“Gender Bending Androgynous Sexuality in Baz Luhrmann’s William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet”
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published 09/10/2007
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Summary
Gender and sexuality are very difficult concepts to define in our post-modern age. To begin with, the term is outdated to fit the social norms of today: attraction lies anywhere and is not confined to ‘heterosexual love’ between a man and a woman. Gay, lesbian and bi-sexual are terms used to describe the previously neglected aspects of sexuality. Gender bending sexual androgyny used to be thought of as repulsive, but as Baz Luhrmann tells us, is all the more coveted in our liberalism of the present. As well, the more androgynous you are – in how you look and how you love – the more attractive you are; a signature of sexuality in the forever reviving pop-culture. As Luhrmann’s William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet uses every aspect of pop-culture, from music to fashion to actors to create a post-modern Verona, he also utilizes androgynous sexuality in various characters. Yet, not to alienate any audience member, Luhrmann elucidates all varied counterparts of gender and sexuality: from femininity to masculinity; from heterosexuality to homosexuality and homosociality. He throws everything that is pop-culture at us in the film, and as he shows in the varied characters, gender-bending sexuality is integral to our time and age.
Table of Contents
- Gender and sexuality are very difficult concepts to define in our post-modern age.
- Before tackling the more difficult aspects of Luhrmann's film, it is important to examine the heterosexual aspects to provide a picture of comparison and contrast.
- If Benvolio personifies heterosexual masculinity, then Juliet and her mother, Lady Capulet, depict that of heterosexual femininity.
- On the opposite end of the spectrum lies Lady Capulet. If Juliet depicts feminine chastity, then Lady Capulet depicts that of a whore.
- So far there seems to be a majority of heterosexual content in Luhrmann's film.
- Sycamore Grove, before the Capulet party, is the scene that puts an inquisitive twist to Romeo and Mercutio's relationship.
- Gender and sexuality exist as one. For you cannot represent one without the other.
- Pop-culture is everywhere in the film, and instead of resting a cheap thesis on the modern generation showcasing pop-culture familiarity, Luhrmann expresses an intimate understanding of what gender and sexuality mean in this day and age.
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