shes gotta have it essay
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Gender in Film
AT 11001
Professor Kelly
August 26, 2014
Women’s Social Roles in She’s Gotta Have It
Despite offering a view of female polyamory that deliberately leaves Nola open to
criticism resulting from hypocrisy, She's Gotta Have It offers a view of women’s roles in
society that is unashamedly positive.
The film centers around Nola’s relationships with each of three separate male
companions, and her resistance to the pressure she feels to choose from them an
exclusive partner. The film features little open communication between these four
characters regarding the nature of Nola’s relationships, but Nola does not try to hide
from the three men the fact that she does not give herself exclusively to any of them.
Nola’s role in society could be criticized because of the tension her unusual relationship
model creates between her three lovers. However, this tension was created by the men
themselves. As each of them chose not to end his relationship with Nola, to continue
pursuing her despite her refusal to be monogamous, they created an atmosphere of
fierce competition among themselves. Nola is shown trying to foster understanding
between her lovers at the thanksgiving dinner she prepared for them. She clearly wants
them to be able to share her equitably. It is the selfishness of the three men, not of
Nola, that creates most of the social tension in this film.
Nola herself is presented as mature, gracious, confident, and in control of her
own life. She has a successful career as a layout artist for a magazine. She goes to
the trouble of preparing a thanksgiving dinner for herself and her three lovers. Above
all, she never tries to hide her desires or expectations from any of these three men.
The film’s director Spike Lee said of the subject of the film:
I heard a lot of my male friends bragging about how many women they
have in their stables, but if word gets back to them that one of those
women is not even seeing another man, but just thinking about it, they go
through the roof. That paradox is funny, it's really crazy. So I decided it
would be a good idea to do a film about a young black woman who's really
leading her life like a man, in control, with three men dangling at her
fingertips. (Rohter)
It is clear that Lee’s intention was to criticize the hypocrisy by which a young,
successful, intelligent woman like Nola was labeled a “freak” for pursuing her desire for
polyamory, something considered acceptable for men. She’s Gotta Have It presents its
primary female character as a healthy, functioning member of society despite the
hypocrisy that leads to her being labelled a freak.
Nola has a friend called Opal who is a lesbian. Opal is seen visiting Nola when
she is sick, and it is clear to both Nola and the viewer that Opal is interested in Nola.
Nola doesn’t reciprocate the interest, but she doesn’t mind being Opal’s friend
regardless of Opal’s sexual orientation. In one scene Nola asks Opal what making love
to another woman is like. Opal is coy with her response, assuming that any woman as
sexually experienced as Nola already knows the answer to that question. This
exchange provides the impetus for Opal to kiss Nola later in the movie. After that kiss,
Nola makes it clear that she is not interested in Opal and asks Opal to leave. The
presence of a lesbian whose interest in Nola is not reciprocated reinforces the idea that
Nola is not confused about what or who she wants, but is simply challenging societal
expectations of monogamy in order to get what she wants.
She’s Gotta Have It presents women overwhelmingly as having positive and
constructive roles in society and criticizes harshly those men whose selfishness leads
them to try and limit those roles.
Works Cited
Rohter, Larry. "Spike Lee Makes His Movie." The New York Times 10 Aug. 1986. Print.
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