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October, 1986 THE MAROON TIGER * Page 11
ENTERTAINMENT REVIEWS
“She’s Gotta Have It’’ Review
Jesse Jackson:
Success or Failure?
The Jesse Jackson
Phenomenon:
The Crisis of Purpose in
Afro-American Politics
By Adolph L. Reed, Jr.
Yale University Press, 1986
170pp. $17.50: paperback,
$5.95
by Obed A. Wheaton
The recent moral debasing
campaign between Atlanta
City Councilman John
Lewis and Senator Julian
Bond, for the 5th Congres
sional district, has been
viewed as detrimental to
post-civil rights are primari
ly, because of the intraelite
conflict present within the
Black leadership family.
Adolph L. Reed, Jr., in his
highly criticized book The
Jesse Jackson Phenomenon,
devotes much attention to
intraelite competition and
suggest that the 1984
presidential campaign and a
tremendously devastating
impact on national black
politics.
Reed is an assistant pro
fessor of Political Science
and Afro-American studies
at Yale University. His book
develops the theme that
Rev. Jackson was “ill-
qualified to represent black
interests”. And that
“Jackson damaged rather
than helped the develop
ment of a viable black
political movement.”
Jackson based his cam
paign on his assertion, ad
vanced by the media, that he
lay claim to the “black
masses”, but Reed contends
that analysis of the voting
tapes in the primaries
revealed a definite stratum
existed among black voters.
Jesse fared better with the
highest black economic class
than with the lowest.
The evidence suggests
that a description of the fer
vent Jackson supporter
would be an upwardly
mobile socioeconomic Black,
who saw the Jackson can
didacy as a way to advance
themselves economically.
The description of the
Jackson supporter becomes
even clearer if one reviews
the ill-conceived political
platform of Jackson.
Rev. Jackson was a strong
supporter of affirmative ac
tion, which benefits the up
wardly mobile dispropor-
tionally, and desired to set
aside contracts specifically
for minority contractors.
These policy initiatives
demonstrate that it was not
the masses that were
represented by Jackson, but
the Buppies.
Reed goes to great lengths
to distill the notion, put
forth by the Jackson sup
porters, that Jackson was
crucial for stimulating black
voter registration and tur
nout. Reed contends that
Jackson has claimed a cause
and effect relationship
where one does not exist.
Statistical analysis of
Black registration in the
South shows that a steady
pattern of growth has been
recorded for the past 10
years, which was likely to
continue. Also, since 1980 a
variety of groups have con
ducted intensive registra
tion drives, and the increase
can be attributed to an at
tempt to challenge Reagan.
Notwithstanding the
limited impact of the Jackson
campaign, Reed concedes
that “the most that can be
said is that the Jackson can
didacy was one element
among several that stimu
lated Black registration.”
Reed persistently attacks
both Jesse Jackson the can
didate and Jesse Jackson
the man. Reed claims that
Jackson did not initiate a
political campaign but a
religious crusade.
The Rev. gained his sup
port and financial backing
by relying on the legitamcy
of the church. Jackson fused
politics and religion, depen
ding exclusively on an
authoritarian force of the
black church to compel
blacks to not only vote but
to also vote for him. The
unregistered black voter and
the black who voted for a
candidate other than
Jackson was viewed an
“Uncle Tom”, and a sinner
in the eyes of God.
The book raises important
questions about the cam
paigns lack of a program
matic agenda and lack of
clarity concerning its party
objectives. Jackson
acknowledged early that his
effort was concerned less
with specific political issues
than with forging an identi
ty with his constituency.
This points to two para-
See JACKSON, Page 16
by Les Smith
Spike Lee’s movie, “She’s
Gotta Have It” seems to be
a women’s lib look at male-
female relationships. Nor
mally a man has several dif
ferent lovers. This movie
reverses the roles and shows
the male as the sensitive and
possessive figure with the
woman as the one who
wants as much fun as she
can take.
The lead woman is Nola
Darling who takes three men
as lovers and uses them all.
As expected, this set up
by Emanuel D. McGirt
Hundreds of black youths
from the metropolitan area
were on hand at the Circle
Embassy Movie Theatre on
Friday, August 1 to view the
opening of the long awaited
movie Good To Go. If the
purpose of the movie is to
promote Go-Go music on a
national scene it failed. The
movie also gave a distorted
view of Black youth and
most teenagers left disap
pointed.
The movie did not focus
solely on Go-Go music. The
director Blaine Nowvak set
up a story plot dealing with
a drug gang who murdered a
nurse, a dirty cop, and an ir
responsible reporter. The
movie is similar to the Black
exploitation films of the
1960’s in that the white
police cop and the
benevolent reporter take it
into their own hands to solve
the stereotypical black com
munity’s problems.
Nevertheless, the 90
minute movie was at its best
when it showed the Go-Go
bands in action. The movie
featured Trouble Funk,
Chuck Brown and the Soul
Searchers, and Redd and the
Boys. However, the bands
only played about 10
minutes, and other 80
minutes were nauseating.
“The movie does not
depict D.C. life,” Damion
doesn’t work as well as she
planned. Not only do they all
find out about each other
and confront Nola, but she
admits what she is doing
and refuses to choose bet
ween them. As a way to try
to get her problem out into
the open. Nola invites the
three of them over for
Thanksgiving dinner. This
quickly becomes one of the
funniest scenes in the movie.
The three suitors (one of
whom is Mars Blackmon
who is played by Spike Lee)
try to prove to Nola who is
the best for her.
These modern day Three
Stooges eliminates one out
Robertson, 15, a student at
Saint John’s High School
said. He stated that the
movie did show what drugs
could do to you but overall
the movie showed all black
people in a bad light. He con
cluded by saying that the
movie was not worth his five
dollars.
Brian McCrae, 21, of N.W.
Washington said “most of
the movie did not have
anything to do with the
music.”
There were no strong or
uplifting characters in the
movie. “The extraordinary
drugs and violence was not
necessary. It was
unrealistic,” stated William
Beard, 17, of Catholic
University. He added that
the music that was played
was good. Vandy Jameson,
26, of S.E. Washington said
the movie was a total distor
tion of Black Youth and that
it didn’t even come close to
portraying in Go-Go music.
If you never attended a
Go-Go after viewing this
movie you would be scared
to attend one. In the first
scene a fight breaks out.
When the gang kills the
nurse in the movie it brings
back flashbacks of the
Katherine Fuller case which
was not necessary. It seem
ed that the movie sought to
show all the negative
aspects of the Black com
munity and nothing
positive.
of the count when he’s called
a “pseudo-black man” by
Mars, which leaves the last
two who flip a coin for Nola.
Without giving away too
much of the movie, I’ll men
tion that Nola finally picks
just one of the three as her
“steady” guy.
This movie is the first ma
jor release by Lee and is also
his actig debut. This film is
hopefully just the first of
many from Lee. His next
project, which will begin be
ing filmed this spring, is
called “School Daze” and
will be filmed on the
Morehouse campus.
“Spike Lee’s
film reaffirms
black stereotypes
by Gregory Powell
Spike Lee considers
“She’s Gotta Have It” a
true reflection of the black
community. The lead lady
(Nola Darling) masturbates,
participates in oral sex,
sleeps with three different
men, and strings a lesbian
along.
The movie achieves one
thing: it affirms all the
stereotypes heaped upon
black men and women. In
historical terms black
women, according to Paula
Giddings in When and
Where I Enter, have tradi
tionally been viewed by
whites as lewd and pro
miscuous. Lee’s character
Nola Darling, who he said is
the typical black woman,
caters to this stereotype:
She beds down every man
within a yard of her grasp.
The male characters were
stunted; they were never
allowed to grow in the pro
duction.
Jamie is so weak he can
not conjure up enough
strength to break off ties
with Nola, even though he
knows he is sharing Nola’s
sexual pleasures with two
men. I have never met a
black man who is willing to
share his companion with
even one man; and two men
is out of the question.
Greer Childs drives a
See SPIKE LEE, page 16
Washington, D.C.
Youth Assess
Movie “Good to Go’’