Excluded Films: Blue Is the Warmest Colour

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Recommended: Essay On Queer Theory

What constitutes a ‘good’ queer cinema? The question is as ambiguous as the idea of queer theory, which in its actuality is characterized to be “…nothing in particular to which it necessarily refers. It is an identity without a [defined] essence”. The combination of queer theory’s fluid nature and the rather touchy subject of queer history often make it difficult to draw black and white conclusions on what discerns an exceptional queer film from a mediocre one. Blue Is the Warmest Colour, based on a graphic novel by Julie Maroh and directed by Abdellatif Kechiche. closely examines the life of a female protagonist. A quiet schoolgirl with an appreciation for literature, Adèle briefly goes out with a boy whom admires her – partially in an effort to fit in with her group of peers who constantly talk about sex and boys. Finding herself sexually dissatisfied and emotionally heavyhearted, she feels lost until a momentary encounter with a blue haired girl is able to dominate her attention entirely. In the subsequent meetings she has with the girl, Emma, the two soon become intimately involved emotionally and sexually. They engage in a long-term relationship, until Adèle becomes an elementary teacher and Emma is a full-time artist. Feeling distant from Emma and her artistically enriched and intimidating associates, Adèle goes out and sleeps with one of her colleagues. When Emma finds out, the couple go through a savage breakup, leaving Adèle completely alone and grief-stricken. A couple of years later, Adèle is still very much in love with Emma, however Emma has moved on and is in another committed relationship. Sometime later, Adèle attends Emma’s art exhibit, but her hopelessly miserable feelings intensify as the reality of losing Emma ... ... middle of paper ... ...izes non-heteronormative lifestyle and sexual fluidity. Blue is an honest and unbiased depiction of a person experiencing love and multifaceted complications of life. Works Cited http://www.thefreedictionary.com/New+Wave+(disambiguation) http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/blue-is-the-warmest-colour-more-than-the-sum-of-its-parts-8942640.html http://books.google.ca/books?id=o9ct-YPs66UC&pg=PA62&dq=nothing+in+particular+to+which+it+necessarily+refers.+It+is+an+identity+without+an+essence+saint+foucault&hl=en&sa=X&ei=uP4nU5SaLM7moAS5soHoDQ&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=nothing%20in%20particular%20to%20which%20it%20necessarily%20refers.%20It%20is%20an%20identity%20without%20an%20essence%20saint%20foucault&f=false http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/ps/i.do?action=interpret&id=GALE%7CA289359848&v=2.1&u=ucalgary&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&authCount=1

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