She's Gotta Have It
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 |
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Cinematography | Ernest Dickerson |
Edited by | Spike Lee |
Music by | Bill Lee |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Island Pictures |
Release date |
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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
The film stars
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
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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] The narrative provided by Nola's narration 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
"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
In the summer of 1984, filmmaker
Facing budget constraints, Lee took on the role of "Mars Blackmon" himself, as he could not afford to hire an actor. The production involved Lee's family and friends, with his father,
Filmed over twelve days during the summer of 1985 in Brooklyn, New York, in the neighborhoods of
Lee underwent multiple edits to secure an
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
Following the film's release, media attention was drawn to Brooklyn, and to its artists and musicians.[12]
Release
Box office
She's Gotta Have It opened in one theater on August 8, 1986, and earned $28,473 on its opening weekend.[13] The film ultimately grossed $7,137,503 in the United States.[1]
Critical response
The film was very well received by critics and audiences.
John Simon of the National Review called She's Gotta Have It a "cutesy, trivial sex carousel".[17]
Home media
She's Gotta Have It was first released on
In the mid-1990s,
The film’s first North American DVD release was in January 2008 by
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".[22]
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.[23] Ten 30-minute episodes were ordered. Netflix released the series in November 2017. On July 17, 2019, Netflix canceled the series after two seasons.[24]
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."[25]
References
- ^ a b She's Gotta Have It". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 30, 2006.
- ISBN 0-671-64417-3.
- ^ Henderson, Stuart (January 13, 2008). "She's Gotta Have It". PopMatters. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
- ^ 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. Archived from the original on October 27, 2007. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "She's Gotta Have It". American Film Institute. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
- ^ "Jet". Johnson Publishing Company. November 10, 1986.
- ^ a b Rizov, Vadim. "Joint Financing: Spike Lee Has Never Had an Easy Time Funding His Films". MTV News.
- ^ Konow, David (July 24, 2019). ""It Was My Film School": A Look Back at My Best Friend's Birthday, the Lost Tarantino Movie". Script. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
- ISBN 978-1629334837.
- ^ 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. January 15, 2008. 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'". The New York Times.
- ^ 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.