It’s a bit of a spoiler to reveal that the film “Side Effects” contains a surprise queer twist in which a lesbian couple tries to outwit the law. The reveal is really so “Deathtrap” — and has a more damaging side effect than the film’s “will they or won’t they get away with it?” plot.
The lesbians are venal, their relationship more about financial benefit than any hint of love. When one character guesses that another woman “likes girls,” she uses that to her advantage, seducing the closeted gal and embroiling her in multiple crimes. She never acknowledges being queer herself — she uses sexuality to lure her coconspirator. It’s irresponsible that “Side Effects” writer Scott Z. Burns and director Steven Soderbergh equate sexuality with villainy.
Moreover, the film’s lesbian scenes generate unintentional laughs. A flashback shows one of the women posing seductively, while other scenes feature teasing near-lip-locks that come across as ludicrous. When the women do embrace and start to undress, their impending coitus is interrupted — but not before a few kisses and clinches are actually shown. The scene reeks of exploitation, not any true exploration of the characters. Their crimes have nothing to do with their passions.
Rooney Mara, who stars in “Side Effects,” received considerable exposure and recognition for her portrayal of bisexual Lisbeth Salander in the American version of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” In that film, Rooney played a morally challenged character, but her violent behavior — which included exacting a nasty revenge on her rapist — was gratifying because the punishment she meted out fit the crime. Her sexuality was part of what informed her view of what she suffered as well as how she reacted; it was not simply dropped into the plot as a device to sensationalize the story.
There is no reason gay and lesbian characters, of course, cannot be evil on screen. In fact, some of the best queer films feature villains. The lesbian classic “Bound,” directed by Andy and Lana Wachowski — Lana then still living as Larry — had lesbian lovers outwitting the mob, and it was sexy, stylish and satisfying as hell.
New Queer Cinema also offered great killer gay couples. Gregg Araki’s “The Living End” featured two angry HIV-positive lovers on the lam who go on a murderous crime spree to act up and lash out in an anarchic “fuck you” to the world. Tom Kalin’s “Swoon” was a vivid reimagining of the Leopold and Loeb “thrill-kill” case, where the lovers bond over their murder of a boy only to have the crime undo them.
And, in 2009, there was the fabulous screwball conman comedy “I Love You Phillip Morris” that chronicled the great — albeit illegal — lengths a gay man (Jim Carrey) would go to be with the man he loves (Ewan McGregor). For some queer villains, the best way to show how much you love your partner is to break the law.
Love isn’t the issue in “Side Effects,” which may remind viewers of the brouhaha 20 years ago when “Basic Instinct” portrayed bisexual Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) as a murderous sociopath.
The principle is the same with Soderbergh’s film. The LGBT community should be asking, “Why are the villainous characters lesbian?” In 2010, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “Biutiful” featured gay Asian characters running a human-trafficking ring. The villains’ sexuality was not developed beyond being a symbol of their bad behavior, yet that issue went largely undiscussed. “Side Effects” might similarly skate by without deserved scrutiny.
When protests happen — as when gay groups responded to Buffalo Bill, the serial killer in “Silence of the Lambs” — they can be effective in raising awareness of how queer characters are too often treated in film. William Friedkin’s “Cruising” also drew harsh criticism for the way the gay leather scene was portrayed.
Even queer filmmakers can find themselves on the receiving end of backlash. Todd Verow’s daring1995 adaptation of Dennis Cooper’s “Frisk” provoked controversy, protest and, at a queer festival in San Francisco, a near riot — which is perhaps what a queer film about killing should do. But the outrage was directed more at the film’s realistic, fetishized sexual violence, not its same-sex nature per se.
And remember, Charlize Theron won an Oscar for playing lesbian serial killer Aileen Wuornos in “Monster,” proving there can be great portrayals, done with artistic integrity, of bad queers.
Hollywood has long featured queer villains. Hitchcock had plenty of gay killers (often played by gay actors) in films ranging from “North By Northwest” and “Psycho” to “Strangers on a Train” and “Rope.” Like the memorable queer villain George Macready played in “Gilda,” the sexuality of these characters was evident, but not determinative. It may have informed their sinister nature, but it was not the reason for their bad behavior.
If only “Side Effects” had developed its femme fatales better, maybe viewers would root for them, rather than boo them.