Crash (1996) is a queer movie. Itβs actually for the bisexuals.
And itβs not considered queer because it has gay sex and has queer characters itβs considered queer for its themes and sexual politics than for explicit LGBTQIA+ identity. Let me elaborate further.
1): It challenges normal sexuality.
The entire film centers around on individuals who have a sexual fetish and develop sexual arousal tied to car crashes, scars, prosthetics and bodily damage. The term βqueerβ to the best of my knowledge, often means anything that disrupts socially accepted norms about bodies, desires, and sex.
The desire is detached from the traditional sense of romance. Itβs focused on altered bodies and shared group dynamics that blur boundaries between individuals. Which in turn makes it a queer movie.
2): It blurs sexual categories
James, Catherine, Helen, Vaughn, and Gabriella move fluidly between partners, and arrangements without any strong label. There are same sex encounters and implications and relationships feel open, detached, and are very non traditional. The sexual identity of these individuals is treated as changing rather than fixed which this ambiguity aligns strongly with other queer cinema traditions from what Iβve seen.
3): Its source material has queer undertones.
Crash (1996) is heavily based on the novel Crash (1973) by J. G. Ballard of which I own and have read front to back numerous times. It explores themes about sexual transgression and anti-normal desire, as well as detachment from traditional morality.
David Cronenberg leaned heavily into those unsettling elements in his adaptation and J. G. Ballard had no complaints about it.
So while not your traditional LGBTQIA + romance, Crash (1996) is often coupled with films that explore sexuality and outside societal norms. Queer films arenβt always identity based but can oftentimes be in the philosophical sense.
Feel free to add on to this or debate this in the comments, Iβm always open for a civil conversation. β¨
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