Blue Ball in a Pink World - The Kids Are All Right

Going into the movie theater to see The Kids Are All Right, I had some idea of what to except in regards for who the audience would be. I figured the audience would be mostly women, and the men that were there would be with a women. I was right. Out of fourteen people in the audience, including myself, there was only one man who was either with his wife or his girlfriend. Then there was one woman who brought her two daughters who were most likely in high school. The rest were women who were by themselves. I personally found this interesting, due to what the movie was about. I was expecting more women to be there with their partners, husbands, or boyfriends, but instead the majority was women by themselves. Maybe it had to do with the time that I went and saw the movie (1 p.m. on a Friday), but the question I would like to bring up is, do women need to see this movie in the middle of the afternoon while their husbands are at work simply because they had nothing better to do, or was it because they were afraid to be seen showing their curiosity for, and/or acceptance of, the subject?

As Americans become more tolerable with lesbian and gay couples, this movie decides to portray a lesbian couple, Nic and Jules who each have a child by the same sperm donor. First of all I would like to applaud the creators of this movie. This movie crosses a line that not many people are even willing to face yet head on. One mom, Nic, is depicted as more “butch” than the other mom, Jules, who is more laid back and outgoing. Nic has short hair, is a doctor, and is the breadwinner of the family. Jules on the other hand, is a woman you wouldn’t really be able to tell is a lesbian, owns her own business, and is a down to earth person. In a sense, she adheres to societal norms of what a typical woman should look like. When they are shown together as a couple, it seems genuine, even during the scene when they are watching gay porn (which you would think gay men would only want to watch). The movie depicts what any couple would go though, arguments, disagreements, love, and as the movie goes on the joys of being parents.

There kids, Joni and Laser are not your stereotypical teenagers, which gave me a reason to like this movie even more. Joni is known as being smart, nerd like, but is seen as shy and a person who just likes to do her own thing. The clothing that she wears is not of a stereotypical girl, and it allows you to see Joni as a normal teenager getting ready for college. Laser on the other hand, is known as being athletic, not very book smart, and is friends with Jai, who is a punk. They are not your stereotypical teenagers, but they appear to be your everyday normal teenagers which allow the audience to connect to them.

Paul (the sperm donor), the man with testosterone, comes into the picture when Laser wants to meet him and Joni sets everything up since she is of age to do so. From this point on a downward spiral begins. At first it doesn’t seem that bad. Laser and Joni are interested in knowing their “father” and vice versa. Nic is concerned with it from the beginning but eventually opens up to Paul and drowns her pain in wine (which is quite common for someone to do). As the downward spiral continues, Paul and Jules become intimately involved and Paul wants to become a part of the family. Once Nic finds out that Jules hooked-up with Paul, all hell breaks loose, but it’s what the family needed to become the family they were once again. This was actually an amazing part of the movie because it showed how strong a family can be, even if it’s not a traditional family, and not even a man (even if he is a good looking sperm donor) can get between a lesbian couple and their two kids.