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As it turns out, "Call Me By Your Name" is one of my favorite movies. Perhaps it is the moment in my life when it hit me, or the fact that I missed much of the fearmongering about the age-gap between the characters, or that I was a rural fag and a soon-to-realize pedophile who'd never seen a gay film before. Perhaps also, it's that I read the book it's based upon before the movie. In any case, I am not sure I fully grasp that criticism. In the film itself, not much is made of age-gap. The characters do not comment on it, and while there is secrecy, the film heavily implies that the parents themselves would be accepting. This is made clear in Mr. Pearlman's final monologue. Thematically, time itself is much more of an antagonist and raises the stakes much more than anything else. This is consistent with André Aciman's portrayal in his book, and to my understanding, the views of both Guadagnino and Aciman during creation. Aciman himself didn't seem to want to make much too significant a note of the characters' gender or age-gap, and repeatedly described his work as a pure expression of desire between lovers. It is true that in both the film and book there is an undercurrent, present in the way the characters handle themselves, that the oustide world is not fully accepting. Yet this is rarely ever the focus in either Aciman's original book or the film. I agree that the age-gap is not explored. But can this meaningfully be considered exploitation, as opposed to simply a denial that there is anything to explore in the case of these two lovers? That the film refuses to treat the age-gap as worthy of analysis doesn't suggest exploitation to me, but rather, simply an acceptance of reality. There is a critique to be made here - that the film would be better, would be a more worthwhile piece of media if it did engage with the topic. But in a sense, the pleasure of watching was always the fact that they didn't, that they chose to present it as relatively normal. While the film was no-doubt sensationalized because of both the gender and age-gap of the lovers, it seems like this comes largely from external sources rather than the creators of the film and book. I do not care to suggest Guadagnino cared. I do not even really mean to suggest Aciman cared. A lack of care, however, is as vague as the intent of someone who accidentally bumps into you on the metro. What matters is presentation - and the presentation of the film never suggested exploitation. As for Guadagnino's other films - I cannot speak to them. I have not watched, or even heard of them before now earnestly. From your description, I have very, very little doubt that they entirely exploit the matter. If you have anything more to suggest, or something to note that you think I should consider, I would genuinely really like to hear because I've rarely discussed this aspect of this movie critically with others. |