Posted by Isis at d7a084.dialup.cornell.edu on May 16, 2000 at 09:29:24:
In Reply to: Chasing Amy's oppositions posted by Ursh on May 16, 2000 at 00:50:24:
: First message on this board, awwwwwwww... and all that shit. So I have this assignment to do and I have chosen Chasing Amy as my movie to annalyse. The point is to set up oppositions within the movie and show how they create the story. For instance in Chasing Amy there are clear oppositions with [Gay vs. Straight]. That one is easy, as is [Black (Hooper) vs. White]
Sounds interesting.
: What I'm trying to figure out is wether there is an oppostion between [Love vs. Sexuality]. During the course of the movie Holden, showing his complete ignorance, comments that gay sex is not "real sex".
: Also Alyssa comments that "fucking" describes "any sex when it's not about love..." So there is a destinction made between sex and love. Is this an opposition within the movie? If it is, doesnt that set up Alyssa as just "fucking" around while she is "gay", but falling in "love" when she is with a man?
Not only that, but there's the whole bit when Banky has caught Holden & Alyssa funking up his couch and he says something to the effect that Alyssa has done all the wild & crazy sex stuff Holden is intrigued by and that she's looking for love. Holden has already confessed his love to Alyssa and Banky tells him at some point the past sex is going to eat him up. So, there's definitely a dichotomy being set up. Differing levels of love are not a problem for Holden & Alyssa as they are in most doomed relationships; differing levels of sexual experience are.
I don't think it has so much to do with Holden being a man or Alyssa only fucking girls and loving guys, though; as Alyssa says, I think it has to do with the particular person she fell in love with. With others (male or female), Alyssa was willing to get down and do some freaky shit because she didn't care about them, whereas she's not willing to swing when Holden is involved. There's a lot to illustrate the point that sex is not necessarily attached to love and often can be an expression of the *lack* of love a person feels. Alyssa, in her wildly experimental days, was a person who felt unloved and was always looking for something to fill that hole (no pun intended); once she fell in love, the crazy sex lost its importance and meaning.
Hope that helps a leeeetle bit.
-- Isis