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Chasing Amy
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=== Analysis === In the book ''Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women's Love and Desire'', [[Lisa M. Diamond]] cites the film as a notable example of female sexual fluidity in popular culture, writing that ''Chasing Amy'' "depicts a lesbian becoming involved with a man, contrary to the more widespread depictions of heterosexual women becoming involved in same-sex relationships."<ref>{{cite book |last=Diamond |first=Lisa M |date=2008 |title=Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women's Love and Desire |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Harvard University Press |page=2 |isbn=9780674032262 }}</ref> Though the film has been praised as ahead of its time by some critics in its representation of sexual fluidity and the concept of the [[bromance]], it also received criticism, particularly for its implication that a lesbian can go straight, even if just temporarily, as soon as she meets the right guy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Darren |first=Alison |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LCzGrV7CCbsC&pg=PA42 |title=Lesbian Film Guide |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2000 |isbn=9781441183644 |pages=42–44 |chapter=Chasing Amy}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kaiser |first=Vrai |date=2015-08-02 |title=Bisexual Hangups: How Chasing Amy Is Still Ahead of Its Time |url=https://www.themarysue.com/chasing-amy-still-ahead-of-its-time/ |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=[[The Mary Sue]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Keating" /> The film was criticized by Judith Kegan Gardiner in the book ''Masculinity Studies and Feminist Theory'', describing ''Chasing Amy'' as representative of a "fairly repulsive genre of films" that feature a "heterosexual conversion narrative" that is "set in motion by the desire of a heterosexual person for a seemingly unattainable gay person."<ref>{{cite book |last=Gardiner |first=Judith Kegan |date=2002 |title=Masculinity Studies and Feminist Theory |location=New York |publisher=Columbia University Press |page=346 |isbn=9780231122795 }}</ref> The scene where Alyssa is shamed by her gay friends when they discover she is dating a man also received criticism from the lesbian community.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Walters |first=Suzanna Danuta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2pSH73isp94C&pg=164 |title=All the Rage: The Story of Gay Visibility in America |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |year=2003 |isbn=9780226872322 |pages=164}}</ref> On the film's 20th anniversary, Smith said, "For anyone who watches the movie now and goes, like, 'Ew, these sexual politics are ... not very subtle', you’ve gotta remember: It was made by a 26-year-old, 27-year-old guy, who really didn’t know anything and was learning in that moment. As much as it’s a movie that’s closely identified with the gay community, by virtue of the fact that the main character was gay, I really never think about it as such ... To me, it was about a boy who grows up to become a man but loses everything in the process — very bittersweet."<ref name="Keating" /> In 2023, queer filmmaker Sav Rodgers released the documentary ''Chasing Chasing Amy'', which discusses the impact the film had on his life.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Collis |first=Clark |date=June 7, 2023 |title=How Kevin Smith's 'Chasing Amy' saved a queer filmmaker's life |url=https://ew.com/movies/chasing-chasing-amy-kevin-smith-sav-rodgers/ |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=EW.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Chasing Chasing Amy {{!}} 2023 Tribeca Festival |url=https://tribecafilm.com/films/chasing-chasing-amy-2023 |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=Tribeca}}</ref>
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