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The Kids Are All Right - Movie Review
Mar. 6th, 2011 08:51 pmSaw critical darling The Kids Are All Right last night, proving once again that movie critics are unreliable and have questionable taste. Also, the problem with cultural awards - books, movies, etc...is I spend most of my time wondering "why" these things got awards or were nominated for them.
This past summer, before the film came out - there was a bit of controversy regarding it in the Queer/LGBT community - specifically on lj and dw and other blogs. It's because the tale is about two kids who hunt down their sperm donor father, who has an affair with one of their mom's and chaos ensues. A story-line that was actually done a lot better on The L Word by the way. It's not new by any stretch and is actually a fairly common and a bit overdone trope, to the point of becoming cliche. (Making me wonder if I've seen too many films and tv shows in my lifetime, not to mention read too many books? )
The reason the Academy and critics applauded this little movie is two-fold, 1) it had a lesbian relationship and strong stable lesbian family at its center (which apparently is rare for "mainstream" cinema and television, for those of us who have watched things off the beaten path...not so rare.) 2) it was an relationship film in a crowded summer of F/X laden films. (These people need to watch more tv shows.)
I can see why the film set off a controversial firestorm and offended people in the LGBT community when it first came out or rather prior to when it came out.
It's not the plot per se, but how the plot is executed. Because the same plot was done during the second season of The L Word and has been done before in other films. If you want to see it executed in a realistic and sympathetic manner - I would highly suggest renting the Showtime Original series The L Word and skipping this movie. Granted it will take longer to watch, but that series I think provides a better perspective.
In many ways this film felt like a heterosexual take on a lesbian relationship. Although being het, I'm not sure I'm the best person to truly judge that. There is a review here by someone from the Queer community that has a better take on it from that angle:
http://www.shewired.com/article.cfm?id=25336 (note she hasn't seen it)
http://www.onemorelesbian.com/blog/are-you-ok-with-the-kids-are-all-right.html (this one did and I agree with her to a great extent.)
Also many lesbians did love the film. So the controversy was short-lived apparently.
( Here's the Trailer )
( Review of the Kids Are All Right )
This past summer, before the film came out - there was a bit of controversy regarding it in the Queer/LGBT community - specifically on lj and dw and other blogs. It's because the tale is about two kids who hunt down their sperm donor father, who has an affair with one of their mom's and chaos ensues. A story-line that was actually done a lot better on The L Word by the way. It's not new by any stretch and is actually a fairly common and a bit overdone trope, to the point of becoming cliche. (Making me wonder if I've seen too many films and tv shows in my lifetime, not to mention read too many books? )
The reason the Academy and critics applauded this little movie is two-fold, 1) it had a lesbian relationship and strong stable lesbian family at its center (which apparently is rare for "mainstream" cinema and television, for those of us who have watched things off the beaten path...not so rare.) 2) it was an relationship film in a crowded summer of F/X laden films. (These people need to watch more tv shows.)
I can see why the film set off a controversial firestorm and offended people in the LGBT community when it first came out or rather prior to when it came out.
It's not the plot per se, but how the plot is executed. Because the same plot was done during the second season of The L Word and has been done before in other films. If you want to see it executed in a realistic and sympathetic manner - I would highly suggest renting the Showtime Original series The L Word and skipping this movie. Granted it will take longer to watch, but that series I think provides a better perspective.
In many ways this film felt like a heterosexual take on a lesbian relationship. Although being het, I'm not sure I'm the best person to truly judge that. There is a review here by someone from the Queer community that has a better take on it from that angle:
http://www.shewired.com/article.cfm?id=25336 (note she hasn't seen it)
http://www.onemorelesbian.com/blog/are-you-ok-with-the-kids-are-all-right.html (this one did and I agree with her to a great extent.)
Also many lesbians did love the film. So the controversy was short-lived apparently.
( Here's the Trailer )
( Review of the Kids Are All Right )