Marti, Coretta, Josie, & Matty— Honoring Lisa Nicole Carson’s Four Unforgettable Film Characters

 

The four memorable 1990’s film roles of Lisa Nicole Carson.

“I was a tomboy growing up. Then puberty hit, and seemingly overnight I had a 38DD bra size. I constantly wore sweatshirts and was mad at my body. Then I fell in love as I neared my twenties. I was often the curvy one on set, and I felt beautiful no matter my size.”

Pam Grier and Tamara Dobson— the creme of the 1970’s Blaxploitation era— would certainly pass their torches down to Lisa Nicole Carson, a voluptuous, softly spoken Southern belle whose radiant, dimpled smile lit up the film screen in the 1990’s. Often playing roles so minor, so minuscule, one must not blink in order to truly appreciate her presence, this four time NAACP Image Award nominee and SAG recipient (for being a part of the Ally McBeal TV show ensemble) was memorable in four different roles— dreamy Marti, sensuous Coretta, vicarious Josie, and provocative Matty. 

Marti (Lisa Nicole Carson) takes a moment to reflect and freshen up in Jason’s Lyric, 1994.

No one deserved better than Jason’s Lyric’s Marti— the best friend and fast food co-worker to Lyric. Marti loved memorizing thoughtful quotes and reciting them to Lyric at every opportunity. Her sweet voice articulated findings in ways that made one fancy true romance. Yet resolute on sticking to Lyric’s violent brother, Alonzo, Marti also believed herself unworthy of receiving a love that Lyric had found. 

Director Doug McHenry must have had a purpose in situating the main couples in two particularly different love scenes set outdoors: brightly lit Lyric and Jason are passionately shrouded in a beautiful, floral wilderness while Marti is subjected to a dark back alley romp with Alonzo. 

“I know you think Alonzo isn't perfect, but I'm going to hold on to him... cause he's all I got. The wards ain't full of Jasons. What you found was quiet... in a world full of thunder. I ain't got no choice but to listen to it. You do.”

Marti said those words in a poetic sensibility— regret, sadness, and pain— regret for the limited choices, sadness for the heavy burden that comes with settling for less, and pain for the harm that men like Alonzo cause. In Lyric’s eyes, Marti represents a woman that will never leave a bad situation no matter how rough. These characters were living in endless danger, an endless generational cycle. Marti chooses to stand still with a reactionary Alonzo (who lost his closest friends), armed with sentimental quotes as mere fiction instead of leaving Third Ward, Houston, Texas behind with her now gone friend. 

It often hurts how badly underrated Carson’s promising performance in Jason’s Lyric is. The erotic picture has some flaws, but she is a scene stealing gem right down to the post-Poetic Justice topknot braids, baby hair, heavy jewelry, and long acrylic nails. She is extraordinary, irresistible, authentic, and raw, showing a range of emotional degrees— light hearted humor, seriousness, joy, and vulnerability. When Marti expressed awe in realizing that Lyric was experiencing real love, Carson made the audience believe and yearn for Marti to have that too. 

Coretta (Lisa Nicole Carson) treats World War II veteran Earl Rawlins (played by Denzel Washington) to misleading information and a hot dalliance.  

Carl Franklin’s Devil in a Blue Dress, adapted from Walter Mosley’s detective noir, features short lived  Coretta— a married woman who knows how to blackmail. Unfortunately, the skill does not save her. 

In 1948 Los Angeles, Earl Rawlins just got fired and receives the opportunity of a lifetime— uncover information on the elusive Daphne and send it over. It is super shady, but Earl needs the money for keeping up his fine house. So he goes to a bar and runs into Coretta and her husband Dupree. The familiarity between Earl and Coretta is palpable. She plays the demure Christian wife until they’re home alone (well, technically Dupree’s drunkenly passed out on the bed, but still.....). The cat and mouse game intensifies— Coretta knows who Earl is looking for and smartly uses her feminine wild cards on the poor, sexually starved man. 

In Devil in a Blue Dress, it is imperative to analyze how both Daphne and Coretta treat Earl and each other (offscreen). Daphne puts Earl at arm’s length and leaves him open to all kinds of potential harm. Coretta also withholds vital significance that could help Earl’s case. While Coretta does sleep with Earl in a rather charged, steamy scene, Earl and Daphne have an underlying chemistry too, a “will they, won’t they” friction. Coretta and Daphne are not friends. This intense turmoil between these two women sours awfully. Daphne shows little regret, little empathy about the turn of events. 

In the end, Coretta’s memory at least gives Earl the ammunition needed to clean up the mess. 

Up against Denzel Washington who already obtained his first Oscar prior to filming, Carson is great in her period film glam— straightened, sleek hair, red lipstick, and church lady dress. She understands that her character is calculating, retaining a certain evil about her. After all, instead of going to the police (who all seem corrupt in the film), Coretta wields foul, disgusting criminal activity as potential payout, hiding it in the most unlikely and improper place. Yes, Coretta is a very sexy vixen, but she is also resourceful, curious, enigmatic, and sharp— exactly how Carson portrays her to be. 

After helping pack up and ready for the big move, Josie (Lisa Nicole Carson) has a laugh with her BFF Nina (Nia Long) in Love Jones, 1997.

In Love Jones, Josie has no world of her own making. She vicariously lives through her best friend, Nina’s relationships. While Nina juggles three men— an on/off fiancé, true love, and true love’s frenemy, “the jones” does not strike Josie once. Even though Nina blasts Josie for always thinking about sex, the remark lands oddly. The audience never sees Josie with anyone. From the moment Josie is introduced to Darius Lovehall and his jazzy poet posse, she is submerged into the background, almost like a shy girl hesitant to escape the shadows. This frames her as unimportant, undesirable. Everyone wants Nina. Josie is the sidekick, the therapist, the love guru. Yet she is warm, generous. Her laughter is melodious. 

The story is not even a little bit about Josie’s character, but Carson shines bright alongside Nia Long. Their camaraderie has a real, kindred sisterhood vibe. The car scene alone is hilarious— Nina describing her night of passion with Darius and Josie quietly hanging onto every word. 

In this film about art and poetry, Carson has that syrupy tone meant to be reciting prose. Writer/director Theodore Witcher lost the opportunity to truly put Carson’s brilliance on display. Her last scene is just a vocal (offscreen Josie calls onscreen Darius to let him know about Nina’s job at Vibe Magazine). It would have been awesome having Josie help Nina move again (full circle) or have Josie also take the stage as a virgin to the mic, reciting the Sonia Sanchez prose like everyone else as an inspirational vehicle for her friend. Still, Carson conjured magic with what was given to her. 

At a club, Matty (Lisa Nicole Carson) is caught by her husband Lenny (Roger Guenveur Smith) with the good doc (offscreen Samuel L. Jackson) in Eve’s Bayou, 1997.

The married Matty in Eve’s Bayou happens to be one of several ladies attending to the equally married Dr. Louis Baptiste’s lustful desires. Matty is also the key catalyst to destroying young Eve’s illusions of her father. Believing that they’re alone in the garage while a massive glittering party goes down in the main Baptiste house, Matty and Louis hook up and a confused Eve witnesses them. Older sister Cisely blurs Eve’s memory further by insinuating that she just saw them hug— nothing more. 

Now Matty’s husband Lenny is always gone. So of course, she turns to attentive Dr. Louis— everyone does. The man knows how to cure a women’s ailments— except his wife. Still, Matty and Dr. Louis’s flirtatious evening at the bar turns into horror once Lenny steps in. Whether it is due to voodoo concocted by Eve with Elzora’s aide, Eve is once again left to witness life altering circumstances. 

Although limited in her screen time, Carson holds her own in the debut feature film of actress turned filmmaker Kasi Lemmons. In this supernatural period piece, instead of Los Angeles, the setting is in the mystical gothic Louisiana of 1962. Carson adds an overwhelming sweetness and charm mixed with the sumptuous passions of her previous characters into Matty— a woman who does not need to use magic to get what she wants. 

Lisa Nicole Carson, Essence, July 2015, photographed by Erik Umphery. 

As of now, Carson’s last role was Mae Bell in The New Edition Story— five years ago. The phenomenal actress has been through so much in her career and personal life mainly due to her bipolar diagnosis. It should not be a crime to have an illness as delicate as hers, but Hollywood still likes to shame celebrities for even the tiniest imperfection, the slightest flaw. In this 2015 article in Essence, Carson discusses being back in Los Angeles and starting over fresh: 

“I’ve returned to L.A. to give my career another try. I’m going on auditions and handling rejection better than I did in the past. I’m tackling the myth that African-American women have to be pillars of strength. We have the right to fall. We have the right not to always have our sh– together. We just have to take our mental health as seriously as we do the physical. Do not be afraid to go to a therapist or a doctor to make sure everything is fine. I am excited for my new chapter. I now am stronger and ready for what’s next, while taking care of my emotional health.”

In the meantime, devoted Lisa Nicole Carson fans should continue to support and pray for her continued success— that she goes bigger and beyond the roles of Marti, Coretta, Josie, and Matty. We have been ready for her to be the leading lady in the story for long enough.