Mo Better Blues

In Mo’ Better Blues, I thought the name ‘Bleek’ was really telling of the hope--or lack thereof--present within the jazz artist’s life; it was pretty bleak. This character appeared to have great difficulty balancing the pressures of career, time, relationship, and art, revealing the very human side of jazz. There is also a critical difference between him and other characters we’ve seen in that the trumpet is not something he himself was obsessed with; from the first scene, it is apparent that the skill was forced on him by his mother, which emasculates his talent throughout the picture, despite his sexual interactions. Not only is the sexual nature of the jazz artist called into question but the cyclical style of the jazz world is highlighted as Bleek attempts to end its hold on his and his family’s life.

Finding himself in a profession in which a man is expected to have sexual mastery, this character is full of contradictions that he himself cannot keep up with. Because he is unable to keep the two women with whom he is engaged satisfied or even separated, he seems to be played himself. He’s definitely not ‘on top’ of things! Unlike the promiscuous mastery of “Bird,” this character is unable to play the game, even saying the wrong name during sexual intercourse with both women! He appears to even be played by Clarke in several scenes. For instance, in one scene she opens her robe to his trumpet. Although the trumpet may be a phallic symbol, her action is more an invitation to jazz and its sensuality than to Bleek himself, for this woman later bites him on the lip, making him angry. Biting him on the lip may likely be representative of when a person bites a coin, placing a notch on it to mark the fact that he/she has ‘had’ it. By biting him, Clarke makes Bleek one of the many she has ‘had’ and owns him rather than being mastered herself by his masculine sexuality. She is also inviting jazz by her desire to sing with the band. In the end, unable to sustain the jazz life--which I don’t think Bleek could have done even if his lip hadn’t been injured--he winds up married and monogamous. I believe it is significant that his lip is the deciding injury from his brawl outside the club; this is the same place he was bitten by Clarke, almost like she marked his failure from the beginning.


Bleek’s marriage appears to be almost an anti-climax and is very unlike other film endings we’ve seen so far. It enables the repetition of the first scene of the movie, revealing the cyclical nature of the jazz life. The varying results of Bleek’s and his child’s practices, however--with Bleek forced to practice rather than play by his mom but Bleek being a man and overruling his wife when his child wants to play--challenges the cycle. This appears significant since the entire film seems to juxtapose the views of the insiders to jazz (Bleek, Shadow, Clarke) and the outsiders (Giant, Indigo, Bleek’s parents, Loan Sharks). In this final scene, Bleek seems to advocate outsider status for his son.

I’ve not had a chance to read our articles yet but am looking forward to finding what others have said regarding these issues as I read today.