LGBT Representation in Film: Call Me By Your Name vs Love, Simon- A Pride Month Special
So for anyone who follows me on Facebook or talks to me in person you know that I've recently been very angered by the poor representation of LGBT characters in movies, namely one Lando Calrission in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Now as it's Pride Month, I wanted to stem my anger a little by talking about the good representations of LGBT people in cinema, the celebrations. The two movies I'm going to discuss, both have very different, but equally brilliant, ways that they represent gay people. The 2017 Oscar winner, 'Call Me By Your Name' and 2the 2018 coming of age teen romance, 'Love, Simon.' And hopefully by the end I'll have an answer of a question I've been constantly asking myself since I left the theatre of the latter, which is better?
'Call Me By Your Name' stars Armie Hammer and Timothee Chalamet and charts the lives of Oliver and Elio over the course of 6 weeks one summer in Northern Italy. It charts how their love grows and the relationship they share. For me, 'Call Me By Your Name' is the ideal form of LGBT representation on screen, but that comes along with some negatives.
Oliver and Elio in this movie are both bisexual. You see them engage in same sex and heterosexual relationships very happily so, but interestingly enough, neither character explicitly states their sexuality. 'Call Me By Your Name' shows a future in society whereby sexuality almost becomes irrelevant. Relationships occur between all genders and that factor is not something that generate drama or conflict within the story. As the director described it, this movie is "a celebration of love." Replace Oliver and Elio with a heterosexual couple and the main crux of the story remains the same. This movie is about love and human connection first, and less about the LGBT experience.
However, there is the old saying that film mirrors real life. 'Call Me By Your Name' doesn't take from any of the regular tropes of LGBT cinema. It isn't an angsty look at the coming out process but in this day and age, this is still a trouble for LGBT people across the world and as such cinema has a powerful role to take in normalising those hardships and shedding light on these issues.
A central motif to this film however is that of dreams. In scenes where Oliver and Elio kiss, the camera does go out of focus, as if in a dreamlike state. Just the mere opening scene setter of "Somewhere in Northern Italy" does create this feeling of a dream like state. The location is almost irrelevant as with so many other details e.g. Oliver and Elio's sexuality.
'Call Me By Your Name' is the dream. It portrays characters that clearly embody the feelings and emotions associated with life as a member of the LGBT community. It hints at a time whereby sexuality is irrelevant and a perfect future in which love is love regardless of gender. However it's representation of LGBT characters is living in the future. Even though movies using sexuality and "coming out" as a means to create drama do border on cliché, there is still a role to play in bringing these issues to the forefront.
'Love, Simon' is directed by Greg Berlanti and stars Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford and Keiynan Lonsdale. It follows high school student Simon Spier, he's gay and hasn't really come to terms with it. That is until he starts anonymously emailing fellow closeted student who he only knows as "Blue." As opposed to 'Call Me By Your Name', 'Love, Simon' is a fine example of excellent representation of LGBT characters in the here and now, whilst also dispelling a lot of the stereotypes that come with it.
Looking back 10 years, the only gay characters you'd see were clichéd, heavily camp people. The sassy gay best friend stereotype. Simon Spier and Blue embodies the antithesis of these characters. 'Love, Simon' works hard at developing characters that are not defined by their sexuality. Simon loves drama, his family and over the course of the movie, copious amounts of iced coffee. As he said at the beginning of the movie, he's a normal guy. Possibly for the first time, 'Love, Simon' puts forward a lead in a popular movie that doesn't adhere to the previously formed stereotype of gay teens in movies.
Furthermore, as opposed to 'Call Me By Your Name', 'Love, Simon' seeks to tackle the very real issues of homophobia and the coming out process. The scene in the canteen, the argument with the principal antagonist that followed, all perfectly puts forward the problems still faced by LGBT people across the world today.
'Love, Simon' is the LGBT movie we need in the here and now. It addresses the problems still facing members of that community whilst dispelling certain myths and stereotypes. Whilst both films are to be applauded, they are both excellent portrayals of gay people, former in this discussion is something to strive for, not the best representation of LGBT people in the here and now. LGBT people still face a myriad of abuse and problems in their lives, and although not intentionally so, 'Call Me By Your Name' skips a very important step in its portrayal of those relationships. Cinema must mirror real life and for the time being, real life is still the type of place where the Simon Spiers of the world are having abuse hurled at them in school canteens.
So I hope you've enjoyed this look at LGBT representation in cinema today. It is a little different for me to do a discussion piece on my blog but I've really enjoyed thinking this all through. Hopefully now exams are over again I will have some more time to do pieces like these. Thanks for reading, and I hope you found this interesting!
'Call Me By Your Name' stars Armie Hammer and Timothee Chalamet and charts the lives of Oliver and Elio over the course of 6 weeks one summer in Northern Italy. It charts how their love grows and the relationship they share. For me, 'Call Me By Your Name' is the ideal form of LGBT representation on screen, but that comes along with some negatives.
Oliver and Elio in this movie are both bisexual. You see them engage in same sex and heterosexual relationships very happily so, but interestingly enough, neither character explicitly states their sexuality. 'Call Me By Your Name' shows a future in society whereby sexuality almost becomes irrelevant. Relationships occur between all genders and that factor is not something that generate drama or conflict within the story. As the director described it, this movie is "a celebration of love." Replace Oliver and Elio with a heterosexual couple and the main crux of the story remains the same. This movie is about love and human connection first, and less about the LGBT experience.
However, there is the old saying that film mirrors real life. 'Call Me By Your Name' doesn't take from any of the regular tropes of LGBT cinema. It isn't an angsty look at the coming out process but in this day and age, this is still a trouble for LGBT people across the world and as such cinema has a powerful role to take in normalising those hardships and shedding light on these issues.
A central motif to this film however is that of dreams. In scenes where Oliver and Elio kiss, the camera does go out of focus, as if in a dreamlike state. Just the mere opening scene setter of "Somewhere in Northern Italy" does create this feeling of a dream like state. The location is almost irrelevant as with so many other details e.g. Oliver and Elio's sexuality.
'Call Me By Your Name' is the dream. It portrays characters that clearly embody the feelings and emotions associated with life as a member of the LGBT community. It hints at a time whereby sexuality is irrelevant and a perfect future in which love is love regardless of gender. However it's representation of LGBT characters is living in the future. Even though movies using sexuality and "coming out" as a means to create drama do border on cliché, there is still a role to play in bringing these issues to the forefront.
'Love, Simon' is directed by Greg Berlanti and stars Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford and Keiynan Lonsdale. It follows high school student Simon Spier, he's gay and hasn't really come to terms with it. That is until he starts anonymously emailing fellow closeted student who he only knows as "Blue." As opposed to 'Call Me By Your Name', 'Love, Simon' is a fine example of excellent representation of LGBT characters in the here and now, whilst also dispelling a lot of the stereotypes that come with it.
Looking back 10 years, the only gay characters you'd see were clichéd, heavily camp people. The sassy gay best friend stereotype. Simon Spier and Blue embodies the antithesis of these characters. 'Love, Simon' works hard at developing characters that are not defined by their sexuality. Simon loves drama, his family and over the course of the movie, copious amounts of iced coffee. As he said at the beginning of the movie, he's a normal guy. Possibly for the first time, 'Love, Simon' puts forward a lead in a popular movie that doesn't adhere to the previously formed stereotype of gay teens in movies.
Furthermore, as opposed to 'Call Me By Your Name', 'Love, Simon' seeks to tackle the very real issues of homophobia and the coming out process. The scene in the canteen, the argument with the principal antagonist that followed, all perfectly puts forward the problems still faced by LGBT people across the world today.
'Love, Simon' is the LGBT movie we need in the here and now. It addresses the problems still facing members of that community whilst dispelling certain myths and stereotypes. Whilst both films are to be applauded, they are both excellent portrayals of gay people, former in this discussion is something to strive for, not the best representation of LGBT people in the here and now. LGBT people still face a myriad of abuse and problems in their lives, and although not intentionally so, 'Call Me By Your Name' skips a very important step in its portrayal of those relationships. Cinema must mirror real life and for the time being, real life is still the type of place where the Simon Spiers of the world are having abuse hurled at them in school canteens.
So I hope you've enjoyed this look at LGBT representation in cinema today. It is a little different for me to do a discussion piece on my blog but I've really enjoyed thinking this all through. Hopefully now exams are over again I will have some more time to do pieces like these. Thanks for reading, and I hope you found this interesting!
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