Ela Quer Tudo

Spike Lee's style isn't for everyone. With multiple graphic sex scenes and extreme adult situations, I can understand why people don't care for this show. However, since the world of Nola is confusing and crazy, the style seems fitting. There are times when the editing sucks and the acting falls flat, but overall, you won't be bored.

Spike Lee plus Brooklyn plus his breakout story had the potential to be really good. Unfortunately, it wasn't.

First, the positive. The soundtrack to this series is amazing! Spike really did his thing with the song selection. Second, the shots and cinematography were great. Spike and his crew really make Brooklyn come alive in this series. Third, Dewanda Wise is gorgeous to look at. At times I was able to overlook the ridiculousness of Nola Darling because I was looking a Wise's pretty brown face.

Now the negative. The concept is dated now. Women having more sexual agency is not new in film or TV. Even worse her preaching about it so much makes her character come off as selfish and even detached from reality. In one scene she tells the therapist the men in her life are trying to control her. That made me laugh. Because up to that point in the series the only person who ever required anything of her was her female lover, Opal. The men were all content with just sex.

And the men in this series were a sore point. These guys don't exist in real life. As a result it makes Nola's character seem even more hollow. Her power is derived from "living her truth" with these men. But their characters are so weak it makes her unbelievable. Mars Blackmon is like a teenager. Asserting your sexual reality against him is no accomplishment.

Finally, the messages in the series are too heavy handed. At times it seemed like Spike wanted to preach a message about gentrification so he built a TV series around it. Also, the random monologues got in the way of the story. Nola breaking the 4th wall always seemed forced and fake deep. Shamecka was more interesting as a character than Nola.

I remember very much liking the original film but this rewrite is a total miss. None of the characters are at all likable, except maybe Mars, however, if you met that guy in real life you would probably run far, far away. I read in some other review that the biggest problem with Spike Lee films is the prevalence of amateur acting. And I think that strikes at the heart of this series too. The actress playing Nola is not compelling. There seems to be this confusion of beauty with charm and magnetism. This combined with the corny lines was just cringe-worthy.

Unfortunately the best thing about this show is the soundtrack. The rest of movie seems like a self-indulgent exercise by the director and whoever wrote the horrible, leaden script. Someone said it in a earlier review but the dialogue could not have been any more unnatural. What were they thinking? While he does capture some beautiful images of Brooklyn, the characters are poorly developed and Spike was clearly trying to push a narrative at the cost of the story. The lead character is interesting but she was not given opportunities to shine within this vanity project. Please spare us a third season

Was turned off by the first episode but pressed on as I had heard good reviews. But in short, this show is garbage. And most upsetting is the fact that it has been characterized as "bold", "honest", and "fresh". Unfortunately, the show's "heroine" is a smug, narcissistic, irresponsible and confused mess. It's hard to watch, and disappointing to think that with this kind of material, Spike Lee fancies himself a voice for black Americans everywhere. The characters remain mostly undeveloped and the story, while it has its high points, is largely pointless and unresolved. And I guess the critics are too polite to call it "trash" so instead they praise Spike Lee's genius. Overall, I guess if you enjoy a show like Issa Rae's Insecure with its portrayal of confused, "sexually liberated", black women — along with a couple sassy "black girl-isms" thrown in (yaasss girl) — then you'll enjoy this too. But so as not to encourage more of this tripe content from Netflix, I'd suggest that you pass.