Call Me by Your Name
Year: 2017
Rating: R
Length: 132 minutes / 2.20 hours
Call Me by Your Name (2017) is the latest in a string of LGBTQ+ films nominated for Best Picture. Each year, we seem to see one of these LGBTQ+ films nominated for the highest award, but this year there’s a much more fundamental problem with it. Around the time the definition of marriage was changed by the U.S. Government, many opponents warned of a slippery slope that would lead to acceptance of lifestyles that are currently illegal. Call Me by Your Name is proof that we have proceeded down this slope.
I understand that the themes of “first love” are what draw people to this film, and I’d be OK with that if the theme never entered sexual territory. As it is, this movie glamorizes sexual relations with a minor. This is statutory rape, which is illegal. Even if the parties involved were heterosexual, this would still be wrong. Unfortunately, I think it’s the only reason why this film was nominated in the first place. As it is, the whole thing is quite dull and certainly kept going when it should have ended a few scenes prior to where it did.
Furthermore, Call Me by Your Name just screams white privilege. Lazy summers spent in Italy having numerous sexual encounters with other white people just seems like something that even regular white people can’t relate to. Despite all its flaws, Call Me by Your Name does two things correctly: the beautiful Italian setting and the music. Heck, I’m even willing to add a half-star to my rating because of the father’s monologue at the end of the film. Lord knows I would never have watched this if it wasn’t a Best Picture nominee, and now the Academy essentially endorsed the American Pie (1999) of art-house films.
Hollywood’s steady march down the slippery slope of sexuality, I give Call Me by Your Name 2.5 stars out of 5.
