What Is The Conflict Between Nola And Women In She's Charming Have It

In Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It stereotypical gender roles are systematically broken down through the obvious reversal of the classical Hollywood narration technique concerning the delineation between the man’s function and the woman’s usually less meaningful function within a film. Throughout this inverted spectacle, the point that Nola Darling is an independent woman is continually made. This point serves to propel the plot forward because Nola’s sexual independence goes against all conventions of typical womanhood much to the ire of three men. The film arranges for a battle between Nola and women in film aspiring to be independent on the one side, with men supported by classical Hollywood narration on the other seeking to undermine their

As Nola lay ill in bed, Opal and Jamie have a strange encounter. As Jamie comes home to see that Opal has taken his place caring for Nola, he immediately feels threatened as evidenced by his tense voice. In response to Opal’s claim that Nola and herself have a lot of fun together Jamie, with a mirthless smile asks, “What kind of fun?” With no clear response, Jamie decides to confront Opal. As he walks over to Opal in the kitchen, he faces her sternly and the two of them have a brief, uncomfortable confrontation. Opal backs down and takes a seat, and Jamie gains noticeable control of the kitchen, the screen with it, and moves forward into Opal’s exact previous position. Jamie having taken control of the kitchen, a space usually reserved for women, from an actual woman goes to show that through the mise-en-scene’s setting and onscreen actions there is a conflict brewing among the characters and that not everything is what it seems; role disparities based on gender in film have to be redefined. This conflict represents a historical, internal and reticent struggle among fictional characters in films. Spike Lee brings this struggle that has persisted since the realization of a classical Hollywood narration in 1920 to

Opal asks straightforwardly, “Do I threaten you?” Jamie ignores the question, but takes a seat for a more intimate confrontation with Opal. Jamie expresses his astonishment to Opal’s homosexuality considering she is “very beautiful” to which Opal responds, “How one looks has no bearing.” Males and females are often contrasted according to their physical form. Opal challenges this notion, and by challenging this notion, she is concurrently challenging the underlying ideology that makes it acceptable to contrast two individuals and those individuals’ roles in society according to their physical makeup. Opal then rises from the table and walks away, the sound of her footsteps isolated, suggesting her refusal to comply with Jamie’s perceived authority and society’s double