Lesbian Film Spotlight: The Bad-But-Good
Lesbian Film Spotlight: The Bad-But-Good
On Sapphic Snapshots and Not Thinking Straight
This is the Sunday edition of Paging Dr. Lesbian. Plus, this week’s dispatch from the lesbian internet. If you like this type of thing, subscribe!
I’ve often found it difficult to objectively evaluate lesbian movies, because although there has been an increasing number in the last few years, they are still often difficult to find. This is in part because there just aren’t that many of them, but also because many that do exist are independent films that aren’t always available on mainstream streaming platforms. (If you’re looking for random lesbian films you’ve probably never heard of I would recommend the free streaming service Tubi, as well as Lesflicks, which exclusively streams lesbian and sapphic films). This means that it’s often hard to separate one’s delight in finding a movie about sapphics from an evaluation of the film’s actual “quality,” a term which in and of itself is also difficult to define.
I don’t necessarily think this subjective distinction is a bad thing. Personally, I have my own value system for how I define a “good” (or at least not bad) lesbian film, and this metric is different than the one I use to evaluate other types of film. There are a number of films that fall into a grey area within this evaluation – films that might be “bad” in a more general sense, but in another sense might constitute an average or an above-average lesbian film. These are films that I’m currently calling “bad-but-good” films. I do not mean to diminish the effort of these filmmakers in producing these films, but rather am interested in discerning the unique place such movies have in sapphic culture and how they circulate as seemingly timeless cultural touchstones.
While certain aspects of these films might indeed be “bad” – some of the writing, a bit of the acting, an unnecessary plotline or character here or there – there is also something endearing about them. It is this endearing quality – the fact that, in my estimation, they are obviously made with passion and good intentions – that carries these films over to the “good” side. It is also the lead actor or actors that often bring an essential element to these films. A little chemistry (and at least one very beautiful woman) goes a long way.
There are several films that could illustrate this idea well, but I am going to begin with the film that I think most perfectly captures this concept – Shamim Sharif’s iconic film I Can’t Think Straight (2008). The film stars Lisa Ray and Sheetal Sheth, who were also the stars of Sharif’s previous film, a historical drama called The World Unseen (2007). I Can’t Think Straight follows Tala (Ray), a wealthy Christian Palestinian living in Jordan, and Leyla (Sheth), a British Indian Muslim who lives in London and dreams of being a writer. While Tala and Leyla have an instant connection, various obstacles – cultural and religious differences, homophobia, the fact that Tala is engaged to be married at the time of their meeting – get in their way. They do eventually get their happy ending (and on a bench, no less!), which is a large part of the reason the film remains a cult classic despite its flaws.
To be sure, I do not consider I Can’t Think Straight to be an unequivocally bad film, but I’m not sure it qualifies as an entirely good one either (hence my above categorization). I have, however, seen the film, or at least parts of it, more than once, which is why I feel qualified to assess its unique status in sapphic pop culture.
The film’s biggest flaw is its unnecessary side plots and the lack of a dynamic supporting cast. Apart from Leyla’s occasionally amusing sister – who at one point notices her Sarah Waters books and k.d. lang CDs and has a lesbian epiphany – none of the secondary characters add much to the film. Tala’s insufferable mother and sister in particular are given far more screen time than they deserve.
Some of the film’s more sentimental moments also lean too far into the saccharine – a clumsy close-up of Tala and Leyla’s hands unclasping comes to mind here – while others teeter just on the edge of this boundary. But while the lead actors are sometimes forced to deliver less than subtle lines of dialogue, there is something open and earnest about their performances that prevent the film from being immediately forgettable. It doesn’t hurt that they also have great chemistry, a fact which Sharif clearly banked much of the film’s success on given her previous experience with the actors. Most of the film’s propulsive energy comes from Tala (Ray), whose confidence and charm Leyla finds captivating. (This dynamic is reversed in The World Unseen, where Ray plays a repressed housewife and Sheth a trouser-wearing business owner). In Ray’s hands, all of the winning smiles Tala levels at Leyla hint at something deeper, even if it is Tala who can’t quite follow through on her intentions in the end.
There’s also, of course, the kissing. One scene in particular (pictured at the top of the page) that has stood the test of time is one in which Tala’s provocative dancing in a hotel room leads them very quickly to other bedroom activities (After the famous bench scene, the film’s final scene is actually another shot of them in bed together). As the thirsty sapphic denizens of Tumblr can tell you, such scenes are an important factor in whether or not a lesbian film will reach cult classic status or simply fade into oblivion. Indeed, many of these cinematic “love scenes” have a life of their own, circulating online as de-contextualized moments of sapphic romance for years after their initial release.
It’s also important to remember this film was released back in 2008, a time when there were few lesbian films considered high quality outside of their designation as lesbian films. As such, I Can’t Think Straight is a particularly illuminating example of why the very concept of quality can be a tricky delineation in this context. To give you a more robust sense of what I mean, I’ll provide another example.
Snapshots (2018), directed by Melanie Mayron, follows Rose (Piper Laurie), an elderly woman who is hosting her daughter and granddaughter at her lake house for the weekend. As the weekend wears on, tensions rise and secrets are unearthed as Rose reveals her one true love was a woman named Louise whom she met in the early 1960s. The film oscillates between two timelines as Rose spends the weekend reminiscing about her relationship with Louise while her family members work out their own issues at the lake house.
Like I Can’t Think Straight, Snapshots’ biggest flaw is its secondary characters and the tedium of the plotlines that aren’t about the lesbians. Rose’s daughter is extremely irritating and shockingly homophobic, while Rose’s granddaughter has a thinly drawn storyline that takes a sudden left turn in the third act (which I will not spoil here). But, like I Can’t Think Straight, the film is saved by the sapphics. Young Rose and Louise (played by Shannon Collins and Emily Goss, respectively) have a wonderfully bright and cheerful narrative (for the most part at least), and Goss plays fiery redhead Louise with a charm and zest that quite frankly carries the whole film.
Like Lisa Ray’s Tala, Louise has an alluring fervor and confidence about her that is immediately attractive to Rose, and by extension, the viewer. This dynamic – a shy character who lacks confidence meets a bold character who brings them out of their shell – is, to be honest, a dynamic that is at play in most lesbian films, and the passion of such an interaction is at times the only thing stopping these films from being overlooked entirely. (There is also undoubtedly an element of aspiration at play here – many viewers are particularly desirous of the bold character rather than the more reserved one. Imagining oneself being openly desired in such a way can be thrilling for those of us who can’t quite imagine ourselves ever being that assertive. A sea of Thereses searching for our Carols, as it were).
Thus it is Rose and Louise’s blooming period romance that rescues this low-budget project from oblivion and elevates it into something that might actually be worth saving – savoring, even. While the film overall has a very Hallmark-like quality to it, this is not necessarily a bad thing – sapphics deserve Hallmark movies too, right? And the fact that it was based on a true story (Rose was inspired by the writer’s mother) makes its at times saccharine nature feel more endearing than corny.
This subjective categorization applies to many other films I could list here. I might discuss another cross-cultural romance, Nina’s Heavenly Delights (2006), which follows a pair of Scottish lesbians as they enter a televised curry competition. Or, I could go on about Seasons of Love (2019), a lesbian Christmas rom-com starring sapphic favorites Jessica Clark, Dominique Provost-Chalkley, and Snapshots’ very own Emily Goss. (Seasons of Love often oscillates between being sweet and cringe-inducing, and one’s relative enjoyment of the film is largely predicated upon your level of affection for the aforementioned actors). I could go on, but I will not belabor the point any further.
What is interesting to me is that I know I am not the only one who has my own qualitative matrix for evaluating lesbian films. In fact, this seems to be a common exercise among lesbian film viewers. At times it seems that the thrill of recognition and the excitement of desire can supersede even a sapphic cinephile’s qualitative judgments about these movies. And while arthouse lesbian films are becoming more common, there’s something to be said for these films of ambiguous quality that nonetheless stir something in the viewer. I only hope that as lesbian cinema is more and more associated with so-called “serious” filmmaking, we don’t forget our humble roots.
I Can’t Think Straight is available to rent on Amazon, YouTube, and Apple TV
Snapshots is streaming on Amazon and Tubi
Nina’s Heavenly Delights is streaming on Amazon with a Here TV add-on and on Sling TV, and is available to rent on Vimeo
Seasons of Love is available to buy or rent on Tello Films
Welcome to this week’s dispatch from the lesbian internet. A lot has happened this week, so buckle up.
On Monday, Governor Hutchinson vetoed the anti-trans bill I spoke about last week, HB 1570, which bans transition-related healthcare for trans youth in Arkansas. Unfortunately, on Tuesday the Arkansas General Assembly voted to override the Governor’s veto, which means the bill officially passed. Check out this explainer video from the ACLU’s Chase Strangio about the impact of the bill, and follow him for more updates about similar bills around the country. Here are some more places you can donate.
In brighter news, Shiva Baby is now available to rent on-demand, and it is incredible. If you are unaware, Shiva Baby follows a college student (Rachel Sonnett) attending a shiva, where she is confronted by her ex-girlfriend (Molly Gordon), her sugar daddy, and various family friends pestering her for information. Diana Agron is also there.
In related news, if you liked Shiva Baby or are looking for a queer podcast, I’ve recently discovered a podcast called The Female Gayze. You can check them out here.
On Monday, Kate Winslet said that she knew gay actors who were terrified to come out, clarifying that she knows “at least four” such actors. This is an objectively hilarious statement, and a classic unhinged moment from Winslet (remember when she said lesbian sex was “definitely not like eating a sandwich” ???). She also said telling gay actors they can’t play straight “should be almost illegal.” Almost illegal! Anyways, this of course led people to speculate who these actors could be, with many sapphics deciding one of them must be Saoirse Ronan. Really, I just cannot believe she decided she must share this information, but at least it has given us something to laugh about.
On Wednesday, The Crown actress Emma Corrin “officially” came out on Instagram, posting an image from a recent wedding-inspired photoshoot with the caption “ur fave queer bride.” Obviously we’ve known (or at least assumed) this for some time, both because of her daily fashion choices and her relationship with Christine and the Queens, but this is still fun news. Speaking of Christine and the Queens, the most important aspect of this announcement is what Christine commented under Corrin’s Instagram post, which you can read below.
Also on Wednesday, our favorite sapphic child star JoJo Siwa graced the cover of People magazine. The headline of the cover reads “I’m so proud to be me,” and in the profile, Siwa says that she currently identifies as pansexual. On Thursday, Siwa also celebrated her three-month anniversary with her girlfriend by posting photos of them on Instagram. I hope Siwa continues to post monthly anniversary posts, because this is the type of content we all need right now. Yay JoJo!
On Thursday, singer Kehlani came out as a lesbian after previously having identified as queer and pansexual. This news is not particularly revelatory except for the fact that legions of women probably think they now have more of a chance with Kehlani, which is, of course, wishful thinking. Hi Kehlani!
Lastly, Wynonna Earp – a show that at the height of the Bury Your Gays trope put its lesbian in a bulletproof vest, is so queer that two of its lead actors came out during its run, and was saved from cancellation in 2018 by a passionate fan campaign – concluded its fourth and final (or not?) season on Friday. Sad news indeed, but at least we have the memories. (My memory being the time Dominique Provost-Chalkley smiled at me at ClexaCon and I almost passed out). One last cheers for lesbian unicorns everywhere. Opa!
That’s all for this week, folks! In honor of Kristen Stewart’s birthday, which was on Friday, here is this legendary picture of her living her best life at Hooters. See you next week!
