Chasing Amy: A Disregard for Societal Norm

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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 ...

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...iewers 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.

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