BY: Amanda Jane Stern

Bisexual and pansexual people don’t always get the best rep. This prejudice often trickles into screen portrayals of bi and pan characters, often portrayed as greedy, amoral, unable to commit. It’s a common and noted trope: the depraved bisexual. Just take a moment to think, what movies come to mind when you think of bisexual characters? Basic Instinct with its sociopathic bisexual Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone)? Showgirls with the conniving and dubious Cristal Connors (Gina Gershon)? And if they are not evil, they are seen as cheaters, incapable of monogamy, as if having the capacity to fall for someone of any gender identity means you inherently have to be with everyone at the same time. No one says that every bi or pan character has to be a paragon of virtue, villains are fun and sexual fluidity opens possibilities, but we need some balance. Here are ten films with positive portrayals of bisexual and pansexual characters (though most fall under the bisexual label. There are fewer depictions of pansexuality and sometimes the two are used interchangeably).

 

Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)

This British movie is notable for its depictions of well-adjusted bisexual and homosexual characters, comfortable in their sexualities. In the early 70s, it was commonplace for LGBTQ+ characters to be pitiful, self-loathing or denizens of some seedy underbelly or other. But Sunday Bloody Sunday follows young bisexual artist, Bob Elkin (Murray Head) and his relationships with a gay, Jewish doctor, Daniel Hirsh (Peter Finch) and a divorced recruitment job consultant, Alex Greville (Glenda Jackson). This movie is not about the greedy bisexual who cannot make up his mind between a woman and a man, but an open relationship where all parties are aware of each other and consent to the arrangement. Bob, for that matter, is never portrayed as amoral or in any sort of unfavorable light, but as a young man figuring out his way in the world.

 

Maurice (1987)

Based on the E.M. Forster novel of the same name, Maurice follows the titular Maurice Hall (James Wilby) from his days as a student at Cambridge, through his adulthood. While at university, he begins a romantic but chaste relationship with fellow student Clive Durham (Hugh Grant). Years later, after their affair has come to an end but they remain platonic friends, Maurice meets Clive’s under-gamekeeper Alec Scudder (Rupert Graves). Scudder is everything Clive is not, where Clive is reserved and deeply ashamed of his homosexuality, Scudder has fully embraced his bisexuality. This fact is more explicit in the book than the movie, but it is in the film. What makes Scudder such a wonderful character is that Maurice is set in the early 1900s in England when homosexuality was illegal. Yet, Scudder decides that he is so deeply in love with Maurice, he’s willing to risk everything to be with him.

 

Velvet Goldmine (1998)

British journalist Arthur Stuart (Christian Bale) is tasked with writing a piece on the whereabouts of former glam rock star Brian Slade (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) who, ten years prior, had faked his murder during a concert. Slade, who has been MIA since receiving backlash for his stunt, is an openly bisexual man. At the beginning of his career, he married a woman named Mandy (Toni Collette). After that relationship dissolved, he became romantically involved with fellow musician Curt Wild (Ewan McGregor). While Slade has been struggling with problems, his sexuality is never an issue. Instead, his struggles revolved around how fame and fortune got to his head.

Kinsey (2004)

What kind of list on positively depicted bisexuals would be complete without the biopic about the sexologist who revolutionized how we view sexuality, Alfred Kinsey. This movie follows Kinsey (Liam Neeson) as he begins his research into human sexuality, which ultimately leads him to come up with a 0-6 scale of sexuality: 0 being exclusively heterosexual and 6 being exclusively homosexual. According to his findings, most people he interviewed fell somewhere in the middle, and 0s and 6s were outliers. The movie explores Kinsey’s own sexuality which, as he says, also falls somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. It also delves into his relationship with his assistant, the also bisexual Clyde Martin (Peter Sarsgaard).

Love Songs (2007)

This French movie-musical by auteur Christophe Honoré follows young couple Ismaël (Louis Garrel) and Julie (Ludivine Sagnier). Together for over a decade, their relationship is starting to fray and to bring new life to it, Julie invites Alice (Clotilde Hesme) to become their third. However, bringing a new person into their bed, while exciting at first, proves too much for the pair. Then, tragedy strikes, Julie suddenly collapses and paramedics are unable to revive her, leaving Ismaël and Alice to figure out how to grieve her untimely death. Alice throws herself into her work and begins a new relationship with Gwendal (Yannick Renier), but Ismaël falls into a deep depression. One night, Ismaël seeks refuge with Alice, who invites him to stay on Gwendal’s couch. There, he meets Erwann (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet). Erwann immediately takes a shine to Ismaël and begins to pursue a relationship with him. Ismaël, afraid to fall in love with someone else and open himself up to the possibility of getting hurt again, is reluctant to start a relationship with Erwann. 

Plan B (2009)

This Argentinian film from writer/director Marco Berger takes a common romantic-comedy trope and turns it on its head. Bruno (Manuel Vignau) and his longtime girlfriend Laura (Mercedes Quinteros) have recently broken up, although they still occasionally sleep together. Bruno, who ended the relationship, wants to get back together, but Laura has started seeing a new guy, Pablo (Lucas Ferraro). When Bruno hears from a mutual friend that Pablo was once in a relationship with another man, he decides to seduce Pablo away from Laura so that he can have her back. Of course, what is it they say about the best-laid plans? As friendship blossoms between the two men, Bruno starts to realize he is falling in love with Pablo and would rather be with him than Laura. As it turns out, that rumor about Pablo and another man was just a rumor and until meeting Bruno, he’d always considered himself straight. Although labels are never used in this movie, pansexual is probably a better descriptor for Pablo and Bruno than bisexual.

Margarita With a Straw (2014)

Laila Kapoor (Kalki Koechlin) is a disabled college student at Delhi University with cerebral palsy. After receiving a scholarship to study abroad at New York University, Laila and her mother move to Greenwich Village for the semester. There she meets Jared (William Moseley), a fellow student assigned to help her in her creative writing class, and Khanum (Sayani Gupta), a blind girl and classmate. Laila and Khanum begin to date, but Laila also finds herself attracted to Jared. The movie explores Laila’s sexual identity as she finds herself attracted to both men and women. It must be mentioned that movies with protagonists with disabilities are exceedingly rare. Margarita With a Straw premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.

Deadpool (2016)

This superhero movie starring Ryan Reynolds is the only one that directly addresses pansexuality. Although the titular masked vigilante only ever has an on-screen relationship with Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), he openly acknowledges his attractions to people of any gender identity. Sure, would many fans like to see this taken further? Do they want his pansexuality explored beyond his flirtatious banter with other men? Of course. The real question then, is Marvel willing to put its money where its mouth is? Or will the canonically (yes, he’s pan in the comics as well) pansexual Deadpool forever be relegated to all talk and no action? Whatever does or doesn’t happen, the fact that the movie openly acknowledged his sexuality is still a massive step in the right direction.

Atomic Blonde (2017)

Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron), a top-level M16 agent is sent to Berlin in the days preceding the Berlin Wall collapse. She is sent to retrieve a microfilm document known as The List, stolen from murdered M16 agent James Gascoigne. Besides colleagues, Lorraine and James were also once romantically involved. Now tasked with bringing down her ex’s killers, she teams up with French agent Delphine Lasalle (Sofia Boutella). Although Lorraine is initially wary of Delphine, they enter into a romantic relationship. Not only is Lorraine a kick-ass heroine who could rival James Bond, but she is an openly proud bisexual. No, the movie isn’t perfect and partners Lorraine sleeps with often meet the same fate as the first woman James Bond sleeps with in a given film, but seeing a bisexual action star on the big screen, in such a big-budget movie, is huge.

Princess Cyd (2017)

16-year-old Cyd (Jessie Pinnick) spends the summer in Chicago with her Aunt Miranda (Rebecca Spence). One day while jogging, she gets lost and stops into a coffee shop to ask for directions. There, she meets Katie (Malic White), who works there as a barista. Cyd is immediately taken with Katie and returns a day later to see her. Cyd, who has never been with another girl before, asks Miranda if it would be weird if she developed feelings for Katie, to which Miranda responds it would be perfectly normal. This slice-of-life, coming-of-age movie from writer/director Stephen Cone explores fluid sexuality with a calm, non-judgemental approach. Cone, who does identify as bisexual, has said he has always felt drawn to European cinema and its ability to portray bisexual characters as just another identity and not some big, earth-shattering idea. Princess Cyd is a movie about self-discovery and relationships, both romantic and familial, among different generations of women. It also must be addressed that Miranda may be demisexual or asexual.