Call Me By Your Name, directed by Luca Gudagino and featuring teen mega-heartthrob Mr. Timothée Chalamet, presents itself as extremely controversial in the LGBTQ+ community. While the overwhelming majority praise the film for finally acknowledging the personal tribulations with navigating sexual identities, this appraisal often clouds the reinforcement of subtle sexual stereotypes. Some even mention the film hurts the LGBTQ+ community more than it helps, and if you disagree, understand it’s not your fault. We don’t know any better due to the low standard of proper representation directors are held accountable to.
So what can we do? Learn.
Editorial by Gaby Diaz
7/17/20
The widely acclaimed film often receives compliments to its imagery. Setting the scenery in Northern Italy during the 1980s allows for vibrant natural lush to elucidate you with lust. If you can’t feel the sexual tension between Elio (played by Chalamet) and Oliver (Armie Hammer), the scenery, from the lavish townhouse to the abundant green garden, transports you to the typical romantic getaway. Why is this important? It allows for the audience to further unconsciously divulge in their privileged perspective. Humans are known for their inability to multitask; our brains cannot process and engage in two polar opposite ideas at once -- we function in cohesion. With that being said, the lustful imagery subtly preys on our privilege due to our inability to process a dangerous relationship in what we perceive a safe beautiful environment.
The imagery also takes away from Elio’s extreme internal adversity -- navigating his sexual identity in an era that feeds hetero-normative culture. With the rise of the AIDS epidemic and the government’s extreme refusal to attend to the growing deaths (sound familiar?), American media outlets pushed and propagated a massive influx of straight couples and love stories. It was one of the layered tactics of the white-picket-fence facade. What does this mean for Elio?
Well, these hetero-normative stereotypes breached bridges with America being one of the leading countries. Not only did American stereotypes infiltrate the world, but homophobia was globally deemed as acceptable. Oftentimes stars, like David Bowie or Freddie Mercury, were extremely ostracized at the beginning of their rise to fame. A culmination of xenophobia tied in with homophobia reflects the general public’s response to crossing gender norms and erasing societal dogmas. The 1980s are notorious for their eluding mass of global homophobia and xenophobia. Therefore, Elio’s internal perspective reveals him as vulnerable. He questions himself and his sexuality throughout the film, and with no guidance, he, unfortunately, falls subject to Oliver.
Adolescence appears to cultivate more negative burdens than positive outlooks; we all rapidly change physically and mentally, and with these changes, we must adapt relatively quickly so as to not be ‘caught’ by the outside world. It sounds ridiculous, but this perspective is integral in understanding Elio’s sexual disposition. He’s vulnerable; the world he lives in provides little to no sexual diverse representation. While embarking on his own journey, it is evident that he cannot tell right from wrong. Due to the lacking representation of healthy gay relationships, his questioning identity is unable to distinguish the rights and wrongs within a relationship. Oliver woefully takes advantage of Elio’s disposition, and Elio falls subject to Oliver’s desires.
Throughout the film, Gudagino paints the transparency in Elio’s desperation for sexual fulfillment -- as it is a focal point throughout all of adolescence thanks to the consistent raging hormones. Elio wants to feel fulfilled completely in the sexual identity he truly embodies. With this extreme desperation, Elio jumps at the first opportunity that presents itself as a relationship despite the abundance of warning signs. The lustful imagery clouds the audience’s judgment from the developing relationship between Elio and Oliver. Oliver is 24 and Elio is 17. While Elio evidently questions his sexuality, Oliver takes advantage of his vulnerability and fulfills his own sexual conquest before returning to his fiancée. By the end of the film, Elio is left heartbroken and completely stranded on an island of doubt, insecurity, and helplessness.
When films like Call Me By Your Name first debut, the general public praises Hollywood for doing the bare minimum. That’s not to discredit the cinematography of the film by whatever means: the scenery, soundtrack, and acting transport the audience to an alternate reality, which is what films are supposed to do. When it comes to gay relationships, however, Hollywood fetishizes the struggles of navigating a sexual identity, and the roaring cheers of the public simultaneously silence the improper representation of the LGBTQ+ community while praising the screen for showing a gay couple.
As a community, we all can relate to Elio. We’re vulnerable to the twists and turns of media control. We don’t know any better because we’ve never seen any better. What’s important is that we hold creators to a specific standard. Being a minority, we have to work twice as hard to get half the rewards, and when it comes to representation, it’s no different. Directors must learn to grow empathy and understand how their oblivious ignorance impedes societal progression for certain communities.
