Film
Title | Release Year | Bisexual Characters | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
3 Play | 2004 | Johnny | |
2by4 | 1998 | Johnny Maher | |
9 Songs | 2004 | Lisa | |
Alexander | 2004 | Alexander the Great | Bisexuality presented as a social norm. |
All Over Me | 1997 | Ellen | |
Anatomy of Hell | 2004 | "The Man" | Sexuality is fluid and symbolic |
Art School Confidential | 2006 | Audrey | |
Auto Focus | 2002 | John Carpenter | |
Basic Instinct | 1992 | Catherine Tramell | |
Bedrooms and Hallways | 1998 | ||
bi·sex·u·al·i·ty | 2011 | Various | A feature length documentary about a film-maker's personal journey while making a film about Bisexuality in the UK. |
Bi.sex.u.al | 2011 | Various | Documentary on bisexuality. |
Bi the Way | 2008 | Various | Documentary on bisexuality in the US. |
Les Biches | 1968 | ||
Borstal Boy | 2000 | Sexuality portrayed as fluid, but can be socially problematic. | |
Brokeback Mountain | 2005 | Ennis Del Mar, Jack Twist | Sexuality of both characters portrayed as fluid. The film displays a love relationship between same-sex male partners in the American West; who are simultaneously struggling with their opposite gender relationships. |
Butley | 1974 | Ben Butley | Butley portrayed as an uncommitted, emotional failure. |
Cabaret | 1972 | Brian Roberts, Maximillaim von Heune | |
Chasing Amy | 1997 | Alyssa Jones | Sexuality portrayed as fluid, but can be socially problematic. |
Crash (1996 film) | 1996 | James Ballard, Helen Remington, Vaughan | |
Cloud Atlas | 2012 | Robert Frobisher | |
The Color Purple | 1985 | Celie Johnson, Shug Avery | Bisexuality portrayed as a simple fact with no value judgments. |
Confusion of Genders | 2000 | Alain Bauman | |
C.R.A.Z.Y. | 2005 | Zachary Beaulieu | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
Dark Blue Almost Black | 2007 | Israel | |
Death in Venice | 1971 | Gustav von Aschenbach | Aschenbach is portrayed as a homosexual cripple and failure. |
De-Lovely | 2004 | Cole Porter | Sexuality portrayed as fluid |
The Disappearance of Alice Creed | 2009 | Daniel | |
Dodgeball | 2004 | Kate Veatch | While some male characters try to date her, others believe that she is a lesbian. Turns out to be bisexual, and gets together with main male character. |
Dog Day Afternoon | 1975 | Sonny Wortzik | Sonny is portrayed realistically as a true bisexual. |
The Dying Gaul | 2005 | Jeffrey Tishop | |
Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds | 2006 | Troy | The prevalent attitude that one has to choose between gay and straight is portrayed as the cause of confusion for bisexuals. Self-acceptance itself is praised, and denial of queerness is mocked. |
Face to Face | 1976 | Bisexuality is portrayed as a symbol. | |
Femme Fatale | 2002 | Laurie Ash | |
The Fox | 1967 | Ellen March | |
French Twist | 1995 | Loli | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
Frida | 2002 | Frida Kahlo | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
Gia | 1998 | Gia Marie Carangi | |
The Girl | 2000 | The Girl | |
Glue | 2006 | Lucas, Nacho | |
Go Fish | 1994 | Daria | Daria has sex with a man and on her way home is challenged by a "jury," who question whether a woman who has sex with a man can call herself a lesbian. She contrasts how a gay man who has sex with a woman is characterized as being "bored, drunk lonely" but if a lesbian has sex with a man "her whole life choice becomes suspect." |
Goldfinger | 1964 | Pussy Galore | See notes under her character in literature. |
Goldfish Memory | 2003 | Various | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
Grande École | 2004 | Paul, Mécir | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
Grindhouse | 2007 | Dr. Dakota Block | |
Henry & June | 1990 | Anaïs Nin, June Miller | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
Horsey | 1997 | Delilah Miller | |
High Art | 1998 | Syd | |
The History Boys | 2006 | Stuart Dakis | Portrayed as aware and unconfused, in opposition to his homosexual contemporaries. |
The Hunger | 1983 | Miriam Blaylock, Sarah Roberts | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
I Dreamt Under the Water | 2008 | Antonin | |
Imagine Me & You | 2005 | Rachel | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
In extremis | 2000 | Thomas, Vincent | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
Itty Bitty Titty Committee | 2007 | Shulie | Thought to be straight, revealed as more fluid. |
Kinsey | 2004 | Alfred Kinsey | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
Kissing Jessica Stein | 2001 | Jessica Stein, Helen Cooper | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
Les temps qui changent | 2004 | Sami | |
The Libertine | 2005 | John Wilmot | |
Liquid Sky | 1982 | Margaret | |
Love Songs | 2007 | Ismaël Bénolie, Julie Pommerraye, Alice | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
May | 2002 | May Dove Canady | |
Midnight Express | 1978 | Billy Hayes | Controversial, film replaces consensual affair between prisoners with a fictionalized rape. |
My Own Private Idaho | 1991 | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. | |
Manhattan | 1979 | Jill | Went from bisexual to lesbian after being married to Isaac. |
Monique | 1970 | Monique, Jean | |
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh | 2008 | Cleveland Arning, Art Bechstein | |
Nowhere | 1997 | Dark Smith, Mel | |
One to Another | 2006 | Pierre | |
Orlando | 1992 | Orlando | Orlando changes genders, having romances with both genders. |
The Pillow Book (film) | 1996 | Jerome | |
Portrait of a Marriage | 1990 | Vita Sackville-West, Harold Nicolson | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
Possession | 2002 | ||
Puccini for Beginners | 2006 | Grace, Allegra, Samantha | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
The Raspberry Reich | 2004 | Various | Bisexuality is believed to be a necessary part of the 'revolution'. |
Race You to the Bottom | 2005 | Nathan, Maggie | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
The Rocky Horror Picture Show | 1975 | Dr. Frank N. Furter, Rocky Horror, Magenta Raff, Brad Majors, Janet Weiss, Columbia, Eddie | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
The Royal Tenenbaums | 2002 | Margot Tenebaum | Had a female lover in Paris. |
Rent | 2005 | Maureen Johnson | Maureen fits many negative stereotypes of bisexuality, as she is bad with commitment and has a talent for driving her lovers insane. It's worth noting, however, that her behavior is never attributed to her sexuality in any way, being portrayed as a personal flaw instead. |
Savage Nights | 1992 | ||
The Sex Monster | 1999 | Laura Barnes | |
The Sex Movie | 2006 | ||
Seven Secrets of Sumuru | 1969 | Sumitra | Sumitra uses her sexuality to force men in servitude. |
Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills | 1989 | ||
School of Flesh | 1998 | Quentin | |
Saturday Night at the Baths | 1974 | ||
Score | 1972 | All characters | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
Shortbus | 2006 | Sofia, Justin Bond | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
Sobreviviré (I Will Survive) | 1999 | Iñaqui | |
Something for Everyone | 1970 | ||
Stage Beauty | 2004 | Ned Kynaston, George Villiers | |
Sunday Bloody Sunday | 1971 | Bob Elkin | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
Swimming | 2002 | Frankie Wheeler, Josee | |
Relax...It's Just Sex | 1997 | ||
Teorema | 1968 | The Visitor, Paolo | Symbol, sexuality portrayed as fluid with no value judgments. |
Three of Hearts | 1993 | Ellen | |
Three of Hearts: A Postmodern Family | 2004 | Sam, Steven | Documentary about a bigamous marriage. |
Torch Song Trilogy | 1988 | Ed Reese | |
Transamerica | 2005 | Toby Wilkins, Kevin | Sexuality portrayed as fluid;, bisexuality suggested. |
Velvet Goldmine | 1998 | Brian & Mandy Slade | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
The War Widow | 1976 | Amy | Portrayed as bisexual, but seen as a lesbian. |
Water Drops on Burning Rocks | 2000 | Leopold, Franz | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
Women in Love | 1969 | ||
Wild Side | 2004 | Djamel | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
Wild Things | 1998 | Kelly Lanier von Ryan and Suzie Marie Toller | |
Ya lyublyu tebya (You I Love) | 2004 | Timofei | Sexuality portrayed as fluid. |
Y tu mamá también | 2001 | Tenoch Iturbide, Julio Zapata | Sexuality portrayed as fluid but sometimes socially problematic. Teenage male characters do not act on their attraction until end of film, under influence of alcohol and while having sex with the same woman. The next morning they are repulsed and regretful, and apparently never discuss what happened. |
Read more about this topic: List Of Media Portrayals Of Bisexuality
Famous quotes containing the word film:
“Film is more than the twentieth-century art. Its another part of the twentieth-century mind. Its the world seen from inside. Weve come to a certain point in the history of film. If a thing can be filmed, the film is implied in the thing itself. This is where we are. The twentieth century is on film.... You have to ask yourself if theres anything about us more important than the fact that were constantly on film, constantly watching ourselves.”
—Don Delillo (b. 1926)
“You should look straight at a film; thats the only way to see one. Film is not the art of scholars but of illiterates.”
—Werner Herzog (b. 1942)
“All the old supports going, gone, this man reaches out a hand to steady himself on a ledge of rough brick that is warm in the sun: his hand feeds him messages of solidity, but his mind messages of destruction, for this breathing substance, made of earth, will be a dance of atoms, he knows it, his intelligence tells him so: there will soon be war, he is in the middle of war, where he stands will be a waste, mounds of rubble, and this solid earthy substance will be a film of dust on ruins.”
—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)