Rant Alert: Quit Making it Look Like a Choice

The Kids are Alright
or: Something's Wrong in Hollywood

We just got back from seeing the mildly humorous The Kids are Alright at the Bridge Theater.  I loved seeing Annette Benning, Mark Ruffalo, and Juliane Moore do their stuff.  They're charming and funny and Annette Benning's laughter is simply infectious.  But there is something at the heart of this film that I find dis-heartening and angry-making.  It is not peculiar to this film.  We've seen it in the past in Paul Ruud's film, The Object of My Affection (1998), and in Christina Ricci's film The Opposite of Sex.

The Object of My Affection

The Opposite of Sex

There are others that I just can't recall at this point, but the heart of darkness in all of these films is the easiness in which the gay characters fall for the straight characters - as if it were an easy choice.  The opposite (straight men falling for gay men) is the fantasy of many a gay porno flick, but this sub plot in a film of this type is an insult.  That Jules should fall for Paul has no psychological background in the film.  At least there was nothing of the weight that should or could over-ride the basic wiring of the character.  The subtext is - "Oh, if they really wanted to, they could all change."

The buzz about the film, prior to release was of the "how neat we get to see a working lesbian-family relationship".  That, however is not its substance, and we are betrayed by a different sense and a different spirit.  It is the same old story, despite the ending.  The time-bomb is planted, and old notions about sexuality will soon explode in the audience's psyche.

What a disappointment.  End of rant.