‘We Are Too Rare’: The Importance Of Inclusivity Behind Spike Lee’s ‘She’s Gotta Have It’ Reboot

‘For the first time, I was with people of color occupying both sides of the screen, stamping our perspectives on history.’

I n 1985, a young man by the name of Spike Lee had the audacity to write, direct, produce, and star in a film about female sexuality. The plot revolved around a young black woman — Nola Darling — who, Lee described, is “living her life like a man,” a woman deftly toggling between three lovers, unabashedly voracious for sex.

I speak of course of She’s Gotta Have It, the black and white, Brooklyn-set film made for $175,000 that pulled in $7 million. As The New York Times wrote in 1987, “For an independent, shoestring production, this was remarkable. For an independent shoestring production by a black man about black people, it was astounding.”

The film’s candor, humor, and unrelenting examination of gender, race, class, and sexuality rocketed Lee not just into the arts scene, but placed him at the nexus of black culture.

Lee has gone on to direct 76 film projects—from documentaries and video shorts, to feature length films including Do The Right Thing, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, Chi-Raq, and Rodney King…