Chasing Amy review

Chasing Amy was released in 1997 as a follow up to Clerks and Mallrats, written and directed by Kevin Smith. Though this movie is in fact part of the same film universe as the other two movies, this movie is not so much a comedy, but very much a serious drama hiding behind a comedic delivery at times. This movie is fucking hard, this is not an easy movie to watch, but it in a very difficult way has some good points that are made. I think what makes this movie so difficult is how uncomfortably real it is. It is also a bit of a complicated story, and not easy to view. So this movie is about this comic book author Holden (Ben Affleck) who meets this beautiful feminist comic book writer Alyssa (Joey Lauren Adams) and he falls in love with her. But the catch is, she is a lesbian, and he still can't stop himself from spilling his heart to her, because he is an entitled man who thinks that just because he loves a woman, that she is obligated to love him back, and that her being a lesbian just need to meet the right man. Well she does end up falling for him as well as she realizes that she is bi, and despite herself can't help to have feelings for him as well, because of all of the things that they have in common and the time that they share with each other. But this is not a happy rom-com of boy meets girl, they overcome adversity and live happily ever after, because that is often not the case in real-life. Holden's best friend and comic book artist partner Banky (Jason Lee) has an issue with Holden dating Alyssa, and he starts digging into her past, and finds out that she has a promiscuous past, and Holden can't handle this, he has a meltdown and loses his shit, and they have a big fight, and he can't find the maturity to overcome his hangups. Finally he comes up with the dumbest solution possible, that lead to one of the most uncomfortable scenes I think I have ever seen in a movie. So this movie deals with some topics, in a far different way than they might have in a movie made today, and in a way it is kind of important to look back at a movie like this and see what things were like during my youth, how different thing were, and how much progress we have made, but at the same time how far we still have to go. One of the first issues that this movie brings up is homosexuality, and our societal views on it. So on one hand you have Alyssa a lesbian (bi woman), and Hooper X a strong black gay man. Then you have Banky who is ignorant as fuck, he makes homophobic jokes and slurs, and doesn't accept or understand lesbians at all. And then you have Holden who starts not quite as bad as Banky but somewhere close, who seems to be trying to find himself, and starts calling out Banky on his ignorant homophobic shit. There is also a lot disrespect towards lesbians, and the idea that they just need to meet the right man. There are a lot of frustrating and uncomfortable parts, it is hard to see how we used to talk about these issues, and the thing is that this movie is fucking honest and real, this is how the people I grew up with thought, this is how they talked. There is a reason why I couldn't find the courage to come out when I was growing up in the '90s. One of the most powerful things I have heard about this casual homophobia is said by Alyssa in the deleted scene "A More Tolerant Age", it is actually really powerful and I wish they would have left it in the movie, because it needs to be heard. Another topic that this movie deals with is how men handle women's pasts, the almost expectation that women should be virgin-whores. That they shouldn't have a past other than with them, it is a disgusting expectation. This is illustrated so well, when Banksy discovers that in Alyssa's past she had not only slept with men, but had slept with more than one at a time, and Holden let's this eat him up inside until he confronts her in a very childish way about it at a hockey game. I don't know why men can't understand that what happened in a woman's past is her past, and it in no way affects how she feels about him. This again, is a very realistic portrayal of a toxic masculinity that is still way too common in today's society. Another topic, is toxic masculinity in general, this movie is so filled with toxic masculinity that it is fucking hard to watch at times. The male entitlement is realistic and disgusting, and it is really uncomfortable to watch at times. So with all the good things about this movie, today's viewers should be let known that this movie is full of homophobia and toxic masculinity, and though is true to life, it is also uncomfortable to be seen now over 23 years later. Also Ben Affleck seems to play the same person that he does in Glory Daze, the same entitled hopeless romantic that is pining over the woman that he can't have, with his long speeches where he inappropriately spills out his heart. There are a lot of similarities between his characters in those two movies, it would have been nice to see him not be basically the exact same character, it makes him almost a formulaic actor and it is disappointing. Would I recommend this movie? Yes, however, the viewer should be forewarned that this is not a comedy in the way that Mallrats and Clerks was, but a very hard to watch drama, and hard to watch because of the subject matter, and not because it wasn't good, because it was actually a really a great movie. I really enjoyed this movie, though it makes me super uncomfortable, but I am glad this movie was made, and I feel that it actually is one of the first movie to address the Lesbian, Gay, and Bi community in the way that it did, and I think that was necessary and needed. I am glad that things have changed so much at this point, that this movie would not be the same if it was made today. So watch this movie, but know that you are gonna be bombarded with casual homophobia, and ignorance, but there is also an attempt to broaden your mind about these things.