All questions revolve around the 1986 film, She's gotta have it by Spike Lee: In what ways is Lee perhaps critiquing the stereotypes of Black males that might exist inside and outside of Black culture?

In what ways is it commenting on the struggle of African-American women? On society’s assumptions about female sexuality in general?

What are the good and the bad qualities in each of Nola’s 3 suitors? Is it possible for a man to aspire to embody all the good and avoid all the bad?

What does the film have to say about the nature of love in general? Are we persuaded that Nola’s approach to relationships is healthy and/or sustainable – at least for her?

This film launched the career of one of the most important contemporary directors. In case you’ve seen any of Spike Lee’s other films, how do you think this one fits into his oeuvre?

In what ways do you think this film might have catalyzed a shift in the representation of Blacks in film? How does the setting/mise-en-scene help to support that shift?

The film has a 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes and 80% on Metacritic. Notably, it won the Award of the Youth at the Cannes Film Festival and Best First Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards? Last year, it was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” There even were 2 seasons of a Netflix series a couple of years ago. What qualities do you think made the film so well received?

The film was made on a tiny budget, $175,000, and it made $7.1 million at the box office – a ratio of 40 to 1. (Considering that that is about 1/1,000 of what many Hollywood movies cost, we might as well say it was made for free.) Filming took 12 days! What does that tell us about the relationship between expense and quality? Could the film have been greatly improved with a higher budget?

Family members and friends contributed their talents for very little compensation. What does that suggest about alternative approaches to creativity and other forms of human activity in general?