Sexuality and sexual orientation

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Exploring Sexuality and Comfort in Contemporary Cinema: Happiest Season and Shiva Baby

Both Happiest Season and Shiva Baby delve into contemporary views of sexual orientation and sexuality, while also showcasing the complexities of finding comfort within societal expectations. Let's explore these themes through the lens of Garnets and Ahmed's work.

Garnets and Contemporary Sexuality:

Garnets' work on sexual orientation highlights a shift towards a more fluid spectrum of identity. We see this reflected in both films:

• Happiest Season: Harper's reluctance to come out to her family suggests a fear of societal judgment and potential rejection. This resonates with Garnets' concept of "sexual stigma," where societal norms can pressure individuals to conform to heteronormativity.
• Shiva Baby: Danielle's sugar daddy relationship and her attraction to a woman at the shiva challenge traditional labels. This aligns with Garnets' idea of a more nuanced understanding of sexuality, where desires and attractions may not always fit neatly into binary categories.

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      Ahmed and the Unease of Comfort: Sara Ahmed, in her work on comfort, explores how dominant social structures can create a sense of "comfort" for those who conform, while alienating those who don't. Both films showcase this concept:

• Happiest Season (Discomfort):While Harper's family thrives in their constructed image of a perfect holiday, Abby feels increasingly uncomfortable with the lie. This highlights Ahmed's point about how heteronormativity dictates what is considered "comfortable" within the family unit.
• Shiva Baby (Unease in Comfort):Despite the seemingly joyful atmosphere of the shiva, Danielle experiences constant unease. The family's expectations and her secret life create a sense of underlying tension, exemplifying Ahmed's idea of comfort being a marker of belonging, which Danielle struggles to achieve.

Dean's Queer Cinema Perspective: Applying a queer film theory lens, as proposed by scholars like Paul Halstead and Judith Butler, we can further analyze these films:

• Happiest Season:Despite its mainstream appeal, the film can be seen as a challenge to the traditional holiday rom-com genre by featuring a lesbian couple. However, its focus on a happy ending within a heteronormative family structure might be seen as a form of assimilation rather than true subversion.
• Shiva Baby:This film more readily embraces the complexities of queer identity. Danielle's exploration of sexuality and her defiance of societal expectations align with the goals of queer cinema, which aims to disrupt heteronormative narratives.

Conclusion Happiest Season and Shiva Baby offer contrasting portrayals of contemporary sexual experiences. While both films grapple with societal pressures, Happiest Season presents a more traditional journey towards acceptance, whereas Shiva Baby delves deeper into the discomfort and unease that often accompany navigating complex sexual identities within social structures. Ultimately, analyzing these films through the frameworks of Garnets and Ahmed allows for a richer understanding of how contemporary cinema portrays evolving sexualities and the struggles associated with finding comfort within societal norms.