Identity is a complex issue. Movies usually only directly address the concept of identity in terms of amnesia, identity theft, or espionage, but identity refers to one’s concept of their continual existence – that which makes you the same person you were yesterday, a year ago, or at birth. Identity is mutable and dynamic. It is comprised of a variety of factors, including sexual identity.
Sexual identity is how an individual defines themselves in terms of who they are or aren’t romantically or sexually attracted to. It differs from sexual orientation in that it refers to perceptions of attraction rather than actual attraction. Confusing yet? In that vein, sexually identifying oneself can be difficult since it is based on self-perception rather than behaviour, and perception is easily influenced by societal norms or attachment to one’s preexisting self-identity.
Anyways, it’s a broad topic. Here are five films that address various aspects of sexual identity. All of them are excellent.
Kinsey (2004)
Dr. Alfred Kinsey (Liam Neeson) rustles conservative jimmies in the first half of the twentieth century when he applies the systematic volume-based collection technique he developed whilst studying gall wasps to the surveying of sexual behaviour in humans through interviews. This exposes him to quite a bit of sampling bias, but he eventually publishes two controversial reports: Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male and Sexual Behaviour in the Human Female.
This biopic addresses the development of the Kinsey Scale, 0 to 6 rating used to describe one’s sexual orientation from 0 (exclusively heterosexual) to 6 (exclusively homosexual). It’s a useful tool in understanding sexual fluidity and one’s own sexual orientation, and ultimately, addressing an important part of our own identity, as Dr. Kinsey discovers during the movie.
Kinsey’s research was, at the time, revolutionary, and bothered a lot of people. This film is not revolutionary and may bother some people. However, they can suck it up, because Kinsey is a great damn movie. Liam Neeson is utterly frank and convincing as a scientist hell-bent on getting his data, to the point of damaging his personal life. The simultaneous clarity of thought and dignified social ineptness that he brings to the role is beautiful.
Chasing Amy (1997)
Holden (Ben Affleck), a comic book artist, is smitten with Alyssa (Joey Lauren Adams), another comic book artist. But it won’t work out because a) Alyssa identifies as a lesbian, and b) Holden is an undiplomatic bag of insecurities at times. Also, Banky (Jason Lee) hates her.
With respect to a), Holden finds that identifying as a lesbian brings with the title a whole box of social haunts and conventions, of which Dating A Man is not an accepted one. Alyssa tries reworking said identity to accommodate Holden, but her friends are various degrees of unsupportive.
To be clear there is no “Amy” appearing in this film. The only reference to “Amy” is in Silent Bob’s longest monologue to date, in which he reminisces on his ex-girlfriend. Despite the misleading title Chasing Amy is a pretty good film. Alyssa’s screaming fits, as acted by Adams, are unflinching in energy and emotional impact. Holden’s character is written as naive and idealistic at times, but that’s just how some people are. Some people like Holden do really believe that a threesome can solve everything, and for a long moment, I hoped that he and his friends would find their happy ending that way.
The Wedding Banquet (1993)
Wai-Tung (Winston Chao) and Simon (Mitchell Lichtenstein) are a happy couple in San Francisco. Wai-Tung marries Wei-Wei (May Chin) to alleviate parental pressure and get her a green card. Unfortunately his plan backfires when his parents insist on flying in from Taiwan to attend his wedding banquet. Also, Wei-Wei gets pregnant. Hilarity and angst ensue as Wai-Tung struggles with reconciling his many obligations at the cost of slowly compromising his own identity.
Would you believe that Ang Lee, director of sad and dramatic films like Brokeback Mountain, The Life of Pi, and Lust, Caution would have managed to make the first half of this movie a manic, lighthearted mess that you can’t help but get swept up in? Well, he did. It helps that Chinese wedding banquets have the raunchiest party games. Then he returns to form in the second half: a drama of disappointed parents, a neglected boyfriend, and a pregnant wife. At least, it ends optimistically.
American Beauty (1999)
A suburban family: Lester Burnham (Lester Spacey), Carolyn Burnham (Annette Benning) and Jane Burnham (Thora Birch) experience various levels of an existential crisis. They deal with it by reinventing themselves in various ways. Lester quits his job to focus on the seduction of his daughter’s friend Angela (Mena Suvari). Carolyn seeks solace in her new identity as a powerful, gun-toting master of her own sexuality. Jane retreats towards the pursuit of “beauty” with a classmate, Ricky (Wes Bentley).
American Beauty was a big thing in 1999, winning the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography. Does that say anything about its watchability? Not really. But American Beauty is, indeed, a smart and provocative comedy that first finds a grim delight in the satire of the sexually repressed middle class that grows more and more chaotic as the characters jump out of the frying pan and into the fire. Yet it is still possible to find a semblance of peace in the madness.
Anyways despite its multiple Oscar wins it is not the least bit “boring”, as Ricky accuses another character of being.
Ma Vie En Rose (1997)
Ludovic (Georges Du Fresne) is a girl, but her family disagrees. Since she is only ten they humour her insistence on garbing herself in dresses and dancing to trashy europop. Her parents are initially tolerant of their child’s apparent quirks, but time passes and it becomes evident that Ludo’s probably not going through a phase of fancy. His parents’ tolerance wanes to resentment.
Not to be confused with La Vie en Rose, Ma Vie en Rose revels in the innocence and strength of childhood convictions against parental insistence that Ludo’s penchant for dressing up in princess dresses and trying to marry his best friend will one day evaporate. The contrast between the joy Ludo takes in her life and the opinions of adults around her is really depressing.
My one quibble with this movie is that Ludo’s mother (Michele Laroque) finds acceptance with Ludo’s gender identity after a trippy sequence involving a buxom doll in a billboard, as opposed to after Ludo’s suicide attempt. Also, it’s in French, so you might need subtitles.
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