The 52: Call Me By Your Name
From June 2023 to June 2024 I'll be watching a lgbtqia+ film each week and coming back here with my thoughts, feelings and plenty of hopes we aren't met with the "kill your gays" trope. I call this The 52.
I….. hated…. this.
Alright, alright, hate might be a strong word (it's really not) - what I hated was the romanticisation this film gets, the “love story” between Oliver and Elio. Because when one is 17 and the other is 24? That’s not love. That’s a predator and the child they’re grooming.
Call Me By Your Name doesn’t necessarily romantacise the relationship that forms between these two, it’s more the free pass I’ve seen people give Armie Hammer, whose performance was something I barely stomached (I cannot watch this man in films, never have before and never will again; I didn’t know he was in this and by the time I did, I had already decided I needed to watch it for this series, both for it’s cultural impact and popularity as a queer film,), and the way an adult and a child are daydreamed about by people who clearly don’t comprehend what they're watching.
CMBYN actually does a good, subtle job of showing how controlling, predatory and generally awful Oliver (Hammer) is, a man who comes to stay for the summer with Elio’s family as a kind of research assistant. From the very first he is off, snubbing, ignoring and playing with the besotted Elio for seemingly no reason. I thought at first we were being shown a story of blind love, that we, as viewers, were supposed to be tempted by Oliver’s “charm” like everyone around him was, but then I realised this is all seen from Elio’s perspective. And it is, undoubtably, a charmed perspective.
Everyone who comes into contact with Oliver is amazed by his charisma, Elio’s parents (who sometimes seem oblivious and sometimes seem to actively encourage the relationship) adore him and urge him and Elio to spend time together, and I wondered why he fell so flat for me - was it because of my distaste for the actor playing him? Was it his disgusting character? How did no one else see how creepy he was? And it all comes back to charm, or at least that’s what I think. Being viewers, we are detached. Oliver turns his charm and control onto everyone he sees, but while we watch from Elio’s perspective, we are still somewhat detached. His focus isn't on us, which makes it easier to see through the facade.
It made watching this film painful, aching, miserable. I wanted to step in and, like consciousness in a dream, pull Elio away, warn him, but all I could do was look on in dismay.
I didn’t like CMBYN. I wouldn’t watch it again and I’m horrified that people look at the story of Elio and Oliver and herald it for it’s true love, who want to emulate it in their own romances. But I do appreciate having seen it, and the way it told the story of a boy who deserved much, much better.
Like things shorter? Follow me on Letterboxd and see my review
Comments
Post a Comment