By Amanda Moses
There are just some films that have such a profound effect on us, we can’t help but watch it over and over again, bridging connections from the movie to our very own lives.
For a 12-year-old Sav Rodgers watching director Kevin Smith’s comedy/drama Chasing Amy had just that effect on his pre-teen life. The film Chasing Amy is about a comic book writer named Holden who falls in love with Alyssa a comic artist; however, Alyssa is a lesbian and Holden spends the entire story trying to make her fall in love with him. While many in the LGBTQ+ community have voiced their concern over this problematic plot of trying to change someone’s orientation, Rodgers felt the film had a deeper meaning and tackled discussions in the gay community that were not often spoken of in the 1990s. Such as simply asking the question, what are your pronouns?
Over the years, Rodgers plucked away at his obsession over Chasing Amy, even participating in a 2019 TED talk about how the film saved his life growing up in rural Kansas. This then led to Rodgers creating a documentary that focuses on the LGBTQ+ community and the world of film, Chasing Chasing Amy. In doing so, he shared his personal journey of self-realization coming out as trans and interviewed others about their experiences.
Chasing Chasing Amy had its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival on June 8th, where the director, producers and subjects discussed the importance of this LGBTQ+ documentary on the red carpet at AMC 19th Street.
“I want audiences to take away that our stories matter the stories that we tell matter, there’s a massive impact and it matters, what you have access to. And I think that we can also just be a little kinder,” Rodgers told the Spring Creek Sun.
Rodgers first saw Chasing Amy at 12, but as he transitioned, became an adult, and started to delve deeper into the film’s nuances, his relationship with the movie has also changed.
“The things that are important to you at 12 are not as important to you as you mature and get older. Chasing Amy was a massive life raft when I needed it. It saved my life as a kid. And now, it’s a movie that has had immense significance to me and became my job for five years and so now I would say the relationship with it is probably more reasonable than perhaps it was when I was younger,” Rodgers said.
“If there’s anybody who was in my situation who sees Chasing, Chasing Amy I really hope that that they feel seen and they feel that there’s a path forward in their life because despite everything that’s happening in the world, we’ve always been here, we will always be here. And your future is wilder and more imaginative, and better than you could ever possibly imagine,” Rodgers added.
Photos by Amanda Moses
