Reel Talk & Banter
Ever wanted to just sit around and make fun of an old movie with your friends? That's exactly what Reel Talk & Banter is all about. Join best friends Omari Williams and Jay Richardson as they rewatch movies that came out at least a decade ago. It's a mix of a film review and a comedy roast, where they discuss everything from the plot to the terrible acting, and even if the film has stood the test of time. Get ready to laugh and hear some hot takes on your favorite (and least favorite) classic films.
Reel Talk & Banter
Unpacking Sex, Power, And 80s Brooklyn : She's Gotta Have It (1986)
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A black-and-white indie that still feels loud. We dive into Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It and sit with the shockwaves it sent through 80s cinema: a black woman who won’t apologize for desire, three men who try to define her, and a city that frames it all. We talk about Nola Darling’s radical honesty—how she tells the truth, sets terms, and refuses the labels men hand her—and why that was a seismic move for representation. Mars brings laughter, Greer brings mirrors and control, Jamie brings tenderness that curdles into entitlement. The dynamics aren’t neat, and that’s the point.
We follow the craft choices that make the story hit harder: still photographs of Brooklyn that feel like memory; Bill Lee’s jazz score that turns rooms into confidences; Ernest Dickerson’s cinematography that gives texture to skin, sweat, and subway light. The lone color sequence—Jamie’s birthday surprise—works like a portal, a Wizard of Oz moment that floats on romance and telegraphs the fall. It’s spectacle with subtext, a dance that quietly scripts ego, apology, and the cost of wishing on a trick candle.
We also go straight at the film’s most difficult turn: the assault. Language from the era blurs it; our reading does not. Spike Lee has since called that scene a regret, and we explore how it complicates the movie’s legacy while not erasing its breakthroughs. Therapy becomes a counter-voice that validates Nola’s sexuality and nudges the conversation toward love, boundaries, and mental health—territory too often dismissed in black communities at the time. Even the much-debated Thanksgiving scene, wild in premise, is rich in composition: who’s in the bed, who’s at the foot, who’s exiled to a chair—an image that says more than a speech.
By the end, we score the film high for originality, craft, music, and cultural impact, while calling out the stumble that still stings. If you care about black cinema, gender politics, or how tiny budgets can reshape a medium, this one’s essential. Listen, share your take—did the movie’s boldness age as powerfully for you? Subscribe, leave a review, and tell a friend who argues about movies as hard as you do.
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Hello and welcome to the Real Talk and Bancher Podcast, the movie podcast where we discuss and review films that are at least a decade old. I'm Amari Williams.
SPEAKER_02And I'm Jay Richardson.
SPEAKER_03And here we
Kicking Off The Black History Series
SPEAKER_03are for episode three of our Black History series, where we will be discussing She's Gotta Have It, the 1986 Spike Lee film.
SPEAKER_02I've never seen it. I've never seen it. I didn't even see the new one either, but uh, you know. The the TV show you mean? The series? Yeah, the new one. That was on Netflix, right? Yeah. Well, at least it's also on Netflix.
SPEAKER_03I didn't even I didn't even know the TV series existed.
SPEAKER_02I did not see either.
SPEAKER_03I also have not seen this until now.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um, but you know, it's considered, you know, one of the quote unquote black movies that you should see. So I figured we we should add it to our list, right? Spikely is um culturally one of the most renowned black uh directors of our time. So definitely happy to celebrate. That's true, that's true. Actor, you know, is in this one. Yeah. Mars. Mars had bars.
SPEAKER_03There's a lot of him in this movie.
SPEAKER_02Alright. Alright, so um, yeah, let's get into it, man. So uh so we got we got she's gotta
First Impressions And Indie Context
SPEAKER_02have it. This is actually Spike Lee's debut film. This is the first one. Uh it's indie film, independent film. He released on his own hair. Movie is in like black and white for most of it. In fact, I th I thought something was wrong by TV, because I guess I didn't realize it was black and white. I was like, what the fuck?
SPEAKER_03That threw me off.
SPEAKER_02It threw me off.
SPEAKER_03This is a black and white film.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it was weird. It was so weird. Um low budget. They actually it only cost them a hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars to do this, actually. Which man, everybody got paid pennies because dang it. Um it made some money. It did, it did, it made some money for sure. I don't know if he came back and was like, I don't know what he did with it, but you know. He bought his damn season tickets to the Knicks. That's what he did. Because that's probably that man's been sitting courtside for 40 years. So ever. Alright. So uh obviously, you know, Spike Lee, this is Brooklyn, Brooklyn, Brooklyn, Brooklyn. It's very Brooklyn from the beginning to the end. Um and you know, it tackles kind of a provocative theme of uh sexuality, right?
Nola’s Agency And Sexual Politics
SPEAKER_02And specifically a woman's uh sexuality. Um that's that's still um a provocative theme, I guess. Uh even, you know, now where you know we have the whole, you know, men can have several partners, but a woman but if a woman does it, she's you know, a whore or promiscuous or not wife material and all those things. So um so yeah, Spikely kind of ahead of his time here, kind of tackling that theme here. Um in a in a kind of in a kind of messy, kind of uncomfortable way. It wasn't like a rom-com type of situation. It was uh it was very kind of in your face. So yeah, let's set it out. So we got No La. Oh, go ahead.
SPEAKER_03It's categorized as a rom-com, though, which is hilarious.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I would not say that's a rom-com at all. But I mean, yeah. Um, at least it's not a neat rom com. It's not like packaged like how it normally is, you know. Boy meets girl, boy hurts girl, girl for some reason forgives him, and then they live happily ever after. Seems to be the rom-com theme. It is not that. Roll credits. Um, so we got Nola, Nola Darling, who is a young black, very attractive woman in Brooklyn, uh, who is openly dating three men at the same time. And I don't even know if she I don't personally, I didn't I mean physically she's attractive too, sure. Um, but I think just her like in the face is what I'm doing thing. Cause at first, when the movie started, I thought it was kind of like a hidden thing, but then it quickly became like, no, you're well aware that I got uh Jamie.
SPEAKER_03Nola does not lie.
SPEAKER_02Nola cannot lie. I don't know if she don't or she cannot, but she's like, yo, you know what this was. I mean, that's where that came from. You knew what this was. So I guess the biggest thing based on my research is there's there's kind of this controversial question of like Jamie and was he right, was he wrong? Um, but before
Meet Mars, Greer, And Jamie
SPEAKER_02we get into that, we could kind of tackle the other characters here. Um picked up on Mars, who was spikely, uh, who was kind of like the fun guy. He had this kind of saying of uh baby please, baby please, baby please, baby, baby, baby please, or something like that, which was kind of fun. Um, and then you have Greer, who was I don't know what he was, some kind of older gentleman, maybe, or I don't know.
SPEAKER_03Back in the day, I have oh I have that he's uh represents just a superficial, vain, arrogant sexist, he's sexist as hell guy, who's just very attractive, works out, he's a shiny toy, you know, and makes a lot of money. That's that's where I kind of categorize him.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's fair. I could go with that. Like he wants to control her image, you know, because he's kind of like superficial of that way. That's fine. My my only ask, like, I I only said like I don't know how old he was because you know, in the 80s, 20 year olds looked like 50 year olds. I don't know what was happening other than, you know, I guess just normal black stress, but it was just black epidemic.
SPEAKER_04Hello.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I as I said, as I said, you know, just I don't know what was going on, what was in the water. Yeah, but 20 year olds was looking like 50 year olds straight up, so like it's also how they dress too.
SPEAKER_03It's probably your perception too, because of their attire. Because I think how they were dressed in the 80s is what we associate with older people wearing now, but that was the style then, you know? Yeah, I think some of that too.
SPEAKER_02The hairstyle, definitely. Like the slick big kind of thing was slick back, was like, what the fuck? How old are you? Um all right, so so what did you think? What are your thoughts here?
SPEAKER_03Overall in the movie?
SPEAKER_02Uh with Mars and Greer, and then we'll we'll tackle Jamie, who was kind of like the main guy, even though it wasn't said.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it w it was showed a lot though. So um I also had not seen this movie, and I was I'm very excited to discuss this with you.
SPEAKER_04Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_03I not that I'm not usually excited, but for this movie specifically, because uh it it threw me. I not seeing it, not really, you know, and this project, this project we're doing right now has exposed me. As far as we're picking these black history movies, and it's like, fuck, I didn't see this, shit, I haven't seen this, damn, I should have watched that, you know. So I'm glad that you picked this one. It was very interesting. Definitely had to run it twice. Oh, yeah. Because yeah, I had to just uh give my attention to it the first time through and then go back and then normally like when we did Predator, for example, I'm taking notes as we like, you know, a bunch of muscle-up guys in the jungle, alien comes, they fight, kill it, move on, right? Right. This though, when we have like messages under the the depth of this movie, and the big thing for me in uh understanding and properly appreciating this movie was having to put myself try my best to put myself into 1986, which is you know when the movie was made and it's shot, and just realizing the themes that are being challenged and how a lot of the things which seems simple because it's a low budget movie, yeah, and it's it's very you know, it's shot, you know, pretty straightforward, but it's doing a lot of of groundbreaking and challenging things as far as the black community is is portraying the black community. So um with these three guys, uh you know, you kind of sum them up. Spike Lee being Mars, sorry, Mars Blackman being the funny guy, he makes you laugh. Great he's a personality pick, right? That's the guy you're like, oh, he's I have a great time with him, but he's unserious, he's been unemployed for two years, you know? Not very ambitious, just kind of just kicking it. Uh with Greer, he's on a completely other end of the spectrum who's just like I said, vain, arrogant. He is career driven, but he's driven by all these tangible things that are just not that you can't have fun with him. And you saw it like you saw in like the screen time whenever she was with him. Um it wasn't as much as the others, she's not having a good time. That's clearly a purely physical connection. He's an attractive guy, he takes very good care of himself. Yeah, so that's what that is.
SPEAKER_02I think that you have and I I hope I'm not speaking correctly, but I think the sex scenes with Greer is where you with the only person that you actually saw like full on, like they're doing it. I don't think like it was implied, like obviously, like obviously this is what's happening with uh with uh with uh Mars and with uh Jamie, but I think Greer that one section where it was like shot from the top down on them, yeah, and they were like switching positions and all over the place. First of all, they looked, I don't know what they were doing, but you know, fine, whatever. Movie sex is movie sex, you know, whatever. But he was attempting budget movies. Yeah, he was attempting to do something without exposing too much, which okay, cool.
SPEAKER_03So without making it look like a damn like cheap porn.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, like essentially a porn, yeah, exactly. So that's why I just tied into like you saying, like his was really just like Mars is funny, physical, uh Greer is physical, and then you have Jamie as your kind of emotional sensitive guy. But was he really? I don't know. We'll get into it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so
Reading 1986: Why This Was Radical
SPEAKER_03yeah, so and the that's the so the thing with this movie, too, is that it starts off in we're five minutes in and we're seeing a sex scene between two black characters, yeah, you know, and like that wouldn't matter now, but in the 80s, that was a huge deal, yeah, you know, and uh like two like consensual sex, just two people in love with each other, just having sex, right? Two black people, I'm sorry, because that's that's the key thing. Five minutes and 30 seconds, that's what's that's what we're seeing. That scene with Grayer was very interesting, and I I guess with this movie we're gonna talk about it more character-driven. Yeah. Out of order, is that okay? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the note that I made about Grayer and that scene specifically, I found her interaction with Grayer, I think, the most interesting. Okay, because Grayer, he's a fucking asshole. Like clearly, he's an asshole. You know, the other two, even with Jamie uh with his flaws, um, like you get it, right? And then Mars, you get it. You know, they have fun, they show you her having fun with Mars. Grare is just he's not he's not a good dude, right? Right. So I do have that that scene with one of the first scenes we saw with Gray and Nola, he's telling her, um, oh, if you get fat, I'm gonna leave you. You know why you're not coming work out with me. Yeah, he did say that. So if you if you weren't fine, I wouldn't even bother with you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I only messed with fine women. You're like, what the fuck? You need to stop saying that shit.
SPEAKER_03Talking about that, yeah. Yeah. And it was very interesting because in a normal kind of traditional setting, these comments would drive the female character to be insecure and emotionally unstable. She did not give a fuck. She was like, I dude, whatever. Like, shut up. Like, she said, I'm just here for this dick. I'm just here to give you some booszy, I'm here to have a good time. All that extra shit, she it was so she was so unfazed, with the one exception, which we can talk about later, right? There was one time that somebody said to her made her get inside her head. Yeah. But the going to that sex scene, right before they had that sex scene, where I was like, Oh, listen, I made this got a new opportunity at work. And she's like, Oh, that's awesome. And he's like, Yeah, so you know, I was thinking about you and I, and she's like, Hold on, you know, just like and she gets all sexy with him, and she goes and starts to uh undress herself, and then this guy takes forever to get his.
SPEAKER_02I was like, what the fuck? Why did he have to fold everything? That was the weirdest part. I was like, what is this? Oh my god, what was that?
SPEAKER_03Funny. But that scene though, um it it she's distracting him with sex. Yeah, because he was about to engage in a conversation about like, well, what happens next? Like, you know, you my woman, all this stuff. And he's so stupid and arrogant that he's like, oh shit, you know, I did good. So she's out here warding me with sex. So yeah, let's go do this thing. But nah, she shut the whole fucking conversation down, got what she wanted, which was sex from him, and she was able to avoid an awkward or a conversation she's just not even interested in having. Yeah, because it's not like Nola is afraid of confronting these types of, she just wasn't in the mood to deal with that shit and with his emotional bullshit, because you know, that's what it was gonna be, you know, um her response. So the way she was using sex to control the situation and just be in herself. This movie was so interesting. Like this this, you would not, I would not expect this as from an 80s movie. Absolutely not, right? Where you just have a black woman who's being empowered to just live just to exist, to do what she wants to do, yeah, use her body the way she wants to be. Unapologetically, yeah. Unapologetically, and it never once made her seem um, it never made any well, yeah, apologies for her her sexual appetite. You know, it never made us be like, what the fuck? This girl's a fucking like squang or something, or she out here whoring her out. Nah, it's like she was and she was so honest with these dudes. They could have left at any point in time. She was so honest with them.
SPEAKER_02She was so honest. She she she wasn't hiring anything. The phone rings in the middle of the night. She's like, hey, could you get that for me? Like, who was that? Oh, that was Mars. Oh, that was Grier, or that was Jamie. Like, oh, well, why'd you tell him I was here? Uh did I have to? Like, I it was late. That was the answer. Like, what do you want from me? She did not care.
SPEAKER_03Um not at all.
SPEAKER_02But yeah, um, so I also did like, I like how Spike Lee did this because this is something that happens kind of like behind closed doors from my perspective. So it was kind of putting uh a light on it of how each character,
Character Portraits And Performances
SPEAKER_02all the male characters, were kind of interviewed. I I I didn't, I kind of okay, so I liked it, but I kind of didn't understand where it was coming from. Like, was somebody making a movie about Nola? Like I they were just talking directly. Like it was Yeah, it was like a documentary within the movie. I was like, who was it for? Like telling the audience. I never found out. So I was like, that part was kind of weird because the man, the men in her life were like talking to directly to the camera. They were trying to argue their case, argue why they were the best for it, trying to justify themselves, try to kind of put her down. They talk about her, they explain her. I think you were alluding to it with um Greer saying that she was a sex addict and she needed help or something like that, and everyone just trying to labels her. And yeah, she's she's like, no. She's like absolutely like she's like, no matter what you say, these three, you know, generally strong dudes or whatever in their own right are just like, yeah, this is what you are. And she's like, uh No, actually, you don't get it at all. Like, none of you get it. Yeah, like as much as you think you do, you don't. You don't understand me at all.
SPEAKER_03Mars, Marzone was very interesting too, because to me, Mars was Mars was the most opinionated and just out there with his testimonials to the camera. Um he starts off like uh Nola, oh yeah, Nola's a freak, Nola freaky dicky, you know? Yeah, and he's like, Yeah, of course I'm gonna hook up with her. Sex is good. And he starts off at the beginning of his testimonial, he says, Um, yeah, she's a freak. You know, every man wants to have sex with a freak. But it's a wife. No, no, no. We don't want to make her a wife. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Towards the end, though, he's like, but I love her. You know, like you know, so he's just making, he's like making all these excuses. The next testimonial, he's talking about, I think she has daddy issues or whatever. And then it comes to her dad, and the dad was like, nah, man, she had a loving household. Like we supported her all the time.
SPEAKER_02Anything she wanted to do, like she didn't really stick with much, but we just say, hey, whatever you want, hey, try it.
SPEAKER_03So it it it just kept like every time uh we got these perspective and definitely being a man watching these things, because it's like I definitely had to well, I I obviously I'm gonna have to challenge my own biases, right? I'm making sure I'm checking myself. Luckily, I didn't have to do that too much. I'm pretty open-minded about this stuff, but us, they keep showing us these men trying to make excuses or explain or or you know, find the problem with her and all that stuff, and then they would immediately show us, nah, she's cool. Oh nah, there's no problem, or no, she's just a normal person, you know, like there's no deep seated repress, whatever, you know, like whatever you like, you can try and extrapolate and fight, but it's like, nah, man, she's literally just a woman that likes having sex. Who would have thought, you know? Funny concept, right? But that that was it.
SPEAKER_02This is yeah, I think it comes out to beginning of like what you said with Spike Lee. Like, first of all, I mean, this is his debut film. So it's a come out swinging with this, with this kind of very controversial, um Wild. Controversial topic is yeah, absolutely wild. Dude have a lot of he has some he has some uh balls on him, and it paid off, like he said, only even though it only spent $175,000 to make, it overall made about $7 million. So that's a hell of a win um for um a movie um in this timeline. Um and then especially a movie that features blackness as thoroughly as it did. Not only just not black, not only black people, but black art, uh, black spaces, black content, uh conversation, cultural expression. Uh you saw and also you saw the different aspects of black people. Like, you know, a lot of times in movies, there's like that typical black person, but you kind of had like all the kind of full gambit of uh uh different black men shown and and celebrated in a way. Um whether they were assholes or not, they were still shown as like this is it, this is a black person, this is a black person, this is a black person, and it all kind of matters. It wasn't just like a it wasn't like a specific man um with a specific type that does a specific thing satisfy this black woman. It's like small things from each of them um that satisfied her. And you know, you know, everybody's hair was like except for I think Ray's hair was kind of slicked. I think it was just slick back. I don't think it was like straightened, it might have just been slicked back, but you know, kind of everybody's hair is like I think that dude had a perm.
SPEAKER_03I think he had a perm.
SPEAKER_02It might have been, I don't know. It was kind of hard to tell in the black and white. Like, I don't know if it was just like really just like you know, he just brushed and combed the hell out of it and threw some like mousse and some you know stuff in it, or he put a perm. Probably put a perm to like really get it back there, but who knows?
SPEAKER_03But yeah, but they did tell him uh uh Billy D wannabe. Um, yeah, Billy D.
SPEAKER_02Um, so yeah, aside from him, everybody's hair is natural. Um, you know, you have the jazz constantly going. Shout out to Bill Lee, who's uh Spike Lee's father, um, who also was a musical director for um Jesus. What other movie? Ah, that's my trivia. Ha ha.
SPEAKER_03Oh, I know the answer. More better blues.
SPEAKER_02There you go.
SPEAKER_03That was one of those rabbit holes I fell down.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, which is also another excellent Denzel movie, but you know, whatever. Anyway.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Uh Spike Lee's also in that one, I think.
SPEAKER_03He does actually show up in that one as well, but uh, I have a trivia for you.
SPEAKER_02Oh no.
SPEAKER_03Do you know how do you know how many of his movies he's acted in?
SPEAKER_02How many movies has Spike Lee acted in? Did it? Or Denzel?
SPEAKER_03His movies. No, Spikely. How many of his movies that he's written, directed, or whatever has he like had to cast himself in in it?
SPEAKER_00Oh.
SPEAKER_02Uh five.
SPEAKER_03No. Eleven.
SPEAKER_02Uh eleven. Okay. Out of how many? How many movies has he made?
SPEAKER_03I think 35. I saw 35 somewhere. Um, but it yeah, I don't know. I think 35 when you when you include documentaries and stuff. Okay, okay, okay. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So
Name Movies Spike Lee Starred In
SPEAKER_03do you think you can name those movies that he acted in?
SPEAKER_02Eleven? No.
SPEAKER_03You just named two. I mean the one we watched we just watched. You got more better blues. Can you name can you can you name the other ones?
SPEAKER_02Nope. Nope.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_04Yep. That's all I got.
SPEAKER_03You could just name his movies, you'll probably hit him.
SPEAKER_02Um gotcha. Yeah, you did get me. Anyway, go ahead, name him, name him, shoot him.
SPEAKER_03Um, do the right thing.
SPEAKER_02Oh shit. Jungle Fever. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, I blanked. I blanked. Malcolm X. Duh.
SPEAKER_03Uh he's in Malcolm X, he's in Crooklin. Yep. He's in Clockers.
SPEAKER_02I didn't see Clockers.
SPEAKER_03He's in Drop Squad. He produced that one, so I don't know if that one counts. Um Girl 6. Girl Six. He's in Summer of Sam and he's in Red Hook Summer.
SPEAKER_02Okay. The last four, I have no idea what those are. But the other ones I should have at least guessed. Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X. Yeah, I should have. You could have got it. I should have. I should've. I'm sorry. I blank. I was fighting a flight and I I I fly. I flew away.
SPEAKER_03Anywho, yeah. But you know, back to your thing about the the black characters. My whole thing is that to sum up what you were saying is that they're they were written as people and not as caricatures, you know? And that was very important for this time. That it's not just that these are people, these like we know a Mars black man, we know a Grayer, we know a Jamie, you know, like these are people that exist. We know Anola. I'm sure we all know Anola. Like these are people that exist, they're not just like movie tropes that are just um recycled over and over again. And that's that's huge. Uh especially Spike Lee, man. People should know Spike Lee was unhinged, man. Or maybe they didn't know. We weren't around in 1986 in the 80s, but for him to come out swinging with this as his first feature-length film, like, come on, man. Like, that's that takes some real just fucking courage and just uh a level of just not giving a fuck and determination. Because that 175, he had to scrape that shit together with grants and fellowships and all kinds of stuff to be able to fund the movie, you know? So that's impressive stuff. Like this movie, it gets better on a rewatch, and it gets better the more you realize, like I said, the era, the time, what was going on, um, the accomplishment of it all. It just gets better um after you put all that stuff. And it's a it's a good movie in and of itself, but once you include everything else, uh it's fucking awesome.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it definitely catch So at first, like So the first like like uh writing on the screen turned me off. I'm gonna be honest. I was like, what the f it did? Yeah, it did. It turned me off. I was like, okay. I mean, it's but if Sorry New Hurst, it is, it is, it is, it is, it is, it is, but it was a big chunk, and I was like, god damn it. I wasn't ready.
SPEAKER_03It was super fucking.
SPEAKER_02I wasn't ready.
SPEAKER_03It's it's literally the opening paragraph of the book.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, exactly. Like I love I love that book. Um uh thing uh There I was for Watching Guys.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02I love that book. Yeah, and um, like completely. So I get it, but I was just like, ah damn it, I wasn't ready. So it turned me up real quick, and then I had to like snap back like immediately, like, okay, we're in this.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um the the score under it was nice. That helped me for sure.
SPEAKER_02I think I had the T V too, but I don't think I heard any music.
SPEAKER_03Oh, it had the uh piano um uh piano. It started off with just a light jazz piano, yeah. Um, which just continued and then built into when the horns came in, but it was it was nice.
SPEAKER_02I think I started hearing the music like once it was doing like the shots around like the subway and like the when the horns kicked in.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02So I must have had it too low and I didn't hear nothing. It was just like me trying to read this black screen. I was like, what is happening? Um we talked about Marv. You talk about Greer, I'm sorry, I keep messing his name up. Greer, and then Nola. Um, even though she is obviously the main character, we're we're she's she is who she is. There is no there's no guessing, there is no uh there's no other way to interpret it. She just wants what she wants. She's very open, which is very appreciative. Um, roll credits. Um but let's get into let's get into our boy Jamie here. So Jamie. Creepily uh so Jamie meets Nola on the street uh by way of running her down. First of all, it was like that scene was almost like uh freaking, like she was genuinely walking, he was running and somehow couldn't catch her. And I was like, what is happening? Like, why is she teleporting everywhere? But okay.
SPEAKER_03Listen, my note, my note is uh the good old days of being able to follow a random woman for several blocks.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_03Like what's the good old days? This is so stalker-ish. Like, dude, this is not cool.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean, I get and I guess that kind of like hints a little bit of like, you
Jamie’s Courtship And The Color Sequence
SPEAKER_02know, like if she if she had stopped at the bus stop and then they engaged in an after conversation, be like, oh, okay, this is a little meat cute. But he knows he chased her down several, several blocks. Um but I guess she thought that was endearing because she stopped and she smiled up at him, and you know, they have that engagement of, are you following me? No, are you following me?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He hit her with the you following me? He gaslit her.
SPEAKER_02That was oh shit, oh shit.
SPEAKER_03You see, god damn it. I'm a man. I'm like, oh, that's that's a bar. You're like, I'm gonna use that one.
SPEAKER_02Oh no, no, you just gaslit the shit out of her. Like, no, you definitely were stalking her.
SPEAKER_03Oh, man. The power perspective.
SPEAKER_02Power perspective, man. But either way, yeah, let's get into this guy. So they meet, um, and immediately there's an attraction, you know. Um, she is I can't tell if she's already engaged with the other two dudes or not by the time they meet, but it doesn't necessarily matter, I don't think. But either way, now she's engaging with these three guys. Jamie is the one who uh is doing, I would say, the most of trying to get a commitment out of her, trying to show her that he's, you know, a sensitive guy, he's courting her. He came he got a bar for a line, which is like, I will, what'd he say? I'll I'll take you to do whatever you want to do, and wherever you go, I'll go, or something of that nature. But it was pretty smooth. I didn't, I jacked it up. If I said that to a woman, I'd be laughing at you. I got you. You know, you got it. I got you.
SPEAKER_03You got it. I got you. He was like the line was Nola. I don't want a chance not seeing you again. Whatever you want to do, I'll do. Wherever you want to go, I'll take you. Yeah. Will you see me? Come on now.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's a penny dropper right there. Um if he didn't get it.
SPEAKER_03Hey, listen, that's a bar. That's a bar.
SPEAKER_02That was a bar. It's a penny dropper right there. If you didn't get it right then, then it was, you know, he was gonna get it very close after that. Because that's that's a that's definitely a penny dropper. Because up to this point, everybody she's been meeting has been kind of like please, please let me do this.
SPEAKER_03Let me get into this. Oh because I took notes, and all 12 of these guys because she so she groups guys into two categories, right? The decents and the dogs, right? Right, right, right. So for this, the decent are Jamie, Mars, and Greer. Right? Our dogs, they're just numbered. I want you to tell me, out of these 12 dogs, who had the best pickup line and who had the worst pickup line.
SPEAKER_02Alright. Yeah, go ahead.
SPEAKER_03Dog one came in strong saying, uh, that's a guy who said, I'll drink your bath water.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Uh number two, his was weird. He said, with Congress approval, uh, I've been approved to aim a heat and moisture-seeking missile towards you or some shit like that. Yeah, that was weird. But yeah. Yeah, tough. Uh, number three, uh, he just said, I want to rock your world. Number four, it's hilarious. That's the guy with a cocaine sniff who sniffed his fucking hand. Yeah. Stares at his hand, and he's like, uh, I don't even know what he said. I got so distracted by the cocaine sniff. But that's a cocaine guy. Number five said, he's a piece of work. He says to her, you're lonely, sad, confused, and horny. He said, then he tells her, I know what kind of man you need, you need me. And then he asks her for her number. Yeah. Noise. Number six and seven both said, I've only known you just for a minute, but I love you. Numbers eight and nine only says to her, I love you. Yeah. But do give her some creepy eyes to go with the I love you, in case she wasn't already terrified. Number 10, baby, let's go to my house right now and do the wild thing. Let's get loose. This is the um the brother with the cigarette who's just a cool ass cat. Direct, not playing any fucking games. Number 11 gives her an elevator pitch, reads her his resume, and talks about how he's educated because he has a BA and MBA. He's superficial because he has a BMW 318i. He's got money, which is 53,000 after taxes, and he has no charm or swag because he closes his elevator pitch by saying, I want you to want me. And the last guy says he has 10 inches, 10 throbbing inches of USDA government inspected prime cut tube steak. Yeah. And the cherry on top was him sticking his tongue out and wagging it at her.
SPEAKER_02He did. I thought man was gonna end up being a butcher. I'm gonna be honest. I didn't think he was talking about his meat feet.
SPEAKER_03I thought of that was I was so confused. I was confused. I was it was a roller coaster because it was because if this is a metaphor for your dick, like why is the government expecting it? Exactly.
SPEAKER_02I was like, uh that sounds like you have an STD, bro. You should not be putting it anywhere. Exactly. So I thought the man was a butcher and he was just kind of making a play on words and until he said the two beats. I was like, oh, okay, you're meat. Alright, bro. Gross.
SPEAKER_03That was weird.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So which of these guys would be able to pick you up? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Oh, what guy is picking me up? Okay. Um, I think the I think the best is probably the dude of like, yeah, let's just go back to our house and like do it. Because it's just like that's if that's all you want, that's all you want. So it's like, alright.
SPEAKER_03He's pretty direct.
SPEAKER_02He's direct, like, this is all we're gonna do, and then I can leave you alone. So cool. We already did that. The part the worst guy.
SPEAKER_03That's probably right.
SPEAKER_02The worst guy is probably the guy who's like trying to play on your insecurities of like uh you're you're weak and you're small. Lonely sad. Lonely sad, yeah, confused. But you need me. I'm like, alright, bro.
SPEAKER_03That's probably the worst guy. That's true.
SPEAKER_02Which guy's picking you up? Shit.
SPEAKER_03He's probably a psycho. Um, I think I agree with you with um the the house right now and do the wild thing. If I have to give a different answer, so we're not re- He's already off the board, so he already he's already he's already happy with you. Yeah. So I'm left with the rest, right? Yeah, sorry. I guess the between the I just want to Rocket World and the Yeah, I probably just want to Rocket World, I guess. I guess that one. I was gonna go between him and the dude who gave the elevator pitch, but it's probably boring as shit. Um yeah, no, no thanks. No thanks. Not interested. Not interested.
SPEAKER_02We don't get called back for your interview, Jamie. Alright, so now we're back on Jamie. He uh came out with a bomb ass line. Anything you want to do, I got you. Anywhere you want to go, uh we'll go.
SPEAKER_03Take you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Then for her birthday, he did an absolutely amazing thing, which the other thing I didn't get strongly of is timelines. Like, is this like a month into dating and or like because like you know, courting is important, yes, but then it also can like lead to Jamie's villain arc of like, was he like love bombing her? Because to coordinate a personal ballet, personal song for somebody who you've like known like a week, questionable. If this is like six months, it's like okay, well, I could, I could, I couldn't.
SPEAKER_03I think it's been months. Okay. I I feel like it's been several months. I think too, you know, I think each time um we got the stills, the still photos, um, that was also to indicate indicate a passage of time. That's that's that's what I think. Okay, okay. Um I got I got that on my second watch. Because at ear at first I was like, wait, what's happen, when are we? But I think each time we got this pictures, time has been is passing.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Alright, I can't get down with it. So yeah, so then with that knowledge, I'll give him a pass that he knows he didn't again, he's he's doing it. He's doing the thing. He he made a personal,
Nola's Birthday
SPEAKER_02I don't know if he made it himself, but he, you know, used a friend to make a personal ballet for her on her birthday. Uh at first, uh at first with like the happy birthday Nola sign, I was like, this is trash.
SPEAKER_03Um what the fuck is happening?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I was like, what is it? It was like an abandoned like area, like with graffiti everywhere. Graffiti. I was like, okay, where'd he take her? But then, you know, hell of a surprise. You know, two black um dancers came out and did uh a ballet of I guess him courting her, which is very nice. It was a very, very cute type of situation. The song was excellent, yes.
SPEAKER_03Oh my god, so catchy. I'm just it's whew, it's a bop. It's a good one.
SPEAKER_02It was a good song, it was a good song, and it you know, had her name on it, so I'm assuming he had someone compose it for him, so you know, personal song for her, personal ballet for her. Like that's that's that's smooth. That's not a lot of people are just doing that, you know?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So can we can we step out of it real quick and aesthetically? Do you know why that scene is in color?
SPEAKER_02I don't know. I don't know.
SPEAKER_03Fuck.
SPEAKER_02I don't know.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02It was the only scene in the entire movie that was in color. I thought maybe it was to see the color of the uh the dancer's dress.
SPEAKER_03Dancers and just to make the scene pop more.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, but I mean, seeing the color versus not seeing the color, would that have really added more or less?
SPEAKER_03Um I I do think it added to the scene.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, because a little, but is it enough? Because it's the only color. It's the only color it pops, but is it enough that it really did like if you didn't have the color, was the scene any less impactful, I guess?
SPEAKER_03Good question. I don't know. Um and then they had that transition. What was maybe it's just a not too um oh gosh. Wizard of Oz? Maybe it's just paying homage to that. Because it it is led up to because remember, um, because Wizard of Oz was in black.
SPEAKER_02Black and white, and then it goes the color when she gets to Oz, yes.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I mean, she didn't have to pick her heels.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_03Oh shit. That's exactly what the fuck is that? Like she's in Oz in this relationship with Jamie. It's a fucking metaphor. God damn, Spike Lee. Look at that is a man. Look at that. Okay, all right, all right, all right. That makes sense. Because she clicks it, go, boom, it's all color and everything. Yeah, but but it doesn't last, right? As that scene is over, we go right back to the black and white. Yeah, you know, yeah. That's that's some good shit. That's some good shit.
SPEAKER_00If it's accurate that we didn't just pick it up.
SPEAKER_03Hey, listen, in my headcounton, it is like I'm convinced that's what it is. Yeah, no, it definitely is.
SPEAKER_02She had to click her heels and say there's no place like home, and they're in color, and everything's beautiful, and everything's nice, and then like then you have to go back to, and you were there, and you were there, and you were there.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then she remember she um she to continue along with the metaphor afterwards they bring her the cake, and um she goes to make her wish, right? But that wish was maybe the wish I would I would assume the wish was for her and Jamie to be together, have a long, happy life. But the candle doesn't go out as a trick candle. So that wish never comes true.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03You see what I'm saying? Like, that's goddamn. All right, Spikely.
SPEAKER_02I'm glad no one's ever done a trick candle to me because that should piss me off. Like, what the fuck? Oh yeah. Keep blowing as hard as you can, and it should just keep going on.
SPEAKER_03Also, I'm spinning all over my cake now, just trying to get this candle out. This is bad for you guys, too. It's bad.
SPEAKER_02It's bad. I'm gonna just stare at it. Like, this is dumb.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. No, that's yeah, I think that that that scene probably serves as like a thesis for the movie, kind of, you know? Yeah. Or at least for her and Jamie's relationship. Because it is telling that whatever. Although, um, when I scrutinized the dance more the second time I watched it, um his response to like uh throwing the fucking wine in her face, the apology was like, here's a flower, and she's like, okay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I was like, that was because I couldn't tell, like, okay, because she she I guess did something to him. And again, I guess I think that was showing. Yeah, they were playing, and it looked like I don't, but I couldn't tell if like he was like a playful or if she pushed him and he fell.
SPEAKER_03I took it as she pushed him playfully and he fell and he got embarrassed. Yeah. So now his ego is bruised and then he childlessly retaliates by throwing the drink in her face. Yeah, which is a hell of a reaction.
SPEAKER_02But also, like the I think the now that we're saying this and we're talking out loud, the the dance re that scene really does become a metaphor for the entire movie and the arc of their relationship. Of like, she she did something to him, even though she was very honest, of like, hey, I'm dating other men. And he's like, Well, you know, how can you do this? And then he overreacts by, you know, uh his part in it. Um what we'll talk with like blatantly, that seems like a sexual assault to me, but you know, we'll we'll see. Yeah. Um, and then, you know, he kind of apologizes, kind of not, um, and then everything's all good.
SPEAKER_03But she's like, okay, cool, right? And so and that thing, right, is with the over well, with the reaction, which we all agree is an over-reaction, right? Yeah. You know, that that could be something that when you look in like like black culture and stuff, like therapy is not really so going back, um, Nola says that men are not like taught or like allowed to like taught to be their true selves and to deal with their feelings, right? Yeah. Um, she says that at the top of the movie, and here you go, like, oh, we're playing, or and then like you feel like she took it too far, or no, not even she took too far. You got embarrassed, you didn't like you know what happened, so you react a certain way. And like, from speaking from personal experience, right, like I one of the things like I've had to work on in going to therapy was my reaction to things and changing my reactions to a response, right? And when a stim some type of stimuli, stimulus happens to me, is taking a beat, you know, and using that brief space to actually respond and not react, right? And that happens plenty of times where something happens to you because my whole thing was whatever whatever you did to me, or I feel that you did to me, my reaction to it, my what I thought was a response, but my reaction to it is justified, no matter how big, right? And it's like, whoa, like that's way too much. Like you guys were playing around, and yeah, you fell down, but you just threw a whole fucking drink all over her. That's so fucked up. Yeah. And he's like, oh shit, you know? So um, and then further in along that same, continue along the same path, he apologized, which to us seems like an insignificant. It's not that that that apology does not match the level of his action, right? But she being uh a classic. Typical black woman, right? Because one of the things you hear women, black women describe as when you're trying to prop them up, you call them strong,
Black Women Expected to be Strong
SPEAKER_03right?
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Which has become a double-edged sword throughout history because it's like, all right, well, now they're expected, y'all are expected to be strong and withstand a whole bunch of bullshit. Because don't worry, girl, you're strong. It's like, what the fuck? Why do I have to be strong? Like, can I just be? Can like shit just not happen to me? And again, we're led to assume or believe that Jamie's one who oversaw the choreography of this. So of course he's gonna think that this makes sense, right? Oh, the playful pushing down. I threw the thing out of anger, but no baby, I'm sorry. And of course, she's gonna do the thing that a traditionally strong black woman is does, which is I forgive you. Yeah. You know? Um, very interesting stuff.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, hell yeah, it is. It definitely is, as we talk more and more about it, because and it's that's the thing, like that's a if this was like if this was like some maybe they went to a show and this just happened to be the dance, and yeah, okay, maybe this is just this is just like a one to dance, but no, he saw this, he paid for this, he agreed to it, he agreed, he saw it. So this was just his emotion. He didn't know how to say what he wanted to say. So he's like, well, I'm gonna surprise you with this thing, but actually it's just my feelings of like, hey, I feel like you're doing me wrong, but I don't know how to what to do about it. So I'm gonna throw a drink in your face because you're and then he he made the comment at some point, you know, one day you're gonna wake up in your bed and I'm gonna be gone. I don't even think she blinked the eye at it. She was like, Oh, okay. But he was like, No.
SPEAKER_03Um these guys keep staring her down and she doesn't fucking blink. Yeah, like they don't understand, like she's not gonna blink. Yeah. Um, and he did, he did, I think he doubled down with that comment later on and said how she's gonna regret this or something.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, but she doesn't owe him like this emotional labor because he caught feelings, like he knew what was going on. It wasn't like something he learned midway and he's like, I'm gonna stick it out. Like day one, she's like, yo, this is what I do, and he tried to like show, like, hey, I'm a good guy, and you shouldn't waste your time with all these other guys and blah blah blah.
SPEAKER_03I'm the right guy. I'm the right guy for you. Yeah. They were showing the beginnings of a um budgeting um toxic relationship, right? Yeah, even from her saying, um, when he ended things, which was his right to end things. He's upset, he can't deal anymore. So he ended things, right? Yeah, so her calling him saying, Hey, I need you, it's an emergency. That's toxic behavior. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Period. Yeah. Right? Because she knows the power she has over him. Yes. She knows that he she can call him in the middle of the night, and he's gonna get the fuck up from wherever, whoever he's and come over.
SPEAKER_01I 100% was not coming over, I'm gonna be honest. Especially if I had a girl next to me. Like, I wasn't coming. I'd be like, I'm burning the hand.
SPEAKER_02Like, what the fuck? Yeah, and she and the girl was like, listen, when you come back, I won't be here. He was like, He didn't left. I was like, okay, I wasn't leaving, I'll be honest.
SPEAKER_03I don't care who that's which which which was powerful too. That one line from her saying, because again, it shows a control, just the toxic space that was creep being created, right? Then he gets over there, and yeah, you know, there's no emergency, right? It's just like I just want you, right? And he he contributes to the toxic space, yeah, and he fucking rapes her, right? So that whole scene is very interesting because when I watched it, I was like, um I was like, oh, my immediate thing was like, oh fuck, he's right, he's gonna he raped her. But then later on, she couched it by saying, You're near rape of me, right? Which I was like, oh, I guess it wasn't a rape. And it's like, no, no, no, no. So that part right there, that's just that's 80s speak, that's 80s thinking, that's rape. Yeah, right. And there's even I saw um a quote from Spike Lee. I think they were getting ready to do the show on Netflix, where he said his only regret or his uh biggest regret from that movie was that scene. Oh, okay. He said he he said he wished he had never included that, he should have never had the rape scene in there. Okay. And he's like, he's nothing like he's definitely won't do that in this TV show. And um, he said that was him just being immature and children, not really understanding, you know, the the seriousness of it. So he he does say if he could redo that, that part would be out of now.
SPEAKER_02Because it really just kind of takes away from the like where the movie's going out of the lessons, like it just becomes like, what what is happening at this point? Like it's it's it's a lot of lesson learned and a lot of like oh okay, this is how what things can look, and it you know, you could really look at it, and then it just completely just takes away her power, like in that 10 seconds, it's just like oh, yep.
SPEAKER_03And she and the movie worked very hard to keep her empowered the entire time, yeah. And then for it to be taken away there, and I guess and her saying your near rape of me is not empowering, what that's doing, uh unintentionally, admittedly, right? But what that's doing is it's normalizing rape because rape comes in all kinds of different forms, and sometimes you have victims or people who don't understand that they were raped, right? And that scene doesn't help clear things up. Uh well, her saying making that comment doesn't clear things up, it normalizes and makes it okay. Yeah, right. So that is that is definitely the one clear problem with the movie, and also too from a character perspective, because I do feel like um I do feel like with her coming to terms with like yo, Greg, you're not it, Mars, you're not it, those characters didn't devolve into like monsters, they just who they were who they were, and she just was realized we're not it to each other.
SPEAKER_04Right, right, right.
SPEAKER_03Jamie was the only one that had uh an arc where he fucking descended into a dark place and became destructive. And and then she used that to be like, oh, he's mad at me, I need to make things right so that we can be together. Right. It does kind of muddy the message a little bit. Yeah. Umfortunately. They fix it at the end. Yeah, they fix it at the end where it's not like she and Jamie ended up together because that would have fucking, I think, ruined the whole movie if that was the case, you know.
SPEAKER_02Pretty bad, Spike, but otherwise, nice and ten. Um, okay. The other thing I want to talk about before we wrap things up real quick is that Thanksgiving scene. Please.
SPEAKER_04Yes, yes, yes.
SPEAKER_02I don't think I I was watching this movie and I was like, even like I'm pretty ballsy when I wanna be, right? I'm like, I don't think any part of me could invite three different women, people, whatever, that I'm sleeping with to have a
Thanksgiving Dynamics And Visual Storytelling
SPEAKER_02Thanksgiving dinner with me, and they all show up in you expect them to be okay. And they're all okay about it, and we're just gonna have a lovely. She was mad. She's like, I just wanted a lovely Thanksgiving. I was like, what the fuck? What do you think was gonna happen with these three men here all competing for your attention, your time, uh, you know, your love, your affection, your body. Like, they all know about each other, but it's a totally different story when that person is in your face and you're sharing a meal breaking bread with this person. Like, I guess she thought they were just gonna like talk sports and like worship her. Like, I didn't understand what I didn't understand this scene except to show she has a hell of a lot of power, which okay. Yeah, but other than that, I I don't I didn't get it. I didn't get this. What did you pick up from it?
SPEAKER_03Man, that that thing, her being like, hey guys, like you guys are Eskimo bros now. Like that's that's not cool, man. Yeah. And I I I guess it does show like you said the power, but it also show is not good to just have, right? And like how you wield it, how you use it, right? So this is where I think where we start to see some cracks in in Nola's um personality, right? In who she is, her character, in her character, uh, right? Because up until then, like the whole time you're like, okay, cool, like, like wow, she's really having sex and relationships with these, not just sex, but relationships with these three different guys. But it's like, why is that not okay? It's it's fine. She's being honest, she's been open with it. But there's one thing with being honest, another being insensitive.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And her inviting those three guys there, expecting them to play nice and then getting mad at them when they started to fight. Like, come on, Nola. Like, you're you're being shitty. So like so that's the broad thing of it, right? Go being more, I guess, specific about what happens. It is very interesting. Uh, you see the three men, and you can see their strengths and weaknesses, right? Um, Mars is the less educated of the three, right? But he's the better talker, right? Right? He's he's the one that's he's talking the most, uh, is what I picked up. And he's the one that's interacting with her the most. He's making her laugh, you know, he's saying funny shit. And even when he's being like petty towards the others, yeah, especially Greer.
SPEAKER_00He really didn't like Greer.
SPEAKER_03He did not like Greyer at all. I mean, Grey is super fucking unlikable.
SPEAKER_00I'm just yeah, honest. But damn, that was just blatant.
SPEAKER_03But even when but he but he was still being playful, like, you know, like the two guys fucking around with each other, right? Jamie did not do a whole lot of speech.
SPEAKER_02He didn't say shit barely.
SPEAKER_03No, he didn't. He just kind of let them twist. He was he was yeah, he was very reactive, he was responding to other people. Yeah, right? He was responding to Mars's jokes, or he was responding to the situation, but he didn't come in, he was not really able to take charge. Even when at the end, when he was like, Alright, guys, this is what we're gonna do, and Mars was like, Fuck that. I'm gonna wash my one plate, my one fork, my one knife, and that's it. Right. He's like, Alright, cool. And then uh Greyer, on the other hand, he was his his normal self, just like uh being being destructive. He's when he talks, he's talking down to her, questioning her decisions, he's um uh disrespecting the other guys and and and you know being being rude and all that stuff with them. So it was just interesting seeing the three of them and and the dynamic. What I could not understand for the life of me is how after Grace stormed off from the fucking dinner, they end up playing Scrabble. What is that?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I don't know. Adam is so mad. That gunner, my boy's like gunner's not a word. He's like, and then Nola said he's like sink, totally. He was mad about that gunner. He was like, okay. I don't know how they she must have like, come on, guys, and they were like, fine. Not only that, but then they all end up like in her bedroom.
SPEAKER_03This last scene. Amazing stuff.
SPEAKER_02Jamie and Jamie and Nola are cuddling on the bed. Greer is like on the like uh little like uh off to the side in a little chair, like um Mars is like curled up like an attic like a cat under the end of the bed.
SPEAKER_03Dude, listen to me. The that visual alone speaks fucking volumes. Yes, right? Yes, yes, yes. Because regardless of how Nola conducts herself or you know how she treats all of them, it is clear that Jamie is the one that she we're gonna say love. The love is the word, but she's the one she he's the one that she has the most affection for. He's the one that she can, if she felt like she was gonna settle down and do the whole uh uh husband and wife thing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he's a monogamy thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Claire, she values that relationship a little bit more than the rest. Right. Right? Um, it's clear that so she values that one the most. So who's in the bed with her? Jamie. Yeah. They're all cuddled up. Mars, on the other hand, is he's the playful one, right? He's the one that you have fun with, you want to have a good time, you want to have a lab, you're feeling sad. Mars is gonna make you feel better. But it's just it's so superficial, and it's like it's like you, it's like a pet. Right. Where is he? At the foot of the bed, you know? And I was I was it's like, hey, hey, get off the you know, get off the couch, you know, talking to your dog or whatever. Like, he's on the foot of the bed where your pet would be. Going over to Grare now, who is purely physical, man. Like, even when he invited her and said, Hey, like, can we um I have a uh business deal in the Caribbean? Two weeks, come with me. She's like, Dog, the thought of spending two weeks alone with you, like, I can't fucking.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I was like, I don't know how you hear that. And I was like, cool, well, anyway, like I was like, bro, okay, well, I guess this is over. Like, you can't stand two weeks with me.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. So he's the one that's so distant, there's no connection there. He's sitting off in the chair. Like, listen, I missed it the first time. My second watch, I just I had the screen paused and I saw that scene. I'm like, dude, Spike Lee is saying some fucking things with the fucking visuals and imagery here. Yeah, 100%. Yeah, really good. It was really amazing. As crazy and unrealistic as that fucking Thanksgiving scene is, uh, he was able to communicate a lot. He used the scene very well. Very well.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the bed scene, the over the overhead of the bed scene definitely was like, okay, it's very obvious. I mean, it was obvious already, but okay, now you know. And then Mars, uh, sorry, Greer was the first to like, okay, what the fuck? Like, what am I doing? And he was out, which makes sense because he don't, he's very, he's very physical. He really he doesn't, I mean, he I think, you know, he likes the thought of her. I don't think he actually loves her or likes her, but you know, he likes the thought of her. You know, so he's like, well, I can't have her as I'm out. And eventually, and then very similar to the pet the pet uh and cat thing, you know, Mars like kind of pokes at her foot a couple times and she doesn't move. She doesn't he's like, Well, I guess I'll leave then. So he throws on his jacket.
SPEAKER_03You can't play, there's no playtime. It's not playtime, right? So it's time to go.
SPEAKER_02He throws on his Jackie, he leaves, and then you have uh Jamie and uh Nola left. So yeah, I think it was it was shot very well there.
SPEAKER_03The we kinda
Therapy, Stigma, And Validation
SPEAKER_03we skipped around the therapy um scene. I do think that's important to talk about as well.
SPEAKER_04Okay, go for it.
SPEAKER_03So that was the one time we saw Grey able to get inside of Nola's head where he's like, There's something wrong with you. He's like, I'm not saying you're a nymph or a slut, but I think you're addicted to sex. Yeah, that's sexy. And the fact that she even took that on, maybe she had some insecurities about it, or she had to have had some insecurities, and she's probably thought about that to herself. Like, I mean, she's she's a young, attractive black woman in the 80s. Ain't no way it's okay, okay, uh culturally, socially, for her to be having sex with all these dudes and having such an open like lifestyle. It it she's gonna, you can imagine she's hearing people talk about it. Her parents, I mean her dad did talk about her not being able to stick to one thing. So I'm sure she's getting it a lot. Um, she we saw where she were her roommate, where they stopped being friends, well, they stopped being roommates, um, but their friendship suffered because of her openness and just you know, people are not gonna find that shit accepting. So then this guy who he gets in her head and is like, there's something wrong, and she's like, Well shit, maybe. And she goes to this therapist and they talk about it and they talk about it and they talk about it. And the movie did an excellent and amazing thing, which was that therapist said, This is a good thing.
SPEAKER_02You're fine, you're fine, yeah, you're good.
SPEAKER_03You have a healthy sex life, you know. And she did say to Nola, though, if you want to dive deeper and discuss this thing that is called love and what that means, we can have that discussion.
SPEAKER_02But the first thing Greer says as soon as she tells him is, ah, what does that woman doctor know? I'm like, Yeah, yeah, yeah. As he's pumping iron or whatever. I'm like, okay.
SPEAKER_03Fucking asshole. Fucking asshole.
SPEAKER_02All right. That's why the next one we're seeing.
Music, Cinematography, Cultural Impact And Final Ratings
SPEAKER_03All right, let's score it. Plot and writing. What do you have?
SPEAKER_02Uh for plot and writing, I got a seven.
SPEAKER_03Okay. What what kept us from being higher?
SPEAKER_02Than a seven. Yeah. Oh shit. Um for plot and writing. Here we go. I had a seven. Um I think I didn't just I just didn't change it. I think it got better as we spoke about it, especially with the Wizard of Oz uh miss that I had in the beginning, and we kind of talked about it. So I you know I th I thought it was good. I just didn't Not a lot of words were I mean the plot was there, which was a nice plot and something you wouldn't see normally, but it wasn't a lot of like dialogue. Even though there was a lot of dialogue.
SPEAKER_03Because I have a nine. That's fair.
SPEAKER_02I think that's fine.
SPEAKER_03No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_02I think a nine is fine. I'm probably underscoring a little, but I'm gonna stick with my seven.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. My thing with the nine um is there there are some clunky dialogue moments, definitely. Yeah, it's such a fresh, it's a rich such an original plot, you know, and script. Yeah, you know, and I think I'm giving a lot of credit for that, and um it it makes sense for the most part. I mean, we did say that Thanksgiving thing didn't make sense, but I could follow the story from A to B. Yeah. Um and then the the extra layers that was the subtext that was in there. So I I I bumped it up for that. I am nervous because that is clearly the highest I've scored any plot.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm surprised you said nine.
SPEAKER_03Like even so that's why I'm wondering if I should put it down to an Nah.
SPEAKER_02I mean, listen, man, if you felt it, you felt it. You've justified it. I'm good with it.
SPEAKER_03So I scored everything just just now because I hadn't scored it beforehand. So I after we discussed, this is what I'm feeling. So maybe I'm a little high. But we'll see. All right, let's let's keep going then. Acting and casting, what did you what did you go there?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I also got that a seven as well.
SPEAKER_03I think that's fair. Yeah, I'm I'm gonna give it a seven too. Um did you know that um Nola is Uniqua from New Jack City? Yeah, that's her. Um, you know Uniquewa, the one who was um the one who was with G Money, but then she didn't. Yeah, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's that's her. That's her. So she didn't go on to have some illustrious yeah. I was I was watching some Spike Lee um interviews. Yeah. Um, because we actually didn't talk a lot about Spike Lee, but um Oh, as a director. I was watching some Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh but I watched some listen to some of his interviews, and he did talk about um she has sent in a headshot. I said she. Let me give you her name. Tracy Camila Johns. Tracy Camilla Johns. Um she sent in a headshot, he liked her, and you know, when he checked her out, like she was she was good. And he did, he just kind of said he didn't spend a lot of time in it, but he did talk about it, just he felt like she didn't really take her acting career as seriously as she could have or should have, and which is why she didn't go on to have some long career. Um she did show up, I think about four, she did about five movies total, I think. Um Jack City, but including New Jack City, yeah. But I think like her last acting credit was in like ninety six or something like that. Okay. Yeah, so yeah. Anyway, okay. Um production cinematography and visuals.
SPEAKER_02That's a solid ten.
SPEAKER_03Ten, okay. I gave it a nine. Okay. But um, yeah, that's it was it was beautiful. The pictures were taken by his brother. David Lee is his brother. He did the still photography for the for the movie. Oh, Ernest Dickerson.
SPEAKER_02He's the cinematographer, yeah. Yeah, that's it. He's the director of photography. Yeah, that's why I was like, isn't it Ernest something? Yeah, yeah. But I guess the actual stills was okay.
SPEAKER_03I was talking about a still foot. Remember when she he was uh it would cycle through these photos of Brooklyn? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was his brother. Okay, okay, okay, okay.
SPEAKER_02Okay, gotcha, gotcha.
SPEAKER_03Um, and a fun fact, um uh Clorinda Bradford, the room it was playing the bass, that's his sister, Joa Lee is her name.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. He had his whole family in there, and they're all musicians. It definitely tied to how he how he got so involved with like music and art and you know the black the black story in those different um realms.
SPEAKER_03So absolutely. Uh okay, so you give that 10, I give it a nine for music and sound. What do you got for that?
SPEAKER_02I give it a nine.
SPEAKER_03Okay, I give that one a 10.
SPEAKER_02Oh shit.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02I mean, great jazz, great pieces, then even the original song uh from Nola, you know.
SPEAKER_03The whole thing is original. So Billy did that. Yeah, Billy hits his dad. Spikely's dad, who was Nola's dad in the movie. He was also cast in the movie. And then Cultural Impact, what you got?
SPEAKER_01Ten.
SPEAKER_03Ten. Same. Ten.
SPEAKER_02This was pretty high.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. This this is our highest ranked movie.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah. These indie movies are like I was just saying.
SPEAKER_03The last Couple movies we're done, Derek. These are our easily the highest movies. Well is that it? Any more thoughts on She's Gotta Have It?
SPEAKER_02No. Excellent movie. Excellent debut. Hell of a swing, and it obviously paid off.
SPEAKER_03So Yes, yes, it did. Well, then that will do it for our Real Talk and Banter on the spikely debut film. She's Gotta Have It. Thanks for listening today to connect with us to give us some feedback or just to say hello. Email us at real talkbanter at gmail.com. That's R-E-E-L banter at gmail.com. Thank you all. See y'all next time.
SPEAKER_02See us.
SPEAKER_03Oh, those are reserved. Goodbye. I'm always waiting for you to like do some like over the top thing or you know. All right. Yeah, yeah. Sometimes. Sometimes I want consistency. Oh no, I might have to go to the back.