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==Plot== |
==Plot== |
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[[Brooklyn]] graphic artist Nola Darling juggles several lovers, believing this as normal. She makes love to her boyfriend, Jamie Overstreet, surrounded by candles. Her former roommate, Clorinda Bradford, moved out because on weekends she would find Nola's many boyfriends in the bathroom. Nola avoids dating "dogs," men with crude pick-up lines who believe relationships revolve around sex, feeling that Jamie's charm first attracted her. |
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Nola Darling is a young, attractive graphic artist living in [[Brooklyn]] who juggles three suitors: the polite and well-meaning Jamie Overstreet; the self-obsessed [[Model (person)|model]] Greer Childs; and the immature, motor-mouthed bicycle messenger Mars Blackmon. Nola is attracted to the best in each of them, but refuses to commit to any of them, cherishing her personal freedom instead, while each man wants her for himself. |
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Another lover, bicycle messenger "Mars" Blackmon, has an arrow design sculpted into the back of his head. When Nola invites him to her apartment for the first time, he suggests potentially being roommates, but Nola is uninterested. Jamie knows about her other men, but is really bothered by her relationship with lesbian Opal Gilstrap. However, Nola assures him that Opal is not a lover. When Nola catches a cold, Opal fixes her tea and teases her potential homosexuality, suggesting that Nola try same-sex love sometime. Jamie brings Nola groceries and dismisses Opal even though Nola enjoys her presence. |
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Her carefree, sexually liberated lifestyle ultimately comes to an end when her three male suitors meet and compare notes on Nola. While Greer justifies Nola's callous behavior by claiming that she sees the three not as individuals but as a collective, Jamie and Mars become bitter over how little Nola cares for all three men. Opal, a lesbian friend of Nola's who believes every person is capable of sexual fluidity, expresses attraction to her and when Nola asks how having sex with a woman is, offers her an opportunity to find out. However, Nola declines. |
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Another lover, Greer Childs, claims to be Nola's savior, taking credit for making her a "sophisticated lady." On a dinner date, Greer insists he loves Nola, believing Jamie and Mars unworthy. Later, he is chosen to grace the cover of the magazine ''Gentleman's Quarterly'', and proposes marriage. Nola dismisses the idea, disrobes, and invites Greer to make love. Her musician father, Sonny, notes that as an only child with many interests, she never stuck with anything for too long. |
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Realizing that Greer and Mars are too scared of losing Nola to force her to choose one of them, Jamie tells her that she must choose a single lover. Nola scoffs at this, and persuades him to come to her apartment several days later for casual sex. Jamie rapes her and mockingly asks her if he's as good sexually as Greer or Mars. Nola has an epiphany: realizing that her choices have turned Jamie against her, she decides to call his bluff. Nola dumps Greer and Mars and tells Jamie that she is ready for a monogamous relationship. Believing that her sexual activity has prevented her from committing to a single guy, Nola tells Jamie their relationship has to be celibate for the time being. After at first rejecting Nola's "no sex" decree, Jamie agrees to it. |
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For Nola's birthday, Jamie arranges a surprise at a nearby park. He decorates a stone monument, and hires two modern dancers to enact a lovers' picnic to a song composed for her. Later, they go to bed surrounded by candles. When Mars calls late at night to wish her a happy birthday and wants to see her, Nola declines. After she hangs up, Jamie asks about her attraction to Mars, but she keeps quiet. Mars makes Nola laugh but she believes he loves solely her lovemaking. Mars wonders what she sees in Jamie and Greer. Jamie reaches a breaking point when Nola refuses to commit to him exclusively. Later, Greer accuses her of addiction to sex, suggesting that she see a therapist. When Nola sees sex therapist Dr. Jamison, he concludes that her sex drive is healthy. |
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Nola and Jamie's reunion, however, is followed by a coda which dismantles the "happy ending" of the couple coming together. In a monologue delivered to the camera, Nola reveals that her vow of celibacy and her decision to be with Jamie exclusively was "a moment of weakness". She says that she soon began to cheat on Jamie and their relationship collapsed. Nola proudly proclaims that monogamy is a form of slavery and that her lifestyle is freedom in its purest form. The film closes with a view of Nola going to bed alone. |
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In time, Nola cooks Thanksgiving dinner and invites her three lovers, who proceed to insult each other. Mars accuses Greer of being a Celtics fan, and proposes that he and Jamie split their time with Nola each week. When Mars admits he dislikes playing Scrabble, Greer comments that he lacks sufficient intelligence for it. Annoyed with their fighting, Nola announces that she is going to bed. As Jamie and Nola cuddle, Greer and Mars leave. Nola wakes from a nightmare in which other black women accuse her of stealing their men and set her bed ablaze. Jamie confesses that he has started dating a dancer named Ava, and demands that Nola choose whom to be with. |
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When Greer invites Nola to join him in the Caribbean for two weeks, she declines the invitation, admitting that she cannot stand being with him for that long. Jamie continues to press Nola for a commitment, and becomes impatient when she declines. As he leaves, he tells Opal that Nola is all hers, but Nola rejects Opal's efforts to comfort her. Later, Nola calls Jamie late at night, claiming an emergency, and invites him over. When he arrives, Nola wants to make love, and Jamie, angry that she misled him, goes to bed with her, but forgoes any romance, and has rough sex with her instead. Before leaving, he pushes her face down on the bed. Meanwhile, Greer considers Nola's behavior, realizing that she viewed her three lovers not as separate people, but as parts of one whole person. He insults her when they break up, but Mars gracefully and humorously accepts her rejection. |
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Nola returns to Jamie, and tells him she is willing to commit only to him, but suggests they wait to have sex. Eventually, however, Nola realizes that Jamie wants a "standard-issue" wife to control. In the final shot, Nola finally denounces monogamy. She crawls into bed, surrounded by candles, and falls asleep. |
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==Themes== |
==Themes== |
Revision as of 10:59, 17 May 2022
She's Gotta Have It | |
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Directed by | Spike Lee |
Written by | Spike Lee |
Produced by | Spike Lee (credited as Shelton J. Lee) |
Starring |
|
Cinematography | Ernest Dickerson |
Edited by | Spike Lee |
Music by | Bill Lee |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Island Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 84 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $175,000 |
Box office | $7.1 million[1] |
She's Gotta Have It is a 1986 American black-and-white comedy-drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Spike Lee.[2] Filmed on a small budget and Lee's first feature-length film to be released, it earned positive reviews and launched Lee's career.
The film stars Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Terrell and Lee himself in a supporting role. Also appearing are cinematographer Ernest Dickerson as a Queens, New York, resident and, in an early appearance, S. Epatha Merkerson as a doctor. The plot concerns a young woman (Johns) who is seeing three men, and the feelings this arrangement provokes.
In 2017, Lee adapted the film into a Netflix series.
In 2019, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Plot
Brooklyn graphic artist Nola Darling juggles several lovers, believing this as normal. She makes love to her boyfriend, Jamie Overstreet, surrounded by candles. Her former roommate, Clorinda Bradford, moved out because on weekends she would find Nola's many boyfriends in the bathroom. Nola avoids dating "dogs," men with crude pick-up lines who believe relationships revolve around sex, feeling that Jamie's charm first attracted her.
Another lover, bicycle messenger "Mars" Blackmon, has an arrow design sculpted into the back of his head. When Nola invites him to her apartment for the first time, he suggests potentially being roommates, but Nola is uninterested. Jamie knows about her other men, but is really bothered by her relationship with lesbian Opal Gilstrap. However, Nola assures him that Opal is not a lover. When Nola catches a cold, Opal fixes her tea and teases her potential homosexuality, suggesting that Nola try same-sex love sometime. Jamie brings Nola groceries and dismisses Opal even though Nola enjoys her presence.
Another lover, Greer Childs, claims to be Nola's savior, taking credit for making her a "sophisticated lady." On a dinner date, Greer insists he loves Nola, believing Jamie and Mars unworthy. Later, he is chosen to grace the cover of the magazine Gentleman's Quarterly, and proposes marriage. Nola dismisses the idea, disrobes, and invites Greer to make love. Her musician father, Sonny, notes that as an only child with many interests, she never stuck with anything for too long.
For Nola's birthday, Jamie arranges a surprise at a nearby park. He decorates a stone monument, and hires two modern dancers to enact a lovers' picnic to a song composed for her. Later, they go to bed surrounded by candles. When Mars calls late at night to wish her a happy birthday and wants to see her, Nola declines. After she hangs up, Jamie asks about her attraction to Mars, but she keeps quiet. Mars makes Nola laugh but she believes he loves solely her lovemaking. Mars wonders what she sees in Jamie and Greer. Jamie reaches a breaking point when Nola refuses to commit to him exclusively. Later, Greer accuses her of addiction to sex, suggesting that she see a therapist. When Nola sees sex therapist Dr. Jamison, he concludes that her sex drive is healthy.
In time, Nola cooks Thanksgiving dinner and invites her three lovers, who proceed to insult each other. Mars accuses Greer of being a Celtics fan, and proposes that he and Jamie split their time with Nola each week. When Mars admits he dislikes playing Scrabble, Greer comments that he lacks sufficient intelligence for it. Annoyed with their fighting, Nola announces that she is going to bed. As Jamie and Nola cuddle, Greer and Mars leave. Nola wakes from a nightmare in which other black women accuse her of stealing their men and set her bed ablaze. Jamie confesses that he has started dating a dancer named Ava, and demands that Nola choose whom to be with.
When Greer invites Nola to join him in the Caribbean for two weeks, she declines the invitation, admitting that she cannot stand being with him for that long. Jamie continues to press Nola for a commitment, and becomes impatient when she declines. As he leaves, he tells Opal that Nola is all hers, but Nola rejects Opal's efforts to comfort her. Later, Nola calls Jamie late at night, claiming an emergency, and invites him over. When he arrives, Nola wants to make love, and Jamie, angry that she misled him, goes to bed with her, but forgoes any romance, and has rough sex with her instead. Before leaving, he pushes her face down on the bed. Meanwhile, Greer considers Nola's behavior, realizing that she viewed her three lovers not as separate people, but as parts of one whole person. He insults her when they break up, but Mars gracefully and humorously accepts her rejection.
Nola returns to Jamie, and tells him she is willing to commit only to him, but suggests they wait to have sex. Eventually, however, Nola realizes that Jamie wants a "standard-issue" wife to control. In the final shot, Nola finally denounces monogamy. She crawls into bed, surrounded by candles, and falls asleep.
Themes
Nola idealizes the freedom to have multiple sexual partners that men have typically enjoyed. “A woman (or, at least Nola) can be a sexual being, doesn’t have to belong to a man, and perhaps shouldn’t even wish for such a thing.”[3] Nola's voice has been described as the most revolutionary element in the film, a representation of the struggle African American women faced in society at the time.[4]
Cast
- Tracy Camilla Johns as Nola Darling
- Tommy Redmond Hicks as Jamie Overstreet
- John Canada Terrell as Greer Childs
- Spike Lee as Mars Blackmon
- Raye Dowell as Opal Gilstrap
- Joie Lee as Clorinda Bradford
- Dennis Karika as The Trainer
- S. Epatha Merkerson as Dr. Jamison
- Bill Lee as Sonny Darling
- Monty Ross as Dog #1
- Tiziano Cortini (as Lewis Jordan) as Dog #2
- Erik Dellums as Dog #3
- Reginald Hudlin as Dog #4
- Eric Payne as Dog #5
- Marcus Turner as Dog #6
- Gerard Brown as Dog #7
- Ernest Dickerson as Dog #8
- Eric Wilkins as Dog #9
- Fab Five Freddy as Dog #10
- Scott Sillers as Dog #11
- Geoffrey Garfield as Dog #12
Influence
She's Gotta Have It was Lee's first feature-length motion picture as a writer/director and is a landmark independent film of American cinema. He was initially inspired by viewing Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon in film school.[5]
The New York Times wrote that the film
"ushered in (along with Jim Jarmusch's Stranger Than Paradise) the American independent film movement of the 1980s. It was also a groundbreaking film for African-American filmmakers and a welcome change in the representation of blacks in American cinema, depicting men and women of color not as pimps and whores, but as intelligent, upscale urbanites."[6]
Production
Filming was completed in twelve days during the summer of 1985 on a budget of $175,000. The 12-shooting-days production began with $18,000 from the New York State Council on the Arts, a $10,000 grant from the Jerome Foundation, $500 from the Brooklyn Arts and Cultural Association, assists from Lee's family (a score from dad Bill, still photos from brother David, an acting turn from sister Joie, brothers Chad and Cinque acting as production assistants), and a cast working for deferred payments.[7]
That wasn't enough to get the movie through post-production, so a rough cut screening happened at NYU. "I'm Spike Lee and I hope that you liked the film," Lee said afterwards. "I'll be calling you soon about becoming financially involved in helping us complete it." The final budget was $175,000, and the resulting release was profitable ($7.1 million domestically).[7]
Impact
The film catalyzed the Fort Greene, Brooklyn neighborhood where it was shot. Lee portrayed the neighborhood as a vibrant cosmopolitan community where successful African Americans thrived, focusing not only on Nola and her struggles, but also on local children, residents, and graffiti. Fort Greene Park is the setting of much of the movie, and is portrayed as a comfortable place for the characters. People were encouraged to investigate the area's public spaces and viewers in other places investigated similar thriving public spaces of community importance.[4]
Writer and director Quentin Tarantino considers the production and low budget nature of the film his primary influence in making his unreleased first film My Best Friend’s Birthday and later Reservoir Dogs.[citation needed]
Following the film's release, media attention was drawn to Brooklyn, and to its artists and musicians.[8]
Release
Box office
She's Gotta Have It opened in one theater on August 8, 1986, and earned $28,473 on its opening weekend.[9] The film ultimately grossed $7,137,503 in the United States.[1]
Critical response
The film was very well received by critics and audiences. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 94% score based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The consensus states: "With She's Gotta Have It, Spike Lee delivered his bracing first shot across Hollywood's bow -- and set the template for the groundbreaking act to follow."[10] It holds a 79/100 average on Metacritic.[11]
The New York Times Film critic, D.J.R. Bruckner, wrote of the film in 1986, that it “stripped of some of the distractions of this presentation, their story has a touch of the classic. These people are not victims of blind forces; they make choices, defend them and grow in understanding, not always happily, as a result. Their story would be more enjoyable in a more polished film, but it has a power that is not dissipated by this one's weaknesses.”[12]
John Simon of the National Review called She's Gotta Have It a "cutesy, trivial sex carrousel".[13]
Home media
She's Gotta Have It was first released on VHS, initially by Key Video[14] and later by PolyGram Video[15] as part of a distribution deal with Chris Blackwell's Island World Group, which retained the rights following the purchase of Island Records by PolyGram (PolyGram would eventually acquire the rest of Island in December 1994).[16]
In the mid-1990s, The Criterion Collection released the film on laserdisc. According to Lee's agent, the film was to be eventually released on DVD. Jonathan Turell of The Criterion Collection ended that rumor, saying "No for She's Gotta Have It. We don't have DVD rights."[17] This laserdisc is the only release of the film that has the NC-17-rated director's cut, including sexual content that was cut to obtain an R rating. This release also contains an exclusive commentary by Spike Lee.
The film’s first North American DVD release was in January of 2008 bu 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment through United Artists and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Despite its availability on DVD in the United Kingdom, the DVD release for Region 1 took longer than expected.[citation needed]
In 2010, the film was digitized in High Definition (1080i) and broadcast on MGM HD.
Awards and honors
- Award of the Youth, Foreign Film – Spike Lee (won)
- New Generation Award – Spike Lee (won)
- Best First Feature – Spike Lee (won)
- Best Female Lead – Tracy Camilla Johns (nominated)
In 2019, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[18]
TV series
On September 15, 2016, Netflix announced a deal to produce a series based on the film, with Lee returning to direct the first season and serve as executive producer.[19] Ten 30-minute episodes were ordered. Netflix released the series in November 2017. On July 17, 2019, Netflix canceled the series after two seasons.[20]
Reflection
In 2014, Lee said that his one regret as a filmmaker was the rape scene in She's Gotta Have It:
"If I was able to have any do-overs, that would be it. It was just totally ... stupid. I was immature. It made light of rape, and that’s the one thing I would take back. I was immature and I hate that I did not view rape as the vile act that it is. I can promise you, there will be nothing like that in She's Gotta Have It, the TV show [that will air on Netflix], that's for sure."[21]
References
- ^ a b She's Gotta Have It". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 30, 2006.
- ^ Lee, Spike (1987). Spike Lee's Gotta Have It: Inside Guerrilla Filmmaking. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-64417-3.
- ^ “She’s Gotta Have It” PopMatters
- ^ a b Diawara, Manthia: "Homeboy Cosmopolitan", in Search of Africa. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998, pp. 237-76.
- ^ Fresh Air, December 14, 2017
- ^ Scott, A. O. (2007). "She's Gotta Have It". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on October 27, 2007. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
- ^ a b Rizov, Vadim. "Joint Financing: Spike Lee Has Never Had an Easy Time Funding His Films". MTV News.
- ^ E.R. Shipp (December 4, 1988). "Their Muse was Malcolm X". The New York Times. Retrieved April 30, 2008.
- ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for August 8-10, 1986". Box Office Mojo. August 11, 1986. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
- ^ "She's Gotta Have It". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 28, 2017
- ^ She's Gotta Have It, retrieved November 21, 2017
- ^ Bruckner, D. J. R. (August 8, 1986). "Film: Spike Lee's 'She's Gotta Have It'" – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ Simon, John (2005). John Simon on Film: Criticism 1982-2001. Applause Books. p. 216.
- ^ "HOME VIDEO: MOVIES". New York Times. August 30, 1987. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
- ^ "VHS - She's Gotta Have It - Polygram Video - USA". 45worlds. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
- ^ Madigan, Nick (December 9, 1997). "Polygram shutters Island Pictures".
- ^ "• View topic - Criterion Random Speculation Vol.3". Criterionforum.org. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
- ^ Chow, Andrew R. (December 11, 2019). "See the 25 New Additions to the National Film Registry, From Purple Rain to Clerks". Time. New York, NY. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (September 15, 2016). "Netflix Orders 'She's Gotta Have It' Spike Lee Series Based On His Landmark Movie". Deadline.
- ^ Petski, Denise (July 17, 2019). "'She's Gotta Have It' To End With Season 2 On Netflix". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
- ^ Rosen, Christopher (May 14, 2014). "Spike Lee Regrets 'She's Gotta Have It' Rape Scene". HuffPost.
External links
- 1986 films
- 1986 directorial debut films
- 1986 comedy-drama films
- 1986 independent films
- 1986 LGBT-related films
- 1986 romantic comedy films
- 1986 romantic drama films
- 1980s English-language films
- 1980s romantic comedy-drama films
- African-American comedy-drama films
- African-American gender relations in popular culture
- African-American LGBT-related films
- African-American romance films
- American black-and-white films
- American films
- American independent films
- American romantic comedy-drama films
- Films adapted into television shows
- Films directed by Spike Lee
- Films partially in color
- Films set in Brooklyn
- Films shot in New York (state)
- Films with screenplays by Spike Lee
- Lesbian-related films
- LGBT-related romantic comedy-drama films
- United States National Film Registry films