I heard a film critic speak last night and he said that the US and Germany are WAY ahead of the rest of the world in the area of cinematic portrayals of gay, lesbian, transexual, bisexual, undefined or fluid sexual content...and including them in stories as "no big deal". He said Canada and the UK don't even come close. Isn't that interesting?

What are some films that fulfill this category?

your avatar is disturbingly distracting
I cant answer this thread

origmnd said:

Fluid sexuality??...

Well, there's that sex scene in "Finding Nemo"...

Byron said:

GARY GLITTER IS THAT YOU?

I don't quite get what is meant by "fluid" sexuality? Just sexual content in general? A mix of all different types of sexuality?

Either way, I think it's a big joke to say that the US would be ahead of any other country in accepting sexuality in any media. That's the biggest taboo of them all in American TV and/or movies! Had they said "violence" instead then I might have agreed. That said, I agree that the other countries he mentioned haven't come very far either.

Crying Game?
Bound?
Mulholland Dr.?
Kissing Jessica Stein?
Brokeback Mountain?
My Beautiful Launderette?

Tryin' to think of movies that might fit the description...

velvet goldmine
hedwig and the angry inch
rocky horror
my own private idaho
last days?

origmnd said:

why?

retina said:

I think he was using "fluid sexuality" in terms of sexuality not being defined in clear cut terms as "gay" and "straight". Characters that cross over or can't be defined as one or the other. Several teen coming-of-age movies show this, for example.



That's not true. There are plenty of mainstream TV shows in America that began integrating gay characters, especially in the '90s. I never watch TV, so can't really speak to this, but Six Feet Under is one good example. I'm sure other orgers can list many more.

But being that this critic spends his life tracking, observing, writing on and commenting on these things, he was simply making an observation. How many would guess that Germany was way ahead of other countries? Also he wasn't speaking about mainstream media output necessarily, but overall output, including independent film as well. And there are a huge number of American independent films that do this, in fact it's almost gotten compulsory.

The doom generation

Poison
Swoon
My Summer of Love

heartbeatocean said:

Sure, there are lots of American movies that bring up the topic of sexuality, but how do they do it? I'd say in a way that wouldn't even make my grandma blush. If you're going to portray sexuality then you should dive into it in all its juicy glory. A few countries have been brave enough to do this, but the US isn't one of them.

retina said:

i love you for saying that

Byron said:

What about Basekitball?
(You know....with that scene near the end).

Mach said:

Thanks, I just think it's sad that we're afraid to straightforwardly depict something as beautiful as sex but don't have any qualms about showing violence....

retina said:

I agree with you about the prudishness of American media, but I'm not talking sex but the inclusion and depiction of characters who don't fit into rigid heterosexual "norms".

heartbeatocean said:[quote]

retina said:

I think he was using "fluid sexuality" in terms of sexuality not being defined in clear cut terms as "gay" and "straight". Characters that cross over or can't be defined as one or the other. Several teen coming-of-age movies show this, for example.



That's not true. There are plenty of mainstream TV shows in America that began integrating gay characters, especially in the '90s. I never watch TV, so can't really speak to this, but Six Feet Under is one good example. I'm sure other orgers can list many more.

But being that this critic spends his life tracking, observing, writing on and commenting on these things, he was simply making an observation. How many would guess that Germany was way ahead of other countries? Also he wasn't speaking about mainstream media output necessarily, but overall output, including independent film as well. And there are a huge number of American independent films that do this, in fact it's almost gotten compulsory.[/quote]

I would agree with you. How does the portrayal of characters of fluid sexuality make you "ahead" of anyone else anyway?

bizarre said:[quote]

heartbeatocean said:

I am not ahead of anyone. But in this category alone, if you deem that
including diverse portrayals of characters other than heteros, and telling their stories is a positive thing that benefits all of society, then one might say the US and Germany are "ahead". Or you could simply say they have "more" of that particular thing. Or one could find "more" of that thing in those countries' cinematic output.

However, if you see including diverse portrayals of sexuality as a negative thing, then you could say the US and Germany are WAY behind the portrayals prevalent in other countries and the rest of world.

This is not an imbecilic argument to show "I am better than you", it's just a point of interest. Especially considering that politically, countries like Canada and perhaps the UK (?) are more "progressive" in gay rights, for instance, than the US or Germany.

heartbeatocean said:

It's less about portraying the sex act as it is about portraying the human within the "fluid" sexual orientations that exist in the world...that's what I gathered from your initial post. If so then I wouldn't exactly be surprised if the U.S. was "out in front" in terms of achieving that dynamic in films...

Byron said:

I was surprised by Germany though, although it's not like I know much about German films. This all came up at a German movie I saw last night called Go for Zucker that included bisexuality in a very matter-of-fact, run-of-the-mill way. Not only that, it was a jewish comedy which is even more unusual, coming out of Germany.

Spookymuffin said:

Perhaps this will help you guys out:

Morocco - 1928


Julie Andrews in Victor, Victoria

heartbeatocean said:

I see nipple...

Byron said:

heartbeatocean said:

I have a video tape of AsianBomb777 in the shower, that's pretty fluid.

littlemissG said:

What?

Mach said:

you sex mad hippy!