Twenty years ago, Spike Lee finished filming the raunchy sex comedy She’s Gotta Have It. The movie was released in 1986 and rumor has it a commemorative DVD will be released. This was the first time many of us were introduced to Spike. His story of Nola Darling, a woman with three boyfriends, was revolutionary at the time because of its portrayal of a woman in a relatinoship role that is typically played by men–having multiple partners and having sex whenever she wanted to. The movie won the Prix de Jeunesse award at Cannes and began Spike’s major studio movie making career.
Fifteen years ago, Mario Van Peebles released New Jack City. The movie put Wesley Snipes and Ice-T on the movie map. The anniversary edition DVD is now available. The movie was one of the first movies not focusing on music to have a rapper turned actor. Ice-T talks about the film and how Peebles approached him to be in it on Ed Gordon’s News and Notes.
The State Of . . . Black cinema is alive and well today. Growing up, both movies were legendary and instant classics in many African-American communities. Spike’s accomplishment inspired many of the current generation of African-American movie makers.
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