Cooley High 1 (1975)

Unlike Sounder, Cooley High depicts black adolescence as urban and untamed, addressing a group of African American high school students living near the north side of Chicago in a predominately African American neighborhood. The material displays a scene of high school students occupying an alleyway, creating an image of barbarous teenagers that are unfriendly and threatening. The “welcoming committee” expresses animosity toward the viewer amidst a background of brick and a barred window. The colloquial language, referring to “getting down” and “digging” in social interactions, implies that the production company wanted to distribute the film to audiences who would understand the vernacular. The promotional material alludes to underage drinking and fighting as modes of release or coping mechanisms for high-stress or high-pressure circumstances. In this film, black adolescence lacks innocence and produces a reckless maturity that is vulnerable in an urban setting.                                                                                                                     
In the film, expressing loyalty to friend groups is an important part of being young, black, and cool. Paula Massood asserts that the depiction of this urban scene is not rooted in reality. She writes, “No matter how accurate or realistic the films are in visualizing black urban life, they are always (to a greater or lesser extent) self-conscious, highly-mediated acts” (7). The audience can recognize that Cooley High is set within a black underclass community, wherein being “tough” and hanging out in the streets is a means for social validation and acceptance. The harsh urban environment births children who stand together, brought about by similar social conditions that are seldom explicitly recognized.  

 
Massood, Paula J. Black City Cinema: African American Urban Experiences in Film. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 2003. Print