Southern Comfort

After spending the first 15 to 20 minutes of the movie trying to figure out the ins and outs of each characters sexuality, gender etc. I was about ready to give up on the movie. It seemed I spent more time working things out in my head than watching the action on screen. Maybe that's a problem with me, or maybe it's a problem with the film, that's not for me to decide. To me, one of the saving graces of the movie to me was the portrayal of the relationship between Robert and his two families, and the differences between the two. The idea of a "real" family struck me as being something that Robert clinged to towards the end of his life. His relationship with his adopted family seemed to be forged out of their common circumstances, obviously, as they lived in a place where their lifestyle is not thought very highly of. While I think this family was very important to Robert, it can't completely replace his biological family. This could be seen when his mom and dad came to visit, along with his son and grandson. Robert had not seen his family in a while, but you could still tell that the bonds were there. I don't think that this takes anything away from Maxwell, Lola, Cas or any of Roberts adopted family members. These relationships, though, were what I took away from the film as the most important things in the movie, even moreso than the social restrictions placed upon Robert or the actual story of Robert. Obviously these things are intertwined, but the two types of family found in the film struck me as being a very powerful idea.