She’s Gotta Have It: The Epitome of Living Jazz and Female Presence
Nola Darling
By Luisa Clark
She’s Gotta Have It (1986) is an indie film that takes us into the world of Nola Darling, a promiscuous woman on the surface, who lives her sexual life by her own accord. In Spike Lee’s first feature film, he already exhibits the talent and styles that make him the renaissance man for black cinema in the movement of revolutionary themes and thought provoking indie films of the 1980’s. This film isn’t a dry-cut narrative about a nympho independent woman but rather it goes deeper into the reasoning behind it all. She’s Gotta Have It is an intimate portrait of a woman, made even stronger through Spike Lee’s “family affair” with the inclusion of his talented musician father, Bill Lee, and visionary photographer brother, David Lee. Through the use of Jazz, Spike Lee denotes Nola’s personality and his choice of shooting predominantly in black and white while implementing photographic elements into his editing aesthetic takes us into Nola’s world; elevating her story while trying to clear her name.
Nola Darling’s character served as a trailblazer for the changing landscape of women in film and was a direct reflection of the strong feminist women of the 1980’s. With the likes of Born in Flames (1983), independent filmmakers set the precedent for women to take power over her narrative and voice their truths uninhibitedly. “Nola was different because she was a studied, amused, and distanced subject with a being apart from Lee’s vision, even as he created her. And that is the hallmark of an artist: to create the frame in which a character can exist fully, independently.” Nola is instrumental to her own portrayal, not a passive character shaped by what others are saying about her. She is fearless and breaks the fourth wall when speaking directly to camera, denoting that emblematic strength and flirtatious charisma that defines her character and forms that intimate connection with us.
Connectivity is key to our understanding of Nola’s persona and through the secondhand accounts about her, we are interwoven into this chaotic and even humorous love triangle. Lee’s way of framing the scenes as a mockumentary brings us into Nola’s story as an active participant— hearing first hand from those close in her circle— and are left to form our own opinions on why Nola is the way she is. Nola’s promiscuity stems out of a restless nature from a young age, having to explore every aspect of life and activity her curious mind could focus on. Spike Lee reflects Nola’s polyamorous lifestyle through the way he jumps around the nonlinear timeline of Nola’s lovers and their testimonials, bringing us into the gossip and leaving the ending unpredictable; reflecting Nola’s confusion at which lover she will chose to stay with while keeping us enthralled to the uncertainty of it all.
The opening of the film implements a creative way to conceal the film’s low budget while still creating depth and backstory through the use of still black and white photographic images in a thematic montage. In this way, Lee builds up the backdrop of Brooklyn, New York with substance and life; without movement. Music builds upon the rhythmic editing set to the beat of Jazz which enhances these moments and establishes the overall rhythm of the film with the methodical slowness of the piano and violin, echoing the stillness of the photographs and making the viewer digest the fragmented insights into the lives of these residents. In this way, Lee “controls the amount of time we have to grasp and reflect on what we see” and in acknowledging and knowing them closer; their stories are given validity and existence. There’s a deeper beauty and intimacy found in black and white photographs. The absence of color helps focus on the dynamics within the frame itself. Color is secondary — an accessory to the greater context of the image— the real story is better conveyed through the simple contrast between the darkness and highlights in the image.
A Young Director's keen Vision
Spike Lee repeats this rhythmic editing method of photographs at key transitional points in the film to show both the passage of time but also the movement of still imagery to the beat of the score. The freedom of an analog camera gives the director a closeness to his subjects that wouldn’t be feasible for the time. A great example of this is the subway scene with Jamie and his night’s journey to Nola’s apartment. Instead of editing Jamie’s walk to Nola with video, Lee chooses to have the events unfold photographically and temporally through music as the images themselves are structured with the score to display movement within them, keying us to the bustle of the train, the city at night, but also to the restlessness Jamie feels throughout at his weakness towards Nola and the choice to go to see her for this “emergency”.
Image and music converge as Jazz becomes the backdrop to this film and “musical themes suggest traits of character and situation”, giving insight into Nola’s consciousness. There’s a synergy that exists within this choice of music and the relation it has to Nola’s characterization. Jazz is a style all about improvisation and experimentation, one which “works creatively out of seeming limitations, with only a handful of instruments.” in order to go beyond the conventional. Spike Lee is conscious of this connotation as it correlates with Nola’s personality as she is a free-spirited woman who holds nothing back and is always willing to experiment in her life. Jazz is the best suited melody for her mind and gives us perception into her psyche and what makes her so complex. It also leads us to know why she can’t commit, her faults come through with her father's testimony, who says “Nola never was one who could keep her mind on any one thing for too long”, and we can piece together Nola’s commitment issues. She is living Jazz, a woman unbound to the modern expectations of a woman.
Nola’s strong will is only susceptible to one man, Jamie Overstreet, and her inner dialogue comes alive in her scenes with Jamie, her most romantic lover, as we hear the Jazz take flight when they’re together. With him, Nola can be the most vulnerable version of herself and wander into the possibility of exclusivity with Jamie; exploring the romanticism society expects of her. Through the score, we are attuned with Nola’s emotional state and how it differs when she’s with Jamie. In their first encounter, the Jazz permeates Nola’s emotions of excitement and anticipation as Jamie tries to court her on the streets. The upbeat pace of the trumpets and triangle reveal her feelings to us at the thrill of conquest, but on her terms. The music stops just as Jamie turns to see Nola’s smirk of satisfaction; having managed to woo him with just her sheer energy.
This amorous lover uses his charms to seduce Nola into his ideals of monogamy, aiming to be everything she desires, and the man who can finally show her what love truly is. There is clear differentiation when they’re together as Jazz only plays during their encounters. They share a magical connection but in the end it's all a fantasy of love, for both of them, emphasized as Jamie goes above and beyond for Nola’s birthday— literally transporting her to the land of Oz— as we enter the dream-like world of romance in the only instance of technicolor we experience throughout the film. Nola is serenaded by a symphony of Jazz inspired by her, the way Jamie envisions their love and life together. Although the intentions of this love ballad are well-placed, we can perceive that something is off as the melody— along with the overall addition of color and performance— falls flat in comparison to the rest of the imagery. There is no depth because deep down, Nola knows it’s all a fantasy of the life of someone else’s expectations of her, the death of herself if she chooses to follow the most conventional path.
Jazz permeates the scenes of change, as with the seasons, of Nola’s life and at her attempts to change herself; making the moves she thinks will bring her happiness and end her endless searching for the indescribable. The music comes in at a vital moment of change as her decision to end her polygamous relationships unfolds before us. She cleanses her bed by clearing it of her past and sheds the candles off her shrine of sexuality; the place where men idolized her as a goddess of desire. Her final scene with Jamie is one of resignation and defeat in the name of “love”. We follow her as the Jazz score slows down, growing weaker and dwindling, as Nola’s own spirit morphs trying to fit a mold she isn’t meant to. The music resembles that of a swan song, of the Nola we all came to admire, dying into codependency with Jamie.
The movie ending subverts audience expectations after seemingly transforming the promiscuous Nola Darling into a celibate and dedicated monogamous woman. Nola eventually recedes back to herself and her own liberties. It doesn’t have her end up with any man in a perfectly poised ending, exactly what Spike Lee wanted as it doesn’t betray Nola’s character.
She’s Gotta Have It is ultimately a reflection of the feminist movement of the 1980’s. Nola Darling reflects an augmented representation in the media of a woman's choice, most notably women of color, over their bodies and lifestyles. She embodies the limitless experimentation and liberating exploration that Jazz reveals. It's a style indicative of freedom, from the confines of conventional music, and gives voice to what music’s potential can be. Her characters’ transformation lies within her acceptance of unconformity. She is not a one man woman and her resolve comes at expressing that to the camera. Nola turns away from us in the final scene, echoing the Jazz number from the introduction into her life—not the one Jamie tried to impose on her— as she lays back down unto her bed. It is her place of solace, her throne and dominion, and where she gains all her feminist power. Through this “joint”, Spike Lee reaches a visual and lyrical catharsis for Nola Darling, who instead of succumbing to the societal norms expected of her, is liberated by her outward resolve that she cannot be restricted to one lover.