I Care a Lot, available on Netflix, stands out for several reasons …
First of all, watch out for the big spoilers on Netflix’s I Care a Lot, our review of which is right here, in what follows. It is on a particular aspect of the film with Rosamund Pike and Peter Dinklage that we will come back, but an aspect that will also make us talk about the very end of the film and its spoilers. In this little Netflix novelty, what seduced us is not only the well-executed plot and the dark and funny story of Marla Grayson, but also and above all the couple she forms with Fran (Eiza Gonzalez). Seeing a lesbian couple isn’t (fortunately) much out of the ordinary anymore, but it was their treatment that stood out a bit. Let’s start by underlining that no, we are clearly not a fan of the death of Marla, which further extends the list of lesbian characters who died without having had the right to their happy ending. But fortunately the film has strengths that counterbalance all that.
Unlike a lot of movies where the main or supporting characters are LGBTQ +, I Care a Lot of Netflix does not mention Marla and Fran’s sexuality once, and presents their couple like literally any other couple. If this may seem insignificant to some, it may be because these people are already represented on the screen, but in the case of lesbian couples, this is rare enough to be underlined. While we always enjoy seeing more representation, it can be tiring to see that the plots of many fictional LGBTQ + characters revolve around their sexuality, their gender, their coming out …
It’s for this reason that seeing LGBTQ + characters with other storylines and without their sexuality being addressed is so refreshing. In an ideal world of course this would become the norm and, as in I Care a Lot or the series Dead to me by Liz Feldman, we would never again need to make stories around a sexuality other than straight or a gender other than cisgender. However, since we are still far from being tolerant enough that everyone does not care about this kind of thing and let everyone live as he / she sees fit, coming-outs remain at the heart of many fictions in order to push to discussion and acceptance. But although it is always necessary to talk about it to better accept the LGBTQ + community, it remains very pleasant to see fictions in which LGBTQ + characters are treated like everyone else, characters with whom you can identify without necessarily having to be immersed in stories, sometimes painful, of coming out, acceptance and other issues revolving around gender and / or sexuality. And that’s what has us more in this J Blakeson film. While waiting for the next good surprises on Netflix, we made a top and a flop of LGBTQ + representation in series in 2020.
Credit: Netflix
Comments
0 comments
