Chasing Amy Review: Representation of Queer Women in Media

Welcome to my Ted talk. Today, we will be discussing something that infuriates me-the representation (and lack thereof) of queer women in the media. I was flipping through Netflix and I came to this movie that proclaims itself to be about how “Comic book artist Holden meets the perfect woman, only to learn that she’s a lesbian. But that doesn’t stop him from falling in love with her,” and while the description alone isn’t really appealing, it’s a 90s movie with Ben Affleck so it seems like a good way to waste some time. Now as I’m watching, at first I find it funny to see him figure out she’s “into chicks”, as they put it, and I honestly appreciate the way that she describes herself when asked “why she likes women.” So far, I was pretty surprised. Before I continue with the trash, I would like to clarify that this movie uses the “d-slur” and “f-slur” quite a bit before Holden even bothers to acknowledge that that isn’t ok.

Ok, back on track. Alyssa, introduced as a lesbian, knows Holden likes her and hangs out with him as he falls deeper in love with her. Her relationships with other women are cast off as sexy for guys and not romantic, purely sexual. This continues until Holden proclaims his love and they kiss in the rain and I get mad because the stereotype that queer people just haven’t found the right person of a different gender than themselves.

Maybe she is bisexual, which is really cool because, we don’t really get acknowledged in the media unless there is a threesome. However, now, we start to hear about Alyssa’s promiscuous past and I am dying inside because, contrary to popular belief, not all bisexual people are sluts. AGGGGGGHHHHHHH.

As Holden’s relationships with his roommate and Alyssa deteriorate, he has the genius idea that only a 25 year old male could have, his roommate was in love with him (which explains why he was lashing out and being homophobic?) and he was insecure that Alyssa was more sexually experienced than him, so they had to have a threesome. Because ya know, what better way to utilize a bisexual character than for a threesome. His roommate is totally down because after being outed he has nothing to lose but Alyssa refuses (thank goodness), saying that she isn’t the same person that she was and she wants to be with Holden, not be his plaything. However, the three of them drift apart and I am left dumbfounded.

Alyssa deserved so much better, but being queer and being a woman, she was bound to be an object of men’s fascination. This idea from Missrepresentation carries over for queer people in the media, only multiplied by a million. Now, albeit this movie is from the 1990s, and I think that the very existence of a movie like this was a step in the right direction.