project film school

She's Gotta Have It 12/7/06
dir. Spike Lee

last night we had a small PFS - but one of the better ones! eric, zara and i all watched she's gotta have it

here are our thoughts (eric and zara please feel free to correct me if i am misinterpreting you!!!)

: if you have seen the movie or if you haven't please join the discussion!

1) we all liked it - and were somewhat amazed at all spike lee was able to accomplish back in 1986 - he took what he had and made the most of it, from using his dad's jazz band, to creating a story that would work despite (or with) rough acting and limited resources

2) it is exciting and telling of lee that the film still holds true and manages to still reflect society today with issues it was dealing with almost 20 years ago...whether this is because society hasn't changed much or because of lee's ability as a storyteller becomes almost irrelevant.

3) the ending (nola's monologue at the end) seems abrupt in light of the intense scene and change in nola's character regarding her decision to go back to jamie - zara thought it was not enough to make her forget nola's throwing away her autonomy (by giving "ownership" of her pussy to jamie) - and wondered why lee chose to wrap his film up that way.

4) to me the ending works as a reflection of how people work in relationships, concerning love, sex, gender, expectations and the intermingling of it all - its confusing and often unsatisfying! even the most confident people sometimes doubts themselves...

especially in this case, where nola's openness about her hedonism, seemingly gives society the right to call her a freak...she is strong, but like many people, she falls prey to the conventions that society reinforces - the rape scene is intense and as a woman it's heartbreaking - but i think her monologue at the end - and the dissatisfaction is gives the viewer - allows us to exist in the confusion and the contradictions that currently did and do define women and sexuality today

5) eric looked more at the film as a series of choices - observing lee's camera and his construction to put the film together....i think for this reason the ending worked for him...he thought the length of time spent with “strong” nola was enough to buy her monologue at the end - and more then that, didn't know how what lee's alternative was necessarily

6) we all heart mars blackmon