Great Character: Mars Blackmon (“She’s Gotta Have It”)

The Great Character theme for the month: Spike Lee. Today: Mars Blackmon from the movie She’s Gotta Have It (1986), written by Spike Lee. Here is Jason Cuthbert’s weekly Great Character post.

Back in 1986, She’s Gotta Have It emerged as an independent film that did everything differently. SGHI was shot in beautiful black and white. It featured authentically drawn, brilliantly evolved African-American characters — avoiding stale stereotypes. It featured a female protagonist reversing her “gender role” with three boyfriends that all know about each other. It also gave birth to a movie character that would basically become the logo for screenwriter/director/producer Spike Lee — the out-of-this-world Mars Blackmon.

After stealing scenes with unfiltered charm, soon it became “Nike’s Gotta Have It.” The wise-cracking Brooklyn hip hop b-boy Mars Blackmon began to orbit around classic Nike sneaker commercials, graced popular apparel and became the recognizable comedic side-kick to his royal airness, Mr. Michael “NBA” Jordan.

Before online crowdfunding campaigns began to kick start indie films into production with communal comradery, Spike Lee manually crowdfunded his own $175,000 budgeted debut, way before the internet, by all means necessary with grants, donations and deferments.

The results of Spike’s inspiring resilience and fearless momentum was She’s Gotta Have It grossing $7.1 million in North America, and winning coveted awards from the Cannes Film Festival, the Independent Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Almost 30 years later, Spike Lee, She’s Gotta Have It and Mars Blackmon have been firmly propelled into the cultural conversation — a landmark in cinematic diversity.

She’s Gotta Have It summary from IMDB:

Story of a woman and her three lovers.

We meet Mars Blackmon, as he literally collides into us on his Mars Mobile — a fuel-efficient (aka “no fuel) and environmentally sound bike. The Mars Blackmon uniform is timeless to urban 80s kids: the Georgetown Hoya t-shirt, the Mars belt buckle and matching gold medallion, the thick Cazel specs, his New York Knicks Starter jacket, that Brooklyn messenger cap and his pride and joy — his inaugural Air Jordan Nike sneakers — the first of many annual editions (way before the Jordan empire exploded).

But Mars is surely not just a mannequin for fashion brands. Blackmon also wears his quirks, criticisms and comedy like an embedded badge of honor. Part of Mars’ refreshing pedigree is that he throws all that disingenuous artificial polite jazz out the window. You always know exactly where he stands and what he thinks.

MARS BLACKMON: You know, we could put a divider right here, and you’ll have a roommate…me. You’ll never know I’m here.

Those cutting critiques may not come across with an Ivy League academic version of the alphabet — but his Brooklyn state-of-mind is genuine. He knows his truth — and soon we the audience do as well.

MARS BLACKMON: Aint no psychiatrist, but I believe one of the reasons Nola Darling was doing all that boning. What? Having sex. Boning. Anyway, like I was saying. I think she was doing it because she probably had a bad relationship with her father.

There is a super smart balance of vulgar and comedic escapism that Mars elicits.

MARS BLACKMON: I used to be panty man. Do you smell something?

It’s like, before the leading lover Nola Darling has a chance to be offended or annoyed by Blackmon’s banter, she is already doubling over with laughter.

MARS BLACKMON: (referring to Nola’s reproductive organ) Nola, just let me smell it.

Mars may have been unemployed for the last two years and might be intellectually and financially out of Nola’s league in the long term. But he still brandishes a secret weapon that the other two Nola friends-with-benefits lack — his effortless funny bone.

MARS BLACKMON: If I can make a babe laugh, I’m over like a fat rat. When they stop laughing, I book. I leave.

But like many tragic realities to our fallen comedic heroes (Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, John Belushi), there is a sullen sense of internal defeat floating behind that wide confident smile. It becomes no joke when Mars’ bedtime escapades with Nola get an upgrade to the “L” Word…he loves her.

MARS BLACKMON: [begging Nola not to dump him] Please baby, please baby, please baby, baby baby please!

From the very beginning when Mars joked about moving in with the sexy, educated, artistic Nola Darling, he makes it known that life with this ideal darling would be better than the one he inhabits alone. Desperation ensues. Mars is on a mission to make Nola land on his planet by dropping those “two Joe Neck bones” as he has labeled them, and join her lord of laughter in an exclusive situation.

MARS BLACKMON: (to Jamie): Nola’s about as dependable as a ripped diaphragm.

For his colorful, grounded flamboyance, his self-assured blunt honesty and his desire to be more than the comic relief in Nola’s romantic world — Mars Blackmon is a wildly GREAT CHARACTER that you gotta have in your movie collection.

Thank you, Jason, for this post and the entire month-long series featuring characters from Spike Lee movies.

You may follow Jason on Twitter: @A2Jason.