Indigo, Clarke, and the Madonna Complex
How Spike Lee's "Mo' Better Blues" (1990) depicts the ultimate dating dilemma: to wife, or not to wife?
Spike Lee has to be one of my favourite film directors of all time. His style and talent are unmatched. You can close your eyes during opening credits and open them once the movie kicks off and know right away from the cinematography (shout out to Ernest Dickerson) that it’s a Spike Lee joint. He has a very distinctive way of coordinating colour with music, engaging your senses and your attention from the get-go. Spike has this knack for building a universe you want to be a part of and creating such complex yet familiar characters. Mo’ Better Blues (1990) is no exception. Along with the classics Do the Right Thing (1989) and Malcolm X (1992), it is my absolute favourite movie. From the cinematography to the music and the acting, Mo’ Better Blues is a movie I can never get tired of rewatching. Yet every single time I do, the love triangle between the main protagonist Bleek and his love interests Clarke and Indigo always leaves me puzzled. Why does Bleek choose Indigo?
Speedy Quick Synopsis
Mo’ Better Blues is set in the vibrant New York City jazz scene and follows the story of Bleek Gilliam (played by Denzel Washington), the famous lead trumpeter of the Bleek Gilliam Quintet. We see Bleek navigate stardom as well as his romantic life, which is characterized by the love triangle between him, Clarke, and Indigo. The cast includes Spike Lee who plays Giant’s the band’s manager, Wesley Snipes who plays Shadow the band’s Saxophone player and friendly rival to Bleek, Cynda Williams as Clarke, and Joie Lee as Indigo.
The Big Decision
The motivations behind Bleek’s romantic choices and the behaviour that ensues from them very much mirrors what I’ve witnessed among my male peers, and it’s something I always had a difficult time wrapping my head around. So let’s dive in, shall we?
Bleek is a superstar. He is adored for his talent and his charm, and he is the ultimate playboy. The stardom does go to his head, but it is easily camouflaged by his genuine passion for and dedication to his craft. Since he was a young boy, a gruelling work ethic has been drilled into him when it came to his music to a point where he was never given the chance to simply be Bleek Gilliam outside of his music (which we will see later on). As if being a talented and popular musician wasn’t enough, Bleek finds the time to juggle two women at the same time: Indigo the demure and stable school teacher, and Clarke the alluring aspiring jazz singer. Bleek has something to gain from being with both of them.
Indigo gives him safe and comfortable stability. Because she is not a part of the music world, Indigo offers Bleek a sort of safe haven away from all the rah-rah of the music scene. With Indigo, Bleek can escape and retreat to a more traditional life. In a way, he gets the benefit of an emotionally healthy relationship, the “white picket fence” kind of life, where Indigo sort of plays the traditional role of the wife waiting for him at home. But, he still has the freedom to be the playboy musician that he is and be the star. Because Indigo isn’t a part of the music scene and doesn’t want much to do with it, it excuses Bleek from his bad behaviour; since she’s not there and doesn’t want to know anything about it, why should he be held accountable?
With Clarke, it’s a completely different ball game. Her personality is the polar opposite of Indigo’s. She is seductive, ambitious, and quite sassy. Clarke does things her way, she is unbridled and doesn’t let anybody tell her what to do. Bleek certainly finds it attractive, but unlike with Indigo, he can’t keep Clarke in check. With her fierce independence, Clarke mirrors Bleek in a way, she gives him a taste of his own medicine and he’s no longer as much in control as he’s in with Indigo. Clarke has a little bit of an ulterior motive: she hopes that Bleek will give her her big break, by allowing her to sing with the band. His ego wouldn’t be able to handle the idea of her also being a star. Because she is trying to make a name for herself in the music industry, he tries to keep her at a distance since there’s only room for one underneath the spotlight and he’s not sharing.
However, the main reason which makes me question Bleek choosing Indigo over Clarke is the circumstances in which he ends up with her. It happens at the end of the movie. After defending his friend Giant in a fight against bookies, Bleek gets punched and his front teeth get knocked out he loses his ability to play. He loses all hope in life. One night, he decides to go see his ex-band play at a show they are headlining. The group has now become Shadow’s group, his ex-Saxophone player and “frenemy”, and the lead singer is none other than Clarke. When Bleek is invited up on stage to perform, the crowd is excited, anticipating the great return of the once-famous Bleek Gilliam. Yet the second Bleek tries to hit his first note, it’s a disaster. He can no longer play like before, and it’s devastatingly embarrassing. He stumbles off stage and runs off to see Indigo. Whom by the way, he hasn’t seen or spoken to (or rather ignored) since his accident — an entire year has gone by. It is only once he has lost everything and no longer is Bleek the superstar trumpeter, that he now supposedly realizes that Indigo is the one he wants. So why string Clarke along, if all this time Indigo was the woman Bleek wanted?
Indigo, Clarke, and the Madonna Complex
Let’s take a moment to forget the movie for a second and consider what tropes the characters embody. Bleek is the quintessential 21st-century f*ckboy: charming, smooth talker, and just emotionally unavailable enough to keep the women he’s involved with roped in, yet at arms’ length. Opposite him, we have the two leading ladies embodying the Madonna-whore complex.
Indigo and Clarke represent two sides of the same spectrum: the “Madonna” and the “whore”. On one end, you have Indigo which similarly to the Madonna figure is more subdued, considered to be “pure”, respectable. On the other end, there is Clarke and she can be associated with the “whore” figure which can correspond to the “darker” aspects of femininity such as extreme sex appeal, and promiscuity. So, men like Bleek entertain women like Indigo and Clarke as a way to have their cake and eat it too; they keep the “good girl” in their back pocket until it’s time to commit, and entertain the “bad girl” to have fun with, in the meantime. In Bleek’s eyes, Indigo is the respectable and dependable choice he knows he can always run to: “wifey material”. Clarke on the other hand is the one he lusts after but would never seriously consider committing to.
This is why Bleek’s choice made me pause: it’s such an accurate representation of the way men select the women they want to be with, which is slightly triggering. Men tend to split women into these Madonna-whore categories, decide to mess around with the “whores” knowing very well that they don’t value them as worthy partners while leaving the “Madonnas” alone until they’re ready to be with them. I have often heard my guy friends joke about doing that countless times and when I’ve confronted them about it, they are unable to explain or justify themselves. No matter how many times I try breaking it down to them, classifying women in this way remains their go-to. They necessarily use these words, but the idea remains the same: there are some girls/women you wife, and others you mess around with. I get the premise but being on the receiving end, I can never get over how wrong that is. It’s disrespectful to the Clarkes of the world, who are used and strung along until the Bleeks are ready to discard them. It’s disrespectful to the Indigos of the world, who are expected to sit aside while the Bleeks have their fun and be ready to be at their disposal when they’re done. Even though the Bleeks sometimes even fall in love with the Clarkes, they are willing to push that love aside for the sake of respectability politics. Conversely, even though the Indigos are what the Bleek-types want all along, they have no problem benching them, disregarding their time and feelings for their pleasure.
Final Thoughts…
The dynamic between Bleek, Indigo, and Clarke is a tale as old as time. Smooth-talking charmers such as Bleek (ie men in their twenties) will always find a way to get what they want and will continue to play with fire — even when it blows up in their faces, they find a way to make it work for them regardless. Women entangled in these situations do know better but choose to succumb to their emotions at their own risks — besides when women are done with someone’s BS, they are done. Even though the romantic plot of the film is somewhat triggering, I think it shows the timelessness of it all. As mentioned above, Spike Lee has a knack for creating familiar characters who you can easily associate with people in your life. It speaks to his immense talent and is one of the reasons I enjoy his work so much, and why Mo’ Better Blues remains one of my all-time favourites.
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Mo’ Better Blues Film Review: