Call Me by Your Name was gradually released in theaters around the world, attracting comments from all sides. There is a group of critics who hold the argument, which can be summed up as follows: "It escapes the narrative of the traditional gay film's affirmative action. Both sides of the emotional story just happen to be men. The label of gay film loses it to it. significance."
Such sentimental, seemingly gender-friendly comments have seen a round of Moonlight last year. Whenever there is a movie with an LGBT plot, there are always those who try to depoliticize and de-gender it.
Granted, the film, and the novel it's based on, doesn't tell the story of affirmative action ambitions. The question is, why do critics make up their own minds about what the film doesn't attempt? Would commentators make the same comment if this was a heterosexual movie?
The reason why these people make up their minds is that what these commentators think in their minds is: Those movies that talk about equality make me uncomfortable, the street protests are too violent, and the family conflicts are too heavy. It’s good to have a few movies, but it’s better to make more films. love play.
The so-called "escape from the narrative of equal rights struggle in traditional gay films" seems like a compliment, but upon closer inspection, it's probably just that the film didn't torture these critics, making them feel at ease.
Furthermore, in such a movie about youth and love, is it really the same effect if the protagonist is replaced by a heterosexual?
If the world was gender-equal, such thinking might be all too normal. But we don't live in such a vacuum spherical chicken. The LGBT plot is naturally the opposite of the still-strong traditional concept of sexuality. Same-sex exploration of sex and love remains taboo, even with Elio's enlightened parents, even when the scene is moved from the 1980s to the present.
Oliver first tried to express interest in Elio by pinching him on the shoulder, and then, in a cryptic way, taught his female friend Marzia to pinched him. Elio clearly had a crush on Oliver, but he deliberately said in front of Oliver that he had sex with Marzia the night before.
A heterosexual film cannot cover such a wide and wide range of possibilities. And broadening the possibilities of sex/otherness is the proud feature of LGBT plots.
What exactly is a "gay movie/LGBT movie"? Does this label make any sense? It is not surprising that there are many differences. But the attempt to de-politicize and de-gender its meaning is intriguing.
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