I find it quite hard to argue that this movie expresses the attitudes and actions of most relationships in the queer community. Albert and Armans relationship was simply a parody of a typical heterosexual relationship. With this I mean one was the "manager" of this relationship; Armand, and the other was the soft emotional "woman-like" character that expressed no knowledge of how to be a man. Yes, there were other gay characters in the movie as well, but this only influenced the image that they were trying to show. Which was two types of gay men; overly manly and overly feminine and then to show that this is what makes up a couple; there has to be a man (armand) and a woman (albert). It was almost like it was showing us the proper way to have a gay relationship. The movie didn't do a good job of exposing the diversity of the gay community. I find it very hard to believe that this wasn't purposely done.
Blog posting 4
No TrackBacks
TrackBack URL: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/178165
I agree with the idea that this movie doesn't accurately portray the majority of relationships within the queer community. However, I believe that to eliminate the gender binary stereotypes from this movie would eliminate the movie. The film relies on the overt femininity of Albert to make the plot work. This is why we need to be critical viewers of movies. The majority of movies exaggerate stereotypes and are anything but realistic. As viewers, we need to take a step back and realize that MOST relatively large-budget movies are made with the intention of thoroughly entertaining viewers and making money, not portraying real life. Luckily, most of us in this class are exposed to diverse real-life situations which let us know that this movie certainly does not portray all homosexual relationships. I think that stereotypes in movies are harmful when people don't have the real world experiences to distinguish stereotype from reality.