The movie began promising enough. Oh, but don't they always? I mean, unless of course the very first thing you hear is hollow pop synth music and a feeling of dread enters your stomach as the credits begin to flash. Sometimes foreshadowing isn't just a plot device. It also works to warn viewers of a two hour life-drain.
Invariably I've come to expect the worst when huge mainstream media decides to “gift” us with people the gay community is supposed to relate to – lesbians in particular. There's always more to the story than, “Oh, yeah, we're lesbians.” Oh no no no.
It's more like, “We're sexually confused women who may or may not still sleep with you. Because penis.”
I went into the movie as I always try to do everything – with my faith in humanity and optimism running high. I found a lot to like about it. I liked that they showed a functioning lesbian couple who have been together long-term, raised children, and managed to come out just fine. I loved that in the end, you find out that they truly loved each other and were willing to do whatever it took repair their relationship - even if that meant forgiving the most unpardonable sin.
However, as I'm sure you've guessed by now, there are a few things that I couldn't bring myself to swallow. I didn't like the stereotypical power-hungry control freak – the kind of lesbian men have been terrified of since the 50s. Back when women were finally starting to show up in the workplace. You think conservatives are worried about immigrants taking their jobs? Don't even get me started on their phobia of ball-breaking dykes.
“Ball-breaking dyke” is Exhibit A in this scenario.
Exhibit B is her softer, gentler counterpart. Her wife (yay, they're wives!) is an obnoxious representation of the kind of women men in the 50s would have expected us to be. Flaky, meek, sweet, simple, and, well, kind of vile. She is the second kind of woman - she lives to serve her partner and make bad decisions... like staying in a monogamous long-term relationship with a woman and then randomly deciding to fuck her sperm donor. You know. The usual girl stuff.
Major kudos for the fact that a mainstream movie tried to give us sympathetic lesbian characters. The fact that they were shown as a (more or less) happy, functioning family was awesome. Their relationship was cute at times, even when they were watching male porn.
However, the movie title and advertising was misleading. I thought, as I'm sure many others thought, that this movie was going to be a lot more family friendly. I can't imagine how many families with lesbian mothers were excited to see this film with their children. The fact that they were met with this clusterfuck is maddening.
Maybe next time you make a supposedly family-friendly film for lesbians, who will inevitably, with naive hope and clueless optimism, want to see said film with their children, you should make it a little easier to relate to and actually focus more on their family than on the guy who played a role less than three seconds long in the children's conception. There is absolutely no reason a movie about a lesbian family should have anything to do with one parent succumbing to the supposedly “irresistible” temptations of the male anatomy.
That is not the kind of story lesbian couples with children deserve to be given. They've overcome powerful obstacles in regards to their family. They've earned something that's actually worth watching, not a bunch of false hope and more all-powerful penis propaganda. Who in their right mind would look at the cover of that movie and think, "This has to be about a struggling lesbian couple and their irresistible sperm donor?" I'm infuriated by the turn the movie took, and wish that movies in the future will look at this as a "what not to do" in lesbian entertainment.
Overall, this movie was a bust. It had somewhat heartwarming touchy family moments in it along the way, and while I appreciate the few small truths that the movie gave us, it was definitely not what I expected and it was all the worse for it. Next time you try, Hollywood, maybe you should talk to some actual lesbian families and keep the men out of it.
Invariably I've come to expect the worst when huge mainstream media decides to “gift” us with people the gay community is supposed to relate to – lesbians in particular. There's always more to the story than, “Oh, yeah, we're lesbians.” Oh no no no.
It's more like, “We're sexually confused women who may or may not still sleep with you. Because penis.”
I went into the movie as I always try to do everything – with my faith in humanity and optimism running high. I found a lot to like about it. I liked that they showed a functioning lesbian couple who have been together long-term, raised children, and managed to come out just fine. I loved that in the end, you find out that they truly loved each other and were willing to do whatever it took repair their relationship - even if that meant forgiving the most unpardonable sin.
However, as I'm sure you've guessed by now, there are a few things that I couldn't bring myself to swallow. I didn't like the stereotypical power-hungry control freak – the kind of lesbian men have been terrified of since the 50s. Back when women were finally starting to show up in the workplace. You think conservatives are worried about immigrants taking their jobs? Don't even get me started on their phobia of ball-breaking dykes.
“Ball-breaking dyke” is Exhibit A in this scenario.
Exhibit B is her softer, gentler counterpart. Her wife (yay, they're wives!) is an obnoxious representation of the kind of women men in the 50s would have expected us to be. Flaky, meek, sweet, simple, and, well, kind of vile. She is the second kind of woman - she lives to serve her partner and make bad decisions... like staying in a monogamous long-term relationship with a woman and then randomly deciding to fuck her sperm donor. You know. The usual girl stuff.
Major kudos for the fact that a mainstream movie tried to give us sympathetic lesbian characters. The fact that they were shown as a (more or less) happy, functioning family was awesome. Their relationship was cute at times, even when they were watching male porn.
However, the movie title and advertising was misleading. I thought, as I'm sure many others thought, that this movie was going to be a lot more family friendly. I can't imagine how many families with lesbian mothers were excited to see this film with their children. The fact that they were met with this clusterfuck is maddening.
Maybe next time you make a supposedly family-friendly film for lesbians, who will inevitably, with naive hope and clueless optimism, want to see said film with their children, you should make it a little easier to relate to and actually focus more on their family than on the guy who played a role less than three seconds long in the children's conception. There is absolutely no reason a movie about a lesbian family should have anything to do with one parent succumbing to the supposedly “irresistible” temptations of the male anatomy.
That is not the kind of story lesbian couples with children deserve to be given. They've overcome powerful obstacles in regards to their family. They've earned something that's actually worth watching, not a bunch of false hope and more all-powerful penis propaganda. Who in their right mind would look at the cover of that movie and think, "This has to be about a struggling lesbian couple and their irresistible sperm donor?" I'm infuriated by the turn the movie took, and wish that movies in the future will look at this as a "what not to do" in lesbian entertainment.
Overall, this movie was a bust. It had somewhat heartwarming touchy family moments in it along the way, and while I appreciate the few small truths that the movie gave us, it was definitely not what I expected and it was all the worse for it. Next time you try, Hollywood, maybe you should talk to some actual lesbian families and keep the men out of it.