roofs."
"I was trying to walk before I could crawl," he said.
He advised students in the audience that in a major-obsessed world they should focus on what they love to do and not succumb to pressure from their families or anyone else.
"There's no greater joy I get than from making movies," Lee said. "I never want to be in a position where I drag my ass out of bed each day to go to a job that I hate."
College freshman Anand Goodridge said that he agreed with many of Lee's comments on education.
"There's a feeling of hopelessness with many black youth," he said. "They feel they can work hard, get a high school diploma, but then still be working at the same McDonald's as the kid who dropped out in sixth grade, and that kid will probably be the manager because he's been working there longer."
But Goodridge said that he has met many people in the black community who are proud of him for seeking a higher-level education.
"I went to this barbershop during the summer, and when I told the barber I was going to college, even though he had never met me before, I could tell he was proud," he said.
Lee's visit to campus was planned by the Center for Africana Studies and Penn Presents as part of a film festival.
Annenberg Center spokeswoman Stephanie Grant said that the event was meant to "build educational and cultural experiences."
