![]() ![]() But - I mean, here's - let's not get it twisted. Did you hear that? Although, male gaze was not an expression yet, I don't think, in '86. GROSS: Did you get that the first time around - like, Nola is a woman through a man's point of view? The whole movie about a woman is through the male gaze. So there was a huge presence of black women in the room. My daughter, Satchel, was in the writers' room. Tonya Lewis Lee was executive producer, but she's the one that came with idea to do this as a television show. So we had several - the writers' room, you had Lynn Nottage, who's won two Pulitzer Prizes for her plays. And also, even more important, that this Netflix series could not be strictly a male gaze. You never saw Nola doing her art in the movie. So there's much more time to spend on who Nola is. With this Netflix series, we have 10 episodes. LEE: Well, what people forget - I know the film came out in 1986, but the film was only 86 minutes. So how did you want the character of Nola to change from the original 1986 version to this new Netflix version? LEE: And also they were very happy because the film was a hit. LEE: Yeah, but they were still happy to know that I gave them material. GROSS: But not necessarily in a positive light. LEE: Oh, they loved it because they saw themselves in it. GROSS: How did your male friends react to "She's Gotta Have It" the first time around (laughter)? And show this woman who's living her life and not really caring about what people feel. And then one of those ladies they were seeing happened to see somebody else, they would go berserk. ![]() And then on top of that, I'm - I just was very fascinated with a lot of my male friends who were sleeping around with many, many women and would brag and boast about it. And again, let them - let the audience decide who's telling the truth and who's doing what. I wanted to do that about a woman who's having three relationships with men at the same time. And it's left for the audience to decide what is true. And I liked this conceit where several people are witnesses to a rape and a murder, and it's left to - and then they present their facts of what they thought they saw to the audience. ![]() The basis for the film was - I was heavily influenced by the great Japanese filmmaker, Akira Kurosawa's film "Rashomon." I saw that in film school. It came several years after I graduated from NYU graduate film school where Ang Lee and Ernest Dickerson were my classmates. SPIKE LEE: Well, "She's Gotta Have It" was my first feature film. What was your interest in creating a woman character who describes herself as a sex-positive polyamorous pansexual woman? Congratulations on your Netflix series and thank you for coming. And the key is that, unlike the men I've been dealing with, she's not trying to own me. I can see the three of us skipping down the street holding hands like we're in some commercial for products only white folks would buy. So I get insta-daughter (ph) without labor pains or stretchmarks. And she has a kid already from a turkey baster with a friend from college. But as a sex-positive polyamorous pansexual, words like monogamy and family have never even seemed like a remote possibility. (SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT")ĭEWANDA WISE: (As Nola Darling) This woman is like whoa. Nola who speaks first is played by DeWanda Wise. The therapist is played by Heather Headley. In this scene from Episode 4, Nola is talking to her therapist about how her love life now includes a woman she started seeing again. She starts doing street art, but her posters are defaced with misogynist epithets.Īt the suggestion of a friend, she starts seeing a therapist. But it leaves her with a new feeling of vulnerability. In Episode 1 of the Netflix version, Nola, who lives in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, where Spike grew up and continues to have an office, is walking home from her friend's house one evening when a man starts harassing her and grabs her. She's seeing three men, each a different type but each wants her to himself. The central character in the original film and the Netflix series is Nola Darling, a young artist who loves sex but isn't interested in a committed relationship. We're going to talk about lots of things, but let's start with "She's Gotta Have It." The film earned him a place as a central figure in independent cinema and black cinema. Spike Lee has written and directed many other films including, "School Daze," "Do The Right Thing" "Mo' Better Blues" "Jungle Fever" "Malcolm X" and "Chi-Raq." ![]() My guest, Spike Lee, has returned to his first feature - the 1986 film "She's Gotta Have It" and has adapted it into an expanded and updated 10-part Netflix series of the same name. ![]()
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