Chasing Amy: An Admirable Disregard for Societal Norm

You know, I didn't just heed what I was taught, men and women should be together, it's the natural way, that kind of thing. I'm not with you because of what family, society, life tried to instill in me from day one. The way the world is, how seldom it is that you meet that one person who just gets you - it's so rare. My parents didn't really have it. There were no examples set for me in the world of male-female relationships. And to cut oneself off from finding that person, to immediately halve your options by eliminating the possibility of finding that one person within your own gender, that just seemed stupid to me.
Alyssa Jones, the heroine of Chasing Amy, calmly explains this in order to reaffirm her love for her boyfriend, Holden. In this quote, Alyssa exudes that she has always felt that individuals mustn’t falter to societal heteronormativity. In society, there is an accepted standard, and that standard is heterosexuality; anything that falls outside of that social norm is seen as wrong. Alyssa was adamant about not allowing herself to fall under the ideal that a male partner was the only acceptable end goal in life. The particular agenda that Alyssa set for herself, along with other characters dealing with promiscuity, homosexuality, and homophobia are the reason that I have chosen to analyze Kevin Smith’s film, Chasing Amy. In this essay, I aim to establish that Chasing Amy serves as a positive stride for gays and lesbians within a heteronormative culture.
Chasing Amy centers around two freelance comic book writers/best friends, Holden and Banky. A homosexual acquaintance, Hooper, introduces Holden to a fellow comic book writer, Alyssa. Holden immediately falls for Alyssa and strikes up a close relationship with her, only to find out that she is gay. The two eventually begin to date, to Banky’s dismay. Turmoil evolves between Holden and Banky throughout Holden’s relationship with Alyssa. In order to rid his life of Alyssa, Banky warns Holden of Alyssa’s promiscuous past, which eventually leads to their break up. Holden soon realizes what he’s lost, and must learn how to cope with his terrible mistake.
The previous synopsis of the film may serve as a commendable plot outline on the back of a DVD rental box, however the intriguing aspects of Chasing Amy lie much deeper within; and although the main billing for the film may be for that of Holden and Banky, Alyssa serves as the potential catalyst for social change. She has disregarded the standards by which she was raised to abide by. Heterosexuality is right, homosexuality is wrong, women need men, economic stability is achieved through hetero relationships, obtaining a decent man should be considered an accomplishment, and so on. She refused to cater to the idea of compulsory heterosexuality. Alyssa decided that these principles were not all encompassing of her as an individual. Suzanne Pharr states that, “… the two most condemning accusations against a woman meant to ostracize and disempower her were whore and lesbian.” Due to Alyssa’s ideals, from teen-hood to adulthood would bring about these derogatory words against her. However, her devout beliefs in opposing all the “acceptable” societal standards are why Alyssa and Chasing Amy should be revered as a positive influence for strong, empowered women.
The main male protagonist in the film is admirably written as a somewhat open minded, intelligent, liberal character. As Holden falls for Alyssa, knowing that she’s a lesbian, he attempts to gather insight into her philosophies. A scene in which the two discuss Alyssa’s sexuality on a playground immediately displays that although Holden isn’t completely knowledgeable, he’s willing to learn. He makes the mistake of inferring that a lesbian is not able to lose her virginity due to a lack of penile penetration. As Alyssa explains her side of the argument, it is seen that Holden does not view her as an inanimate object, a possession, or even idealized girl who has decided to wage war on societal routine. He merely sees her as a strong, intelligent, funny, talented, empowered female who compliments him as a person and has her own worldly views. Towards the end of the picture, Holden is made aware that, despite being told otherwise, Alyssa has a heterosexual past. She not only had sex with men, but also, at one point, took on multiple partners at time. Holden cannot bare this. Although society deems homosexuality as the “other” and heterosexuality as the “mean”, it is the hetero aspects of Alyssa’s past that he finds to be “queer”. He could do nothing more than to refer to her as “used” and ends their relationship. He comes to realize that it was not specifically the fact that Alyssa had a past, but rather that he had none at all. The incidents were something that he could not understand, and due to that, he couldn’t cope with it. This is a major issue with society as well. When individuals aren’t accustomed to something, such as homosexuality, they deem it as different, and different generally tends to be bad by societal standards. If one were to veer off the path that was set out for them, then that individual would be scrutinized.
A major subplot to the film is the relationship between Banky and Holden. The two grew up together, live together and work together. When Holden strikes up his relationship with Alyssa, tension mounts. Before the relationship between Holden and Alyssa begins, there is a scene in the first half of the film in which Banky and Alyssa swap personal cunnilingus stories that they find to be humorous. It isn’t until after the relationship becomes serious, that Banky begins to “gay bash” Alyssa. It becomes quite clear by the end of the picture that Banky is merely doing this to cope with his own latent homosexuality. “Heterosexism is the set of values and structures that assumes heterosexuality to be the only natural form of sexual and emotional expression, ‘the perceptual screen provided by our patriarchal cultural conditioning’.” (Zimmerman 179) Banky’s homophobic tendencies arise from his own personal issues of dealing with something in which he does not understand and choosing to sustain the “natural form”.
Hooper, the character who introduces Holden and Alyssa, is an African American homosexual. At one point in the film he refers to himself as, “a minority in a minority of a minority.” As a comic book writer attempting to make it in the world of graphic novels, he must present a strong, manly, Black Panther type of visage in order to be accepted as well as succeed in the business world. This is just one of the many societal issues that Chasing Amy calls into check. The idea of portraying yourself as something that you’re not in order to feel as though you could succeed is rarely studied or looked at, just as Alyssa’s particular station is often misinterpreted.
In Monica Kehoe’s forward for Historical, Literary, and Erotic Aspects of Lesbianism, she states, “Women’s sexuality has many facets, that it can be its own source of gratification apart from men, and that, like men’s sexuality, it can be intricately woven into the fabric of their lives and relationships, particularly with other women.” Alyssa never intended to become a “lesbian”. Although the title was not something in which she was embarrassed about, she initially opened the door to women because she felt as though she shouldn’t eliminate all options for love solely because the idea of “man and woman” had been pounded into her head. Paula C. Rodriguez Rust touches on the idea that bisexuality is often misunderstood and not studied because many feel that:
There are only two authentic forms of sexual orientation, that is, heterosexuality and homosexuality. This belief in a sexual dichotomy leads to the conclusion that bisexuality either does not exist at all, or exists only as an unstable hybrid combination of heterosexuality and homosexuality, an intermediate sexual variation, or as a watered down version of homosexuality. (1)
Alyssa initially regarded herself as neither homosexual nor heterosexual. She was merely open. Open to anything that came her way and felt correct. However, the overt pressure and abundance of change that she felt as she ventured into the “gay” world, placed her on the other side of the fence. There was straight and there was gay, there was no gray area, and she either had to belong to one or the other. This idea become blatantly absurd and she eventually was able to place herself back into said gray area.
“The real money is in the dick and fart jokes.” Holden explains as his career motto to Alyssa. Chasing Amy manages to abide by this principle as well, however, it also touches on a great deal of societal issues that needed to be addressed all while being aesthetically pleasing as well as entertaining. This film can alter someone’s perception of society subconsciously. Banky was a homophobe, he couldn’t deal with it, and he lost his best friend. Holden couldn’t deal with Alyssa’s promiscuity, and eventually lost her. These are the lessons that, when seen on film, could deter viewers from making the same sort of mistakes. Chasing Amy serves as a milestone for all those who choose to work against what they are taught as being socially acceptable and opens the door to social change.












WORKS CITED

¨ Pharr, Suzanne. "Homophobia and Sexism." The Differences Among Us: Division and Connections (1988): 416.

¨ Ochs, Robyn. "Bisexuality, Feminism, Men and Me." Sexuality and Relationships (1992): 165.

¨ Zimmerman, Bonnie. "What Has Never Been: An Overview of Lesbian Feminist." Making a Difference: Feminist Literary Criticism 179.

¨ Kehoe, Monica. "Historical, Literary, and Erotic Aspects of Lesbianism." Journals of Homosexuality 1.

¨ Rust, Paula C. Rodriguez, Paula C. Rust, and "Bisexuality in the United States: A Social Science Reader." Criticisms of the Scholarly Literature on Sexuality for its Neglects of Bisexuality 1.