Finding Dory
Written by: Andrew Stanton, Victoria Strouse
Directed by: Andrew Stanton, Angus MacLane
U.S.A, 2016
How good is this movie?
If you liked Finding Nemo you should enjoy this movie, which tells a similar story but with more focus on Dory. Personally, I could have done without one or two of the sillier moments, and I also question the optimism of the ending, which wraps everything up a little too neatly. But, as with the original, I appreciated the film’s sense of humour, lovely visuals, and fun lessons in marine biology.
How ace is this movie?
Being a children’s film, Finding Dory is naturally sex-lite, but it arguably goes further by actively dealing with ace-relevant themes. Marvin and Dory are now living together and raising a child, but the fact that they’re different species and sleep separately makes it clear that they’re friends, not lovers, and their relationship could easily be understood as a queerplatonic partnership. The film consistently reaffirms the value of non-sexual and non-romantic relationships. The over-all message, about accepting yourself for who you are, enjoying life even when it doesn’t go to plan, and how there’s more than one way to make a family, could be aimed at people outside the sexual norm, aces and aros included.
3 Stars; 4 Aces
I really like movies for children, by the way. At least some of them. To some extent I’m an adult child and I really enjoy a lot of films, books and games for children.
I haven’t seen this one, but last year I was really impressed by “Zootropolis” – it’s in fact a film about racism…
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I haven’t seen Zootopia yet, but I probably will eventually. I tend to watch a fair number of animated movies, too, and I expect to review more of them in the future.
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Good to hear your thoughts on this! Have you shared your writing on any movie sites before?
Samuel
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Thanks! No, I’ve written about movies in asexual contexts before, but never for any movie sites.
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