In every sense of the word, it is rather a historical fact that every few generations some director has to attempt the impossible and retell the well known story of pride and prejudice by J. Austen to the single screen.
We have over the years had direct adaptions of her works and they include Joe Wright’s Pride and Prejudice released in 2005. We have also had films that bear the brunt of being associated with Austen’s novel and these include Bridget Jones’ Diary, Bride and Prejudice and the most bizzare, a romantic comedy horror film called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
As to that last one though, one can imagine Jane Austen gearing to take revenge now and yes, it would have to do with some studio executive somewhere in Hollywood who ever penned that invasion of Austen’s original story.
With Fire Island, one more thinly disguised so-called revision of Austen’s story comes along but then there are times when this was never truly meant to be. I don’t recall Elizabeth Bennett traveling across the ocean and going to a deserted locale for a week to shake sand and engage in pleasurable activities and no doubt she wouldn’t even recall feeling brave enough to do wlse to a studio.
That’s what we get in the version of the unfortunately repetitive story that director Andrew Ahn gives us this time, still with a focus on Noah (Joel Kim Booster) and his strivings for sex gratification when he goes with his friends to the Fire Island, the so called “gay Disneyland?, where no one Mrs walks around in corsets or women in up buttoned blouses.
This is as much a buddy comedy about a gay group of Asian American men as it is a tale of romance between Noah and Will (Conrad Ricamora), the incarnation of the respectable Mr. Darcy in this version. It also deliberately passes a critical comment on the prejudices of other people as well, especially during the moments when Noah and his friends do experience the ‘overwhelming’ attention of some petty, self-proclaimed socialites who found their appearance and culture embarrassing at various parties.
The movie also provides a glimpse of the gay dating scene where the focus seems to be on hook-ups rather sexual intimacy with any intent of establishing a romantic relationship. Not to say that Noah and his violent gay best mate Howie are constantly stripping to their underwear every couple of scenes, it is understandable that they would have some fun because their seven day holiday to Fire Island is basically their vacation from life stressors back home.
The intentions of the people who made the film are quite just how the story is told is quite unjust. Perhaps it would not have been so bad had this not been a film adaptation of Jane Austen. While portraying characters under the influence of MDMA and partying in little more than underwear is exceptionally far from the author’s fictional story, they still have a ‘romantic’ story to justify not the stereotypes presented. Having seen so many different depictions, quite supporting many, of Mr Darcy Master and the poor souls who are captivated by him one cannot help but picture how the romantic relationship in the Ariel Matuszewski’s version of Wuthering Heights is fated to develop.
More than focusing on the budding romance between Noah and Will, quite a few relationships based sub plots seem more intriguing in the movie, Fire Island. For example, Howie’s attempts to help Noah lose his virginity seem pertinent, as Noah has issues regarding his self image and being an Asian American, both of which have contributed to his sexual fears. However, there is a sense of conflict in the film when the boys realize this may be their last time all together, which could have been explored instead of YBW conventions.
As much as there are those complaints, this is still an interesting movie about friendship and queer culture and even dips to the occasional medium of toxic masculinity or racism, it is still a light summer movie that should be appealing to everybody regardless of which sexual collation one prefers.
There are a lot of comic scenes with some sharp one liners and there are gay and Asian characters in a mainstream film that I think is funny without being offensive. Despite the reminders of Austen and the usual trappings of rom-coms that sometimes made me groan, I had a lot of fun with this film and I can see it has garnered quite a lot of interest from the other viewers as well.
If you are asking for an A chronological Asian-American experience in a film then I suggest director Ahn’s Driveways that was a more subdued, contemplative last work. Spa night is another one I recommend where I was Ahn’s other effort where both the Asian and the gay themes were attempted to be fused into its premise.
Fire Island may be worlds away from those films in terms of its crassness and humor content, but it still gets its points across even if the actors wear hardly anything and are sexed up to the max.
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