Her sexual orientation bothers me

She's messed up in the head...she 'chose women' because guys treated her like ish..

The script makes sense because it well establishes that she doesn't feel any need to fit into anyone's labels. She says she is gay when she meets Holden because it's the truth at the time.

I understand that some gay people will be turned off by this (like some complained about The Kids are Alright).

Thats one of the points of the movie, I think. For Alyssa's arc, she is dealing with her sexuality which perhaps violates certain morays of her own 'tribe'. IE- we all have our inner selves, which is what we are and have little control over, and then we have our outer selves that we in some ways contrive to conform to whatever persona we envision, partially to be accepted by our social groups (at least our notion of what will be required to be accepted).

Some people are more in touch with that (Alyssa) than others (Banky), but it applies to everyone- even those who 'get' it. Just knowing of the inevitable duality doesnt free you from it, because we all want some form of acceptance from someone(s) external to us.

Alyssa has bisexual or pansexual impulses, if she had defined herself that way (or perhaps understood herself that way), there wouldn't be this controversy. But she lived as a lesbian, and there are consequences to that both for her and the people around her. Thats by no means a judgement, the premise of the film is that we all do this in our own ways, and ultimately all have to deal with it one way or another.

If Alyssa character was 'living' as a bisexual woman, she would be a different character (and much less interesting). She had to confront herself to be with Holden in a way that was guaranteed to be deeply distressing to her (and those close to her). There was a cost to that love. I dont think the movie is about Holden nearly as much as it is about Alyssa and Banky. Holden wrestles with his own external hangups (can i be with a woman with a history) while Alyssa struggles with an internal hangup (who am i really, have i been fooling myself?) and Banky seems to forbid himself that kind of self-reflection altogether, so that when he perforce is confronted with it, he cracks up.

This could easily (in the hands of a more conventional filmmaker) been a story about boy meets lesbian and their struggle against the outside world. Its much more interesting the only struggle that matters are the internal ones.

Also keep in mind that this was written by a 20-something straight man. Not trying to take anything away from Kevin Smith but in a sense, his interpretation of sexuality could be somewhat limited and not represent the majority of lesbians in 90s New York.

Must you work out your hang ups and limitations on this board?

I was there when I was younger. I was straight, then I was gay, then I was straight again. Finally in my 30s I embraced my bisexuality. Then when I admitted in addition to feminine women and masculine men, I was attracted to feminine men and masculine women, as well as transgender individuals....I determined that I am pansexual. So to me, her orientation and struggles make sense.

Read up on sexuality terminology. It's quite confusing with all the terms and definitions and the slight differences. There's a huge scale besides straight, bi, and gay. Nothing ever is just black and white when it comes to sexuality.

Some people like sex, some don't. All sorts of definitions and labels exist. I barely know any of them aside from the ones that apply to me and/or friends/family members.

Those that are simply "straight" have sex with the opposite gender, but there are even definitions of straight for people who don't quite fit in. I know some of them explain romantic attraction towards the same sex or the ability to make out/get all touch-feely with the same sex, but they don't feel gay. There are straight people who experiment, but feel straight. It goes on and on and on.. google it all if you'd like more info.

You've got people who are fully bi. Some people are bi, but swing towards one sex more than the other (like my sister- she loves guys and likes girls). Some people are straight, but are curious and aren't afraid to experiment. Some are so confused by their sexuality that they experiment and don't know what they want. Some people are "gay", but aren't ashamed or afraid to go to the opposite sex for more options. Some people prefer sex with one gender and everything else (minus actual sex) with the other. Some feel romantic attraction towards one gender and sexual towards the other. I could go on and on, but I'm sure you get it.

There are people who are simply gay. Then you've got people who aren't afraid to experiment or get romantic with or feel attracted to the opposite sex, but they still feel gay. Google these, because it gets pretty crazy in terms.

Those that don't are called asexual and there's a whole side to that, too. People who don't feel attraction or want to have sex. People who only feel attraction and sexual after they've fallen in love. People who aren't interested in sex, but have attraction. People who aren't interested in sex, but will have sex for pleasure purposes or to please their partner.

I've been called Asexual, Greysexual, and Demi-romantic all because I prefer to live life and enjoy everything else life has to offer before only turning to sex in my relationship. My husband is the same way and we get made fun of for it. But, then others simply call us straight "because we have sex" despite the fact that sex does not really interest us at all. It's all quite annoying. I prefer just to be myself and do what I like rather than have to have a label.

There are also people who don't feel their gender or human at all, so there's a huge list of new terms for them. There are also people who just don't have a sexuality, some who are simply attracted to personalities, some who like multi-relationships, etc.

All I can say is Google, Google, Google. Or go to a library or a website on sexuality or something.

I thought the annoying dialogue about what her sexual orientation made the movie and portrayal bothersome. However you want to splice it, she was attracted to both genders. Period. There's nothing groundbreaking there. Yet there's one monologue after another about "definitions" of x, y and z. The movie seemed so apparently written by some dude who tried being logical about sexual orientation that it made Alyssa seem like an awkward spokesperson for promiscuity. Not one part of her character seemed authentic, and as someone else stated, it seems as though Kevin Smith wrote her in a fashion which tries to logically define herself instead of having real emotions that cause her to be attracted to whoever it is that she's attracted to.

I had no idea what Chasing Amy was about. I knew it was a Kevin Smith movie. I had no expectations going in, but it was a very tedious viewing. Outdated and unimpressive. The constant pandering to the audience felt far too preachy and self-righteous.



Poetry don't work on whores.