“Can the ugly, untalented gays please report to the principal’s office?”
Upon the release of “Bottoms,” a 2023 lesbian comedy, audiences have been leaving the theater feeling giddy with laughter. Bringing light and severity to serious social issues through satire, “Bottoms” provides relatable content for members of the LGBTQ+ community to enjoy and feel seen by.
Setting the scene in high school, this film spotlights two women who are outcast as the “ugly, untalented gays” while they navigate life as gay women in a crowd of arrogant male classmates. The women decide to start a fight club — with the intention of connecting with their crushes — under the facade of “female solidarity.”
As their female classmates begin joining the intense fight club, they start to feel safe again at their school, claiming that everyone was in need of a little female empowerment. As expected, things take a nose-dive as the members find out the truth behind why the club was formed.
Director and co-writer Emma Seligman uses satire to illustrate real-world social injustice. This film depicts how men’s needs are consistently prioritized over women, which often leads to inhabiting a deep sense of superiority and can morph into anger and violence toward women.
It was inspiring to see the fight club turn into a bonding moment for the women. Not only were they becoming stronger and more willing to fight back, they were building relationships with each other that could last a lifetime. Unfortunately, true female solidarity is seriously lacking today. Rather than standing together, women often put each other down to climb to the top.
Without giving too many details away, the movie ends with men realizing they need women. It also ends with women realizing they need women. In no world do we benefit from pitting women against each other. We are stronger together and “Bottoms” reminds us of that. Seligman is for the girls, and her first major film was a smashing success that proved it.
