Seven films with rare asexual representation, from Girl Picture to The Hangover
Star in Queens of the Qing Dynasty, Todd in Straight Up and Alan in The Hangover. (Medium Density/Warner Bros/Strand Releasing)
Though LGBTQ+ representation has been improving in recent years, asexual representation on the big screen is still sadly lacking.
In the world of film, portrayals of asexuality remain few and far between. Asexuality continues to be severely underrepresented and under-explored in pop culture.
Feeling represented on screen can be very important so to celebrate Asexual Awareness Week 2024, it’s time to revisit some of cinema’s asexual portrayals in recent years.
Clay – Cat Person
In the psychological thriller Cat Person, college sophomore Margot’s (Emilia Jones) ex-boyfriend, Clay (Isaac Cole Powell), comes out as asexual.
“What I’ve realized, actually, is I’m an ace… Do you remember when we were together… how I could never really, like, enjoy sex?” he tells Margot.
“So then I looked it up, and it turns out that being asexual is, like, a real thing, and since then, I’ve just felt this relief because I finally don’t have to pretend to like sex anymore.”
Clay is a character on the peripherals of the film, which follows Margot’s romantic life with an older man who may, or may not, be a murderer.
Dovydas – Slow
Marija Kavtaradze’s stunning Lithuanian romantic drama Slow charts the relationship of dancer Elena (Greta Grinevičiūtė) and sign language interpreter Dovydas (Kęstutis Cicėnas).
Slow chronicles the couple’s closeness with an exploration of how Dovydas, who is asexual, navigates intimacy. “I’m asexual,” Dovydas says. “Not attracted to anyone, really. Never was.”
Kavtaradze’s portrayal of asexuality has been commended for its touching and meaningful representation in a film that challenges the conventional nuances of a couple.
The film takes the time to truly reflect the reality of asexuality; quietly radical in how it handles asexuality and masculinity.
Levi Danube – Something in the Dirt
In the American science fiction comedy horror film Something in the Dirt, the character of Levi (writer-director Justin Benson) is asexual.
The film follows two neighbours who witness supernatural events in their Los Angeles apartment and take the opportunity to film he strange happenings in a bid to become famous and rich.
In the film, Levi shares his asexual identification in a reflective moment: “I’ve never been attracted to anyone. And that is a very hard thing to explain to people that you’d be interested in dating.”
Alan Garner – The Hangover trilogy
The Hangover trilogy (2009, 2011 and 2013) films chart the antics of a quartet of friends – Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Alan (Zach Galifianakis) and Doug (Justin Bartha) – who find themselves repeatedly trying to piece together what happened after their nights of debauchery.
During an interview for The Hangover Part II, director Todd Phillips shared: “Alan will never get married… Alan’s asexual. If he doesn’t know that by now, he’s in trouble.”
In the third film Alan married Cassie (Melissa McCarthy), however, this doesn’t equate to Alan not being asexual. Within the ace spectrum, there are lots of ways asexuality is realised in real-life and many asexual people do get married.
Rönkkö – Girl Picture
Girl Picture chronicles three young women transitioning into adulthood during a winter in Finland.
As they navigate adult friendships and relationships, Alli Haapasalo’s sensitive coming-of-age drama offers a naturalistic portrait of female pleasure and queer youth.
Amongst the trio, it is Rönkkö (Eleonoora Kauhanen) who is coming to terms with sexuality and subsequently explores asexuality or demisexuality. Throughout the film, Rönkkö’s sexuality is not labelled but she opens up about not being able to enjoy sex.
Star – Queens of the Qing Dynasty
Queens of the Qing Dynasty is director Ashley McKenzie’s portrait of asexual, neurodiverse and genderqueer youth.
The film follows Star (Sarah Walker) who, following a suicide attempt, is denied the chance to live independently in a small town. Star strikes up a friendship with a hospital volunteer and the pair begin to confide in each other.
Star shares she is asexual in the film and director McKenzie has also opened up that in making the film she realised that she also belongs to the asexual community.
Todd – Straight Up
Indie romantic comedy Straight Up follows Todd (writer-director James Sweeney), a 20-something man from LA with OCD, is struggling with romantic relationships.
While Todd navigates his loneliness, he meets Rory (Katie Findlay), a young woman who shares his insecurities, fears and frustrations.
Sweeney shared: “While personally I do see Todd as on the ace spectrum, I don’t know when another label is in the cards for him — and it was important to me to end Todd’s arc with a departure, instead of a destination.”
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