Before Wheeler and Thompson set out to make Better than Chocolate, they interviewed several lesbians about what they wanted to see in a film. Disregarding the fact that the number one response was sex toys (?!), this method here points up the major problem with the film--in trying to be the ultimate lesbian film, it doesn't succeed as a narrative film at all.
First of all is the problem of the romance between the two main characters. In a typical romantic comedy, which this tries to be, regardless of the atypical gender roles, you have a series of problems keeping the couple apart. Here this is not the case--like many other lesbian movies, Better than Chocolate suffers from the misconception that when two lesbians meet, they immediately fall in love. Add to this the fact that neither character has any distinguishable personality traits, and you wind up with a serious lack of plot. No tension here, and no reason to particularly care.
The next problem is the rest of the story (sorry, guys). For whatever reason, in promoting a positive image of lesbians, Better than Chocolate feels the need to stereotype each one of its other characters. So you've got the repressed bookstore owner, repressed transsexual, the repressed housewife, and the "omnisexual" bisexual. The one story line that did seem to go somewhere was the friendship between Lila, the mom, and the transsexual character. But, unfortunately, it took second place to the love story, so no luck there.
The final flaw here is in the censorship subplot, which really has no place in the story--it just feels like the writer had a desire to make a (muddled) political statement. Like the rest of the story lines, it appears out of no where and we never get the feeling that anything is at risk. As a result, the final, dramatic blow up at the end, feels tacked on--an attempt to give the film a dramatic quality it was lacking all along.
Over all, Better than Chocolate has been received pretty well. That its rating on this website is much higher than I believe it deserves seems once again a perfect example of the lesbian population's need for a good, representative film. Trust me, I'd like to see one just as much as anyone, but Better than Chocolate hits way below the mark. It's a shame more lesbian films aren't made because if this movie can do so well, it's a clear example that there's a hungry market out there.
First of all is the problem of the romance between the two main characters. In a typical romantic comedy, which this tries to be, regardless of the atypical gender roles, you have a series of problems keeping the couple apart. Here this is not the case--like many other lesbian movies, Better than Chocolate suffers from the misconception that when two lesbians meet, they immediately fall in love. Add to this the fact that neither character has any distinguishable personality traits, and you wind up with a serious lack of plot. No tension here, and no reason to particularly care.
The next problem is the rest of the story (sorry, guys). For whatever reason, in promoting a positive image of lesbians, Better than Chocolate feels the need to stereotype each one of its other characters. So you've got the repressed bookstore owner, repressed transsexual, the repressed housewife, and the "omnisexual" bisexual. The one story line that did seem to go somewhere was the friendship between Lila, the mom, and the transsexual character. But, unfortunately, it took second place to the love story, so no luck there.
The final flaw here is in the censorship subplot, which really has no place in the story--it just feels like the writer had a desire to make a (muddled) political statement. Like the rest of the story lines, it appears out of no where and we never get the feeling that anything is at risk. As a result, the final, dramatic blow up at the end, feels tacked on--an attempt to give the film a dramatic quality it was lacking all along.
Over all, Better than Chocolate has been received pretty well. That its rating on this website is much higher than I believe it deserves seems once again a perfect example of the lesbian population's need for a good, representative film. Trust me, I'd like to see one just as much as anyone, but Better than Chocolate hits way below the mark. It's a shame more lesbian films aren't made because if this movie can do so well, it's a clear example that there's a hungry market out there.
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