chesleyhinds Review of First Girl I Loved

First Girl I Loved (2016)

Violent, heteronormative, heterosexist trash

[1/10 · 7 April 2020]

This movie is absolutely disgusting. I don't know why it is called "first girl I loved" because the whole thing is all about Anne's sexually abusive "friend" and his feelings about her queerness. It focuses on his discomfort and him being a victim of Anne's queerness while simultaneously allowing him to be a hero/savior because he takes the blame for her misbehavior at school since he "feels bad" for terrorizing and raping her. It's more about his feelings about her sexuality than her own feelings, including how he rapes her, bullies her for being queer, steals her bike, and then tries to sabotage her relationship with the "first girl she loved" by asking that girl out himself. Then he's once again painted as the sympathetic "victim" but of Sasha who he believes is trying to "play straight". The movie normalizes sexual assault as naive teenaged sexual exploration while discrediting sexual assault survivors by including a false accusation of sexual assault against Anne, a survivor. This is heteronormative, heterosexist, and violent against queer women. It should come with a content warning. If you are looking for a movie that offers an even somewhat accurate or affirming representation of a queer girl's coming-of-age (or the perspective of an actual queer woman) please do yourself a favor and skip this.