Review of She's Gotta Have It (1986) by Jeff H — 13 May 2008

Spike Leeâ??s first venture into feature filmmaking following his 60 minute NYU masters thesis film, Joeâ??s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads. Shot for a â??mereâ?? $175,000, Lee employed the help of family and friends to pull off this romantic comedy about a black womanâ??s open sexuality and conflicting relationships with her three lovers.

Every now and then an unexpected, groundbreaking film comes along which explores such socially uncharted territory that it paves the way for the success and acceptance of future films alike, in some instances offering itself up as a sacrificial lamb. In the case of Sheâ??s Gotta Have It, the uncharted territory was a black womanâ??s open sexuality and the response to the film proved to be a surprisingly positive and profitable one, grossing forty times its $175,000 budget.

Leading the way for future black romantic comedies such as Waiting to Exhale (1995), How Stella Got Her Grove Back (1998) and even Tyler Perryâ??s more outlandish Diaries of a Mad Black Woman (2002) and Madeaâ??s Family Reunion (2002), Sheâ??s Gotta Have It tells the story of a young African-American woman, Nola Darling, and her promiscuous relationships with three undeserving men, all pining for her love and commitment (Jamie, Greer and Mars). Similarly, the wildly successful 1998 romantic comedy, Thereâ??s Something About Mary, thrived on the same concept, right down to the personality traits of the divine Mary and the three men (Healy, Tucker and Ted), also pining for her love and commitment (Mary, like Nola is not your typical girl; each are portrayed as having traits which contradict the conventions of their sex: Nola takes on multiple partners while Mary drinks beer and watches Sports Center. Similarly, Greer, like the conniving, veneer sporting Pat Healy, is more in love with himself than anyone.

Hudgins 2.

Whereas Tucker and Mars take a more concerned, comedic approach with Jamie and Ted being the more seemingly genuine of them all). Other similarities abound (all men, for instance, are at one point or another revealed to be some form of frauds, who even resort to reasoning and conspiring with one another â?? Mars, to Greer, speaking of Jamie: â??Forget this fool. You can have her four times a week, but I get the weekends.â?? Healy, to Tucker, speaking of Ted: â??We had a deal! I wouldnâ??t fuck you and you wouldnâ??t fuck meâ?¦until we got this fuck out of the fucking picture!â??). While â??Maryâ?? was undoubtedly the more successful film, it canâ??t be said that Lee didnâ??t have his opportunities to cash in on some of the crude sexual humor that would serve â??Maryâ?? so well. This is perhaps best exemplified in a scene in which Spike Lee as Mars asks the lovely Nola to grease his scalp: â??Is thatâ?¦hair gel?â?? Oh well. Still, though twelve years apart, one canâ??t help but note the striking similarities between these two films, right down to their final realizations â?? as the character, Ted, in Thereâ??s Something About Mary so succinctly puts it: â??Iâ??m no better than any of these guys. None of them love you, really. Theyâ??re just.

Fixated on you because of how you make them feel about themselves. And thatâ??s not love. I donâ??t know what that is.â??

(* Sheâ??s Gotta Have It was also a revolutionary film that explored female sexuality and helped revive African-American cinema.).