They/Them/Us was a genuinely entertaining Friday night experience but truly felt confused in every way possible. To start off, Amy Hargreaves was excellent. She was the only character we thoroughly enjoyed. We also thought the sex-positivity within an older demographic was something less represented in popular media and depicted well in the movie. The movie did not depict the BDSM community as weird and instead, as very excepting. Also, being Columbus natives we loved the shots from around the city.
As for the rest of the movie, it seemed progressive through a Millenials eyes' in the worst way possible. First, the title of the movie, They/Them/Us, was clearly getting at the conjoined divorce family coming together and getting along. While it was a clever pun of them coming together, they severely stereotyped the gender non-conforming character. They made Charlie a saint for just respecting their pronouns; however, all the characters acted as if they/them pronouns were strange-- even the kids. It just felt like a basic view of nonbinary people.
It was obvious how the drug addiction plotline was under-researched and hysterical. Both weed and LSD are non-addictive drugs. The way weed is villainized is confusing. First, Charlie partook in smoking on more than one occasion. The first time the kids really got along on screen was when they got high. But for some reason, it was seen as the worst thing possible. Charlie sent his son away for smoking weed and doing LSD, but partook in it himself and was boiling at the idea his son could've done that. He treated his son so poorly when he said adults and kids "aren't equals" and he doesn't need his son's respect.
Lastly, Charlie's relationship with his students was really weird. We get that he wasn't religious, but talking about BDSM to his young students was uncomfortable and looked suspicious considering his briefly mentioned and brushed over past. The movie was a cacophony of stereotypes and didn't bring anything constructive to the nuanced conversations with which it attempted to grapple.
As for the rest of the movie, it seemed progressive through a Millenials eyes' in the worst way possible. First, the title of the movie, They/Them/Us, was clearly getting at the conjoined divorce family coming together and getting along. While it was a clever pun of them coming together, they severely stereotyped the gender non-conforming character. They made Charlie a saint for just respecting their pronouns; however, all the characters acted as if they/them pronouns were strange-- even the kids. It just felt like a basic view of nonbinary people.
It was obvious how the drug addiction plotline was under-researched and hysterical. Both weed and LSD are non-addictive drugs. The way weed is villainized is confusing. First, Charlie partook in smoking on more than one occasion. The first time the kids really got along on screen was when they got high. But for some reason, it was seen as the worst thing possible. Charlie sent his son away for smoking weed and doing LSD, but partook in it himself and was boiling at the idea his son could've done that. He treated his son so poorly when he said adults and kids "aren't equals" and he doesn't need his son's respect.
Lastly, Charlie's relationship with his students was really weird. We get that he wasn't religious, but talking about BDSM to his young students was uncomfortable and looked suspicious considering his briefly mentioned and brushed over past. The movie was a cacophony of stereotypes and didn't bring anything constructive to the nuanced conversations with which it attempted to grapple.