We’re wrapping up this season of Trekabout Presents by discussing Kevin Smith’s third movie. Is it a realistic portrayal of twentysomething sexual confusion, or is it pandering and offensive? Welcome to Trekabout Presents Chasing Amy.
Trekabout Presents Chasing Amy
The Pensky File
-It’ll be tough to sum up why I mostly disagree with you guys. I’ll start by just saying that I can appreciate but don’t enjoy Clerks, I think Mallrats is horrendous, and Chasing Amy is far and away Smith’s best movie.
The movie is about Holden/Smith’s experience with young, immature love. Alyssas point of view is pretty irrelevant, and I think it was smart to keep her at a distance to hide how damaged of a person she is. I don’t fault the movie for not fleshing her out because her story isn’t really the point here, it’s all about Holden’s perspective on trying to make a relationship that’s destined to fail turn into something else.
I could go on and on, but I’ll just wrap it up by saying that I find Chasing Amy to be the only time that Smith actually had something to say about life. The movie is, of course, typical Smith in that it’s terribly directed and the tone drifts constantly, but I think that the plot and theme is something that a lot of people can relate to, even if you drop the homosexual/bisexual angle. It’s less about the sexuality issue and more about people trying to fix a relationship that can’t be fixed.
The things that happen are irrational and poor choices, but that pretty much sums up young love.
If anything, the characters almost seem too old for the story, but I was only figuring out myself in the late 20s so I get what he was trying to do.