Platonic Love On Screen
Hi y’all, my name is Taylor Michael Simmons and if you read my work in the inaugural issue of Fruitslice or know me in any capacity you may have heard that I like movies. Obsessed with them even. Okay probably not obsessed. Like it’s not really that big of a problem. I can stop whenever I want to okay back off I’m fine. I did see over 250 movies last year. I think it was 252 to be exact. But who’s counting. I am. With my Letterboxd account. This column is not sponsored by Letterboxd but if there’s any representatives from the company reading this please call me I’m willing to play ball.
As this is my second series of film reviews I am hoping to make this a regular occurence. I hope that’s okay with y’all. And if not oh well. I’m doing this for me anyway. And Chloe. I’m doing this for Chloe. Shoutout Chloe. So sit down. Strap in. And enjoy the show. Remember to silence your cellphones, unless that’s what you’re using to peruse this issue of Fruitslice then that’s fine.
The following is my attempt to present you with five films that I think deserve your time and attention. Each film deals with the topic of ‘platonic love’. My presentation of these films will include some slight spoilers so proceed with caution. Don’t worry I won’t give away any huge twists. You won’t find any ‘it was all a dream’ or ‘the entire movie was actually taking place inside of a snow globe’ here. Also film is subjective so if you don’t agree with my takes that’s fine but just know that you’re dead to me.
We Are So Different You and I— Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle (1987) by Éric Rohmer
Sometimes in life we are lucky enough to meet another human person that we instantly connect with. In a non-fucking way. Platonically. Fast friends. That sort of thing. Maybe you run into someone at the farmers market or you get randomly assigned as college roommates or your cute little french bicycle gets a flat tire outside of their overgrown and dilapidated french countryside abode where they sleep in the attic and they help you fix the tire and you have a little sleepover or whatever.
Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle presents the viewer with four vignettes portraying the friendship between the obviously anxious self-taught painter Reinette and the obviously bisexual college student Mirabelle. The beginning of Four Adventures centers around the girls’ initial encounter and Reinette’s insistence on showing Mirabelle something she refers to as ‘the blue hour.’ Except the hour is really a minute and during this minute one can experience true silence for once in their goddamn lives. Seriously, why is everything so loud all the time? That’s not rhetorical. Someone please get back to me. Is there something wrong with me? WebMd says I for sure have brain cancer. Okay I did some box breathing and I feel better now sorry that was crazy. Anyway, the proceeding adventures include run-ins with an overly suspicious waiter, a shoplifter who is somehow oblivious to the fact she’s being followed by grocery cops, a train station grifter who’s asking everyone for a very specific amount of money, and a number of philosophical disagreements between our two friends. I feel like their friendship is very indicative of French culture at large, just two people living in the same apartment constantly arguing (I know nothing about French culture).
This film is beautiful to look at. The outfits go crazy hard. And you will develop a crush on either Reinette of Mirabelle. And listen sometimes we disagree with our friends and may even get upset with them and that’s perfectly okay and you don’t need to avoid conflict at all costs okay Taylor sometimes conflict is necessary and good and an important part of growth and human development. Anyway see ya later.
I Have Mommy Issues — Petite Maman (2021) by Céline Sciamma
Sometimes as people we cry. It’s okay. That’s natural. Nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes we cry as we lay down in the shower after a long day of work at our soul-sucking job. And sometimes we sob in one of the tiny theaters in the back of the AMC Burbank 16. You know which ones I’m talking about. Theaters 7 and 8 and 9 all the way in the back. They like specifically reserve them for non-English films or stuff released by Neon or A24 or Annapurna that sort of thing. [Note from the author: I literally looked back into the records of my AMC A-list account and confirmed that I saw this film on Tuesday, May 10th 2022 in theater 9 and yes I did cry multiple times okay that’s normal we talked about this] I shed my tears okay now it’s your turn.
We meet eight year old Nelly shortly after the death of her maternal grandmother. She is quiet. She is polite. She is small. She is a child. She is very obviously a lesbian. Or maybe just French. Why not both. [Note to the editor: in your experience are French women more likely to be gay or do they just look that way for cultural reasons?] Nelly and her mother Marion, and father who is also there but whatever, travel to Marion’s childhood home to clean it out in order to maybe sell it or turn it into an airbnb vacation rental or whatever the French equivalent of that would be. Marion, and also the man, begin their work on the house as young Nelly explores both the home itself and its surrounding woods. After the first day and understandably overwhelmed by both the death of her mother and the trauma of revisiting her childhood home Marion leaves Nelly all alone. I mean her father is there but isn’t leaving a child alone with their father really just the same as leaving them alone. As Nelly helps to pack up the house in her mother’s absence, she further explores the woods and discovers another young girl who also looks like a tiny lesbian. They quickly become friends and we find that their bond transcends simple adolescent friendship.
Listen I don’t know how fluent in French you are but the title ‘Petite Maman’ isn’t exactly hiding what this film is about. If you have some unresolved issues with your mother go ahead and give this bad boy a shot as part of your inner-child work. I did. I cried multiple times. It was very healing. Relationship with my mom still isn’t great. But that’s not this movie’s fault. Heck, if you have a relatively cool mom already maybe just watch it with her and see what happens. Could do wonders for y’all’s dynamic. Who knows. I’m no family therapist. I’m just a dude that loves movies and crying in the shower.
Growing Apart Together — Frances Ha (2012) by Noah Baumbach and (more importantly) Greta Gerwig
One of the most difficult things to face in our silly little lives on this planet is the realization that we can grow apart from the people we love. Sometimes it just happens. Nobody does anything wrong. There’s no grave sin. Or explosive fight. Or dramatic breakup. Just two human beings being pulled in opposite directions by life. More often than not this invisible force that pulls people apart from one another eventually severs them completely. But sometimes, love perseveres. Sometimes it evolves and survives and lives on in a way that is different but no less valuable. Despite the force being exerted on two people, giving them every reason to just call it quits and remove themselves from each other’s lives, they find a way to continue to love one another in a new way.
Frances Ha follows Greta Gerwig, blessed be her name, in the titular role as Frances, a late twenty-something dancer living and working in New York City with her college best friend Sophie. They are completely entangled in one another. Spending every second they can together. They sleep in the same bed and share the same cigarettes and commit the same misdemeanors*. Everything is wonderful and lovely and will be this way forever. But what’s this? An inciting incident? Oh no! Sophie is moving to Tribeca with some new bitch. And poor sweet Frances will be left behind in Brooklyn all by her lonesome. Except no she won’t because she’s poor. And what’s the one thing someone needs when they’re poor other than the revival of the guillotine? A roommate. Or maybe two. Or three. And one of them can be Oscar nominated Adam Driver if you want. Frances hops from apartment to apartment as she’s forced to grow up. Navigating her evolving relationships with her estranged best friend and herself.
This film is lovely. I recently watched it at Vidiots (shout out Vidiots specifically and repertoire theaters in general) with a sold out audience and it was spectacular. I’m sure you can find it on [insert capitalist hellscape illusion of choice streaming service here] but I encourage you to wait until it plays at a theater near you. At the very least watch it with others. Preferably others that you love deeply. After this joint you’ll start staring at your friends from across rooms just to see which ones will stare back at you. The real ones will stare back. And it will be weird for everyone else. But that’s their problem.
*Public Urination, Section 16-118 of the NYC Administrative Code
Work Besties— Nine to Five (1980) by Colin Higgins
Working is just awful. Okay maybe that’s unfair. Obviously working is inherent to the human experience and is a vital part of being alive. It gives us food to eat and a place to sleep and clothes on our backs and a sense of purpose and fulfillment. Working under the oppressive thumb of capitalism? Now that’s a different story. Having your work exploited for the profit of those who are unwilling or unable to do the work themselves has a way of eating away at you. At eroding the very base of your humanity. It makes you crazy. So crazy you might just have to do something about it. Anyway, get in besties we’re going to first degree murder our boss.
This joint opens with Dolly Parton’s absolute banger of a song Nine to Five, named after the film or maybe vice versa because this song rocks, accompanying a montage of working women making their way to the office. We are dropped into the hustle and bustle of the nondescript corporate offices of Consolidated Companies. We meet three employees Judy, Violet, and Doralee (Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton respectively) as they navigate the daily drudgery of their work. They are accosted and harassed and passed over for promotion and constantly disrespected and dehumanized until they just won’t take it anymore. The trio eventually bond over some after work drinks and a shared joint and their dissatisfaction with their jobs and their hatred of their boss, a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot. And jokingly discuss plans to kill him. Only maybe it’s not such a joke afterall.
A real hoot and a holler. This movie is great if you’re a fan of women and the organization of labor within the workplace. So are you going to watch or what? If you don’t watch that means that either a.) you hate women or b.) you are pro big business and the oppression of the working class. Make your next move very carefully. Dolly is watching. And you wouldn’t want to disappoint Dolly would you.
You ARE The Father — Paper Moon (1973) by Peter Bogdanovich
Small family businesses are the backbone of the American economy. Access to the cheap labor of their children is a god given right for these families. Their hands are so tiny and nimble. They are perfect for working the machinery. And what are they going to do with their time if not contribute to our ever growing economy that is built on infinite consumption and if it stops growing it dies and so do all of us but also it’s already killed our planet so oh well it’s all on fire and nothing matters and isn’t that so liberating. Listen, I get it. My family owns a small business. I worked for my father. He worked for his father. And his father worked for his father before him. And so on and so on. I learned a lot working for my father. I learned the value of a hard day's work. I learned how to work with my hands. I learned that actually maybe working with your family isn’t such a great idea.
Paper Moon is a story of the ebbs and flows of a small family business trying to survive the Great Depression in the American midwest. [Note from author: my great depression is every single day of my life and I’m running out of my Lexapro prescription please send help] Addie’s mother has just died and she is sad. As one is when their mother dies. Depending on their relationship with their mother. She is all alone in this world besides an aunt who lives far away and Addie cannot drive because she is a child. Luckily a man who is definitely her father shows up to the funeral and is guilt tripped into taking her along with him as he travels to Missouri of all places. The man is adamant that he is not the girl's father but the pair is literally played by a father-daughter acting pair so like come on now let’s be for real. During their travels the duo engage in an escalating series of grifts as they develop a beautiful business partnership and maybe actually some degree of love for one another.
Listen, this joint is entertaining. Black and white movies can be entertaining, okay, grow up. I had a goofy little smile on my face while watching this on my laptop in between loads of laundry. It also features a magical performance from Tatum O’Neal who remains the youngest actor to ever win an Academy Award. Seriously imagine winning an Oscar for working with your father. Like yeah it was probably weird and embarrassing and maybe he hurt your feelings by yelling at you in front of all those people but at the end of the day a bunch of adults give you a golden man statue. That’s pretty sick. And I’m sure you definitely grow up normal after all that and don’t have any problems in your adolescence or young adulthood. Child actors famously go through the stages of human development in a totally chill and normal way.