BEFORE: It is Oscar night, and I would be justified in taking a break, or watching an Oscar-winning (or even nominated) film tonight, but I don't really feel connected to tonight's telecast. I've seen exactly none of the nominated films, since I've been so busy catching up on films from years past. Heck, I've only seen three of last year's 10 Best Picture nominees ("Hurt Locker", "Inglourious Basterds" and "Up"), with another three on my list to see ("Avatar", "Up in the Air" and "District 9"). But I kill on the long game - I've seen 19 out of the last 20 Best Picture winners (the lone hold-out: "The English Patient") and 46 out of the total 83.
Last night's film "Date Night" did feature cameos by James Franco and Mark Ruffalo, two of tonight's nominees, does that count? BTW, Steve Carell of "Date Night" was in "Anchorman" with Will Ferrell, who was in "Jay and Bob Strike Back" with Kevin Smith, who of course is in "Chasing Amy". (Will Ferrell is the new Kevin Bacon...)
Anyway, I've got more of a personal connection to this film, which is set in the world of comic-books and comic-cons.
THE PLOT: Everything's going good for comic book artists Holden and Banky until they meet Alyssa, also a comic book artist. Holden falls for her, but his hopes are crushed when he finds out she's a lesbian.
AFTER: So the final topic in my month-long examination of romance will be the unrequited love, the one-way love that was sort of touched upon in "He's Just Not That Into You" - but these last three films all feature men who fall for the unattainable.
This film was released in 1997, and I suppose the main reason I avoided it at the time was because I'd gotten divorced in 1996, after my wife came out in 1995, so the pain was still fresh. Often when people hear my story, I get asked if I've seen this film, and I tell them there's no need, since I pretty much lived it.
The next inevitable question is, "How does such a thing happen?" Well, in my case she hadn't figured it out yet - but she did over time, and due to an attraction to a particular person - so, really, my story is actually the opposite of what's seen in this film. But there are some similarities, because I remember the confusion and the arguments and the slamming of doors.
Like Holden, I spent weeks coming up with 1,000 different ways to try and make the relationship work, but in the end 999 of them were unrealistic. I'm withholding most of the details of what went down, because someday I hope to turn them into a screenplay of my own, provided that the result is not just a cross between this film and "(500) Days of Summer", and provided that it doesn't turn me into one of those douche-y guys who thinks he can write a good screenplay, but can't.
But I feel that this film gets more right than it does wrong, even if it does so in a very vulgar, juvenile way. These days I have a number of female friends, some of whom do date women, and I handle it much better - more like Banky than Holden, I just treat them like "one of the guys".
Of note is the scene where Alyssa's lesbian friends feel betrayed when they learn she's dating a man - which I'm sure happens, even though it's a double-standard. The same group of people who will champion gay rights, the right to love who they want, might not apply the same freedom to one of their own.
And I do favor gay rights, and gay marriage - assuming, of course, that gay divorce becomes part of the deal. Because it only seems fair -
Starring Ben Affleck (last seen in "He's Just Not That Into You"), Jason Lee (last seen in "Enemy of the State"), Joey Lauren Adams (last seen in "The Break-Up"), with cameos from Matt Damon (last seen in "The Talented Mr. Ripley"), Ethan Suplee (last seen in "Remember the Titans"), Kevin Smith (last seen in "Live Free or Die Hard"), Jason Mewes (last seen in "Zack and Miri Make a Porno"), Casey Affleck (last seen in "Gone Baby Gone") and Brian O'Halloran (last seen in "Clerks II")
RATING: 7 out of 10 yearbook photos
I flip-flopped on this one. At first, I loved it. It was the first movie I ever saw in which people my talked the way that people my age do. As time went by, though, it became tougher to overlook its juvenile perspective on sexuality. You know, as in "The right man could straighten her right out" and "Lesbians are that way because they have something against men."
ReplyDeleteAnd then there's the bit where a lead character is complaining because his all of the diamonds on his gold watch make it hard to tell the time. Metaphorically, I mean. It's hard to feel sorry for a guy who counts "I'm entertaining an offer to turn my comic book into a TV series" as one of his biggest problems, you know?
Yeah, and it was tough to feel sorry for the characters (and stars) of "Couples Retreat" - they had to endure couples counseling, but at least they were in a vacation paradise at the time...
ReplyDeleteHowever, I can see a little bit of the dilemma - it's not just about the money. What if the TV series deal ruins the Bluntman & Chronic characters, or leads to people saying that the creators have "sold out"? The people making the deal for the TV show didn't seem very reputable.
I don't think the film would hold up as well during a second viewing, not in the same way that "Clerks" or "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" do.
I think I'm justified in watching it, and I also think I was right to wait 15 years to do so. Watching the right film on the right day, in the right context, is what it's all about.
However, I think the messages you got from the film are not exactly what the film was trying to say. One of those messages came from a character that was portrayed as very naive about those things, and the other one was (sort of) proven, in that Alyssa DID fall for Holden, at least until he screwed it up.
The scuttlebutt seems to be that Ben Affleck's character is a stand-in for Kevin Smith, as he was in a similar situation with the real-life Alyssa (who happens to be the actress that played her). So it feels real because it sort of is.
The film portrays someone falling in love with a person, not their gender, and forcing them to re-think their identity as a result. That's a very real situation that Hollywood films don't portray often enough, or accurately enough.
Re: "The right man could straighten her out" - of course there are true lesbians, for which this would not hold true, and there are bisexual women who predominantly date women, but occasionally date men, and for them this could be possible.
ReplyDeleteMost commonly accepted these days is a 7-point scale, where 1 is straight and 7 is completely gay, and 4 is bisexual/gender-neutral. Note the shades in-between - 2's and 3's are mostly straight (but not entirely) and 5's and 6's are mostly gay (but not entirely).
And of course, people are free to move up and down the scale at different times in their life. So even a 1 or a 7 might slide on the scale if they met the "right" person.
Leading to an entirely confusing mess for just about everyone involved, except for the committed 1's and 7's. Unless, of course, they fall in love with someone who's fluid on the scale.