The Unicorn Scale: The Kids Are All Right

By Jennie Roberson

April 29, 2020

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Photo credit: Focus Features

Welcome back, Unicorns! I sure hope it’s a beautiful day where you are, because it’s gorgeous where I am today. But as much as I’d like to go out, I’m waiting for the delivery of a package to sign. (Okay, okay, it’s wine — lucky me!) But I think, if anything, the characters in this column’s focus would understand. So why don’t we keep each other company while I wait impatiently for the mail carrier?

So I’ve had many discussions with my editor how it’s important to see the trajectory of queer representation throughout the years in film and television— even if it makes me squirmy. So that means covering some of the more flawed representations out there in media from even ten years ago. (Gosh, how much changes in a decade.) Which brings me to today’s subject: The Kids Are All Right.

Photo/Focus Features

Before I get too far into the specifics, I should go over a few basics. First off, this review will contain SPOILERS for the 2010 comedy. Oh, and if you’ve already seen the flick but this is your first time reading a Unicorn Scale — or you’d just love a quick refresher — you can catch up by heading over to this page and reading up on the metric at hand.

All good? Splendid. 

The Kids Are All Right focuses on a small Los Angeles family headed by partners Nic (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore), who have raised their children Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and Laser (Josh Hutcherson) who they conceived with the aid of an anonymous sperm donor, Paul (Mark Ruffalo). After her eighteenth birthday, Joni gets pressured by her younger brother to find out the identity of their biological father — who quickly immerses himself in the family in surprising ways.

What I Liked:

I appreciated that The Kids Are All Right shows the complications of a lived-in relationship like the one between Nic and Jules, regardless of gender. Adult relationships are fun, but tricky and hard, no matter what your orientation. As Roger Ebert (rest in peace) put it in his review for the film: “Just imagine: You're expected to live much, if not all, of your married life with another adult. We're not raised for this.”

They’re also good parents, in their white, upper-class way. The mistakes I see them make are ones I’ve seen others make as parents — and it’s always coming from a place of trying to do the right thing. It’s lovely to see that, while imperfect, Nic and Jules do care deeply for each other and try to take care of one another — even if one gets distracted by a phone call while giving the other a bath. This same-sex marriage, while admittedly working from a place of financial privilege, felt more real than a lot of characters that have crossed my screen.

Photo/Focus Features

I also appreciated seeing people who mess up in a film getting a chance for redemption, like Jules does. She knows she screwed up badly when she had her brief affair with Paul, and I believe her remorse and what she will do to change her behavior in the future both as a partner and as a mother. We don’t often get to see that for those who are wronged in movies, which is nice because it takes this story away from being a morality tale and instead shows how tangled life can actually get in these types of situations.

What I Didn't Like:

I guess I was more surprised than anything when Jules and Paul started up their torrid tryst, because Jules had never mentioned being attracted to anyone other than women. That does add to the element of dramatic surprise, but it disappointed me to not hear her say that she was bi or queer after the affair was discovered and instead regressed to just saying she was gay again. 

In the heat of the moment in her argument with Nic, she claims it wasn’t about attraction, but when we saw the two of them in bed we saw Jules express real desire and delight. And it wasn’t just a one-time mistake; this went on long enough for Paul to start to fall for her. Maybe this move was her covering and going back to an identity she was more comfortable with for the sake of her life and her marriage, but I can’t help but admit part of me was disappointed in this development.

Photo/Focus Features

I’m also sad to see the only example of a bi person in this film, Jules, is a cheater. It is not the only quality to her character whatsoever (thank God), but her betrayal is the crux of the plot. This does not bode well for dismissing harmful bi stereotypes; in a way, I was glad she didn’t revise her identity to saying she was bi, because then many could argue this is what all bi people do. There’s enough bullshit out there about thinking bi people can’t be faithful — we don’t need to add fuel to the fire.

The Rating 

While I enjoyed the film (which walks a hysterical line of both loving and resenting the sunniness and organic-obsessed parts of L.A.), it’s definitely not what I would point to for great queer representation. Is it better than Basic Instinct as far as three-dimensional, queer characters? Sure, but that’s a low bar to clear. Jules doesn’t intentionally weaponize her sexuality. But I’m so glad we’ve come along a lot farther than this as far as solid repping on screens large and small.

Also, for those who are keeping track: no, the wine hasn’t arrived yet. Shame: After seeing this disappointing shade of representation, I could really go for a glass of petite Syrah.

2.5 Unicorns

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