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Spike Lee She's Charming Have It Essay

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Spike Lee’s “She’s Gotta Have it” series is a modern-day adaptation of his older work “She’s Gotta Have it” film in 1986. As Lee takes the audience around the beautiful and aesthetic scenery of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, the audience is introduced into the life of Nola Darling (DeWanda Wise). Aside from her work, Darling also juggles between three lovers: Mars Blackmon, Greer Childs and Jamie Overstreet. In a way to maintain control of her body, Darling creates rules between her and her lovers, some of which include: not interacting outside the bedroom and calling her multiple times before visiting. When first presented in 1986, Nola Darling’s polymorphism was alien and rebellious. A woman having multiple relationships on film is considered revolutionary. …show more content…

The biggest theme in Spike Lee’s “She’s Gotta Have it” is the idea of feminism through women empowerment. In doing so, Lee creates a powerful female protagonist that can be a potential role model towards a younger generation; however, Lee completely dismisses the male characters in his …show more content…

In a patriarchal type film, the focus is on the male character while any female character is nothing more than a supporting role who offers little to the story. This ideology is seen in the “She’s Gotta Have it” series. The power dynamic between Nola and her lovers is unequal –the dynamic is favored towards Nola. As the story explores Nola’s sexual life, a set of boundaries between Nola and her lovers are revealed. At the beginning of episode eight, Greer states, “As Nola likes to say, we are ‘fuck buddies,’ and with that comes ‘fuck buddy’ codes. She has her rules. We don’t really hang out. We can’t say we’re exclusive.” As Nola’s role of dominance is portrayed, the film reveals the relationship is Nola’s terms and her terms only. Nola is a strong main character, but her supportive cast, her male lovers, provide nothing of value to Nola or the plot. Not only does Lee fail to add new insights to bring up in discussion, but he also creates a disconnect with his male

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