The People I've Slept With
Jan. 23rd, 2013 11:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackThe People I've Slept With is a film about a woman who discovers she's pregnant, and tries to find out which of the men she's slept with is the father.
It sounds like the most awful film I could imagine. I can practically hear the cliche-machine gearing up for 90 minutes of "oh look, a woman has a sex drive, ha ha" and the heavy-handed-message machine churning out great dollops of "premarital sex is BAD, mmmmkay".
But it's not like that at all. Compared to most sex comedies, it's a breath of fresh air:
* The main character is a woman who sleeps with people if she feels like it, and this isn't portrayed as a great act of rebellion, or of being a victim, just as someone living a slightly wanton lifestyle, just as if it had been a male character
* There's a gay best friend, who's quite camp, but is totally, totally awesome
* And has his own romantic arc, and his own triumphs and disasters, and his relationship with the main character is important, not just an exposition device
* The main character is of East Asian ethnicity. Many other characters are Asian or Latino. It's not a big character moment about diversity, just that the main character happens to live in a social group where everyone isn't always white by default.
* The main character sleeps mostly with men, but also with several women, and this isn't a big revelation, it's just who she is.
* The focus is on what the main character wants to do with her life, not "will she get together with the obvious love interest"
* All the minor characters (especially her partners) are somewhat sympathetic even when they're annoying, and memorably different. They're people you could imagine actually sleeping with, rather than just "generic handsome guy #4"
So, if you feel starved for any of that, and don't mind discussions of promiscuity, pregnancy, and possible abortion, it's a good film to see.
On the other hand, there are, as always, several things which are potentially annoying (which didn't bother me much, but may be upsetting for some people).
However, despite all of the very good things, I felt it was quite good, but not really exciting. I don't know if would be better or worse if you felt more similar to the protagonist. I suspect it depends if you're starved for ANY portrayal of, well, any one of the large number of things above, in which case it's awesome, or if you're craving something more specific, in which case it may not have it.
It sounds like the most awful film I could imagine. I can practically hear the cliche-machine gearing up for 90 minutes of "oh look, a woman has a sex drive, ha ha" and the heavy-handed-message machine churning out great dollops of "premarital sex is BAD, mmmmkay".
But it's not like that at all. Compared to most sex comedies, it's a breath of fresh air:
* The main character is a woman who sleeps with people if she feels like it, and this isn't portrayed as a great act of rebellion, or of being a victim, just as someone living a slightly wanton lifestyle, just as if it had been a male character
* There's a gay best friend, who's quite camp, but is totally, totally awesome
* And has his own romantic arc, and his own triumphs and disasters, and his relationship with the main character is important, not just an exposition device
* The main character is of East Asian ethnicity. Many other characters are Asian or Latino. It's not a big character moment about diversity, just that the main character happens to live in a social group where everyone isn't always white by default.
* The main character sleeps mostly with men, but also with several women, and this isn't a big revelation, it's just who she is.
* The focus is on what the main character wants to do with her life, not "will she get together with the obvious love interest"
* All the minor characters (especially her partners) are somewhat sympathetic even when they're annoying, and memorably different. They're people you could imagine actually sleeping with, rather than just "generic handsome guy #4"
So, if you feel starved for any of that, and don't mind discussions of promiscuity, pregnancy, and possible abortion, it's a good film to see.
On the other hand, there are, as always, several things which are potentially annoying (which didn't bother me much, but may be upsetting for some people).
However, despite all of the very good things, I felt it was quite good, but not really exciting. I don't know if would be better or worse if you felt more similar to the protagonist. I suspect it depends if you're starved for ANY portrayal of, well, any one of the large number of things above, in which case it's awesome, or if you're craving something more specific, in which case it may not have it.
no subject
Date: 2013-01-24 10:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-24 10:10 am (UTC)I realised I was only really posting about films I had a very strong (positive or negative) reaction to, but I might as well post shorter reviews of anything I found interesting (or not).
Except, as it turns out, for me, "short" is seven paragraphs :)
no subject
Date: 2013-01-24 07:01 pm (UTC)Sounds like an engaging film, anyway!
no subject
Date: 2013-01-24 07:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-24 01:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-24 02:12 pm (UTC)