"She's Gotta Have It" Takes Spike Lee's Classic Joint to TV

Nola Darling played by the amazing DeWanda Wise Underground Shots Fired is the strong female lead of the series amp160Wise is pictured above amp160Maybe I should say sheamp8217s the strong female lead in her life amp160Nola is a talented artist with a dope apartment in expensive gentrified Brooklyn and everyone around her canamp8217t help but be the supporting cast of her existence amp160Besides being an attractive opinionated and intelligent thirtysomething sheamp8217s also as woke as she is desiredamp160 She would like us to know that amp8220the only reason Iamp8217m doing this is amp8216cause folks think they know me They think they know what Iamp8217m about and the truth is they donamp8217t know meamp8221Speaking of desired the men in Nolaamp8217s life are slightly less threedimensional First up is Jamie Overstreet Lyriq Bent amp160Heamp8217s the businessman and supposed romantic in Nolaamp8217s life amp160Sure he seems pretty stable but then again amp8220being stableamp8221 is exactly as exciting as it sounds amp160Greer Childs Cleo Anthony is the narcissistic pretty boy amp160He fancies himself a maverick in the bedroom and just like any reallife douche he actually utters the words amp8220Adonislikeamp8221 in reference to himself proving that Greer loves Greer more than Greeramp8217s mom probably doesThen there is the iconic role of Mars Blackmon Anthony Ramos which was originally played by the man himself Mr Spike Lee amp160Mars a Latino in this iteration reminds me of dudes I went to high school with a trait that when coupled with the overall blackness of the series was a pretty comfortcreating combo for me amp160To top it all off heamp8217s funny colorful in more ways than one and has manic energy to him thatamp8217s both truthful and endearingEntertaining as these dudes may be the three of them still lack the depth that Nola and her best friend Clorinda Margot Bingham share amp160Clorinda used to be Nolaamp8217s roommate but as the series loves to depict Nola likes to get down amp160All that random guy traffic made Clorinda uncomfortable and in a flawexposing moment Nola did the less considerate thing and reminded her thenroommate where the door wasThe point being made specifically doubled down on in the first episode is that Nolaamp8217s not a freak or lonely or a ho amp160Sheamp8217s an adult and just like any man she has the right to have sex with whom she chooses when she chooses to without having to worry about taking on any labels or being considered anyoneamp8217s property amp160Sheamp8217s not inherently selfless either amp160In fact she may even be a little entitled but thatamp8217s okay because we have come to expect our protagonists to share the same humanizing flaws we all doIn what feels like a very selfaware way Sheamp8217s Gotta Have It shares the nowfamiliar modernday female spirit of shows like HBOamp8217s Insecure while utilizing a visual style similar to shows like Netflixamp8217s Dear White People amp160Sheamp8217s Gotta Have It lives for that hires closeup and for good reason amp8216cause it definitely gets the job done amp160The dialogue is pointed clever and sprinkled with comedy amp160The relationship between Mars and Nola is the most genuine and will probably grow to be a huge draw if not the driving force of the series as it progressesI will say that putting all the love life stuff aside as the first episode moved along I started to wonder where the seriesamp8217 real conflict would come from but quickly received my answer in the form of a short but intense unwanted interaction between a stranger and Nola on her way home from Clorindaamp8217s house at nightAs if the rest of the episode wasnamp8217t enough Nolaamp8217s encounter with the African American stranger who catcalled her grabbed her by the wrists and then proceeded to call her a amp8220black bitchamp8221 when she fought him off was an unpleasant but needed reminder that the world is an extremely different place for women amp160As a man I probably wouldamp8217ve had to worry about being robbed or beat up maybe even killed amp160Nola had those concerns too on top of probably thinking she would be raped firstWith episode titles like amp8220Booty Full Self Acceptanceamp8221 and amp82204 My Negus ampamp My Bishes All Words Matteramp8221 Sheamp8217s Gotta Have It is more than just a sexy narrative sprinkled with modernday social issues amp160Itamp8217s an entertaining episodic look at themes of sexual and social equality that were apparently relevant in 1986 and are just as a relevant today amp160Itamp8217s also an ode to the everchanging everconstant beauty of BrooklynIamp8217m downClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160amp160

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"She's Gotta Have It" Takes Spike Lee's Classic Joint to TV

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Ainsley Andrade

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"She's Gotta Have It" Takes Spike Lee's Classic Joint to TV

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