Chasing Amy (1997)

In this low-budget independent film comedy-drama from writer/director Kevin Smith - an honest and appealing story of opposites-attract love between two New Jersey comic-book artists: heterosexual comic book writer Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) and another comic-book creator in the profession named Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), a lesbian-identified bi-sexual; critics of the controversial film felt that Alyssa's 'conversion' to heterosexuality was writer/director Kevin Smith's assertion that lesbianism was reversible:

• the film opened during a NYC comic-book convention where Holden and his homophobic buddy, another comic book artist named Banky Edwards (Jason Lee), were promoting their latest comic series Bluntman and Chronic; during a panel seminar at the comic convention, militant black activist Hooper X Lamont (Dwight Ewell), author of the comic White-Hatin' Coon, lectured about how Star Wars was a racist film: "Those movies are about how the white man keeps the brother man down, even in a galaxy far, far away. Check this s--t: You got cracker farm boy Luke Skywalker, Nazi poster boy, blond hair, blue eyes. And then you got Darth Vader, the blackest brother in the galaxy, Nubian god!"
• Banky asked an ill-advised question: "What's a Nubian?"; his question was followed by Hooper's elucidating reply: "Vader, he's a spiritual brother, y'know, down with the force and all that good s--t. Then this cracker, Skywalker, gets his hands on a light saber and the boy decides he's gonna run the f--kin' universe; gets a whole clan of whites together. And they go and bust up Vader's hood, the Death Star. Now what the f--k do you call that?...Gentrification! They gon' drive out the black element to make the galaxy quote, unquote, safe for white folks. And Jedi's the most insulting installment! Because Vader's beautiful black visage is sullied when he pulls off his mask to reveal a feeble, crusty, old white man! They tryin' to tell us that deep inside we all wants to be white!"
• when Banky replied: "Well, isn't that true?", Hooper pulled out a gun and shot Banky while crying out: "Black Rage!" (it was only a set-up)
• at the convention, they met another struggling, comic-book artist Alyssa Jones, who was friends with Hooper; that evening, the foursome of Holden, Banky, Alyssa, and Hooper X went for drinks at a local bar, where an attraction began to develop between Holden and Alyssa during a dart game
• later, Alyssa invited Holden (with Banky tailing along) to another bar that she often visited - he didn't know it was a dyke bar; Alyssa was brought onstage: ("Get up here and sing, bitch") to perform the song "Alive" ("I want to feel passion, I want to feel pain") dedicated "for that someone special out there." Shockingly, the "special" person turned out to not be Holden but Kim (Carmen Llywelyn) - a platinum-blonde dyke wearing a white T-shirt who was watching in the audience
• after the song finished, Alyssa pointed to the admiring woman, beckoning with one finger for her to come forward; the lesbian couple then kissed while Holden did a double-take as he looked on in disbelief (he mistakenly thought the love song was for him); Banky applauded and then said about the pairing: "Hot! Now that, my friend, is a shared moment." The lesbian couple continued to get "mushy" and kiss each other, as the two guys shared their booth table in the club, when the wide-eyed Banky confessed: "When are we ever gonna get a chance to see this kind of s--t live without paying for it?"
• as their honest sexual banter (typical of the entire film) continued in the bar booth, Alyssa described to an incredulous Banky how she could 'f--k' the other woman without strap-ons, explaining: "F--king is not limited to penetration, Banky. For me, it describes any sex when it's not totally about love. I don't love Kim, but I'll f--k her. I'm sure you don't love every girl you sleep with"
• one of the film's most memorable scenes followed - a parody of a similar scene in Jaws (1975), in which Banky and Alyssa revealed their sexual scars from past oral sex encounters (Banky's broken tooth, Alyssa's back scar from a heel wound, Banky's injured neck, and Alyssa's scarred knee)
• during their growing relationship, while sitting on playground swings together, Holden and Alyssa discussed and debated definitions of virginity - the experienced Alyssa forced the conservative-minded Holden (who at first stated that a person remained a virgin until they had intercourse with a member of the opposite sex) to often revise his "standard definition." Alyssa stated her own belief: "I think virginity is lost when you make love for the first time." Both of them discussed extenuating circumstances that blurred the definition, such as rape, or a broken hymen, or non-penetrative lesbian sex, or anal sex
• Banky (who was jealously miffed at Holden's strong interest in dykish Alyssa) discussed a scenario involving four individuals on a four-way road with a $100 dollar bill in the road's intersection: a male-friendly lesbian, a man-hating dyke, Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny; he asked Holden: "Which one is going to get to the hundred dollar bill first?"; when Holden answered the man-hating dyke, Banky congratulated him for having the right answer and explained: "Because the other three are figments of your f--king imagination!"; his implication was that Alyssa would never become a male-friendly lesbian, but was rather a man-hating dyke; Banky blew up at Holden: "What is it about this girl, man? You know you have no shot at getting her into bed. Why do you bother wasting time with her?"
• Banky was beginning to develop feelings of romantic jealousy (as a closeted homosexual), and he described how he risked losing his close friendship with Holden: ("This relationship is affecting you, our work and our friendship and the time's gonna come when I throw down the gauntlet and say it's me or her. Then what are you gonna say?...Would you trash twenty years of f--kin' friendship because you got some idiotic notion that this chick would even let you sniff her panties, let alone f--k her?...What the f--k makes this bitch all that important?"); Holden was forced to admit that he was in love with Alyssa
• soon, Holden was pursuing Alyssa even in spite of her sexual leanings; no longer able to hold back his feelings, he confessed his love to her in a long speech; he stopped his car, turned to her, and blurted out: "I love you....I love you. And not, not in a friendly way, although I think we're great friends. And not in a misplaced affection, puppy-dog way, although I'm sure that's what you'll call it. I love you. Very, very simple, very truly. You are the-the epitome of everything I have ever looked for in another human being. And I know that you think of me as just a friend, and crossing that line is-is-is the furthest thing from an option you would ever consider. But - I had to say it...I know that some part of you is hesitating for a moment, and if there's a moment of hesitation, then that means you feel something too. And all I ask, please, is that you just - you just not dismiss that, and try to dwell in it for just ten seconds"

Holden's Speech, Professing His Love for Alyssa

• after his heart-felt confession, in the pouring rain, Alyssa unburdened her own feelings to him about his "crush" on her: "No, it's unfortunate that you're in love with me. It's unfair that you felt the f--king need to unburden your soul about it. Do you remember for a f--king second who I am?...THERE'S NO 'PERIOD OF ADJUSTMENT,' HOLDEN! I'M F--KING GAY! THAT'S WHO I AM! AND YOU ASSUME I CAN TURN THAT AROUND JUST BECAUSE YOU'VE GOT A CRUSH?"; after dismissing him, she ran back into Holden's arms and passionately kissed him before they had sex together
• Alyssa explained how she had made a conscious decision in her sexual decision-making to be open to lesbianism: "There were no examples set for me in the world of male-female relationships. And to cut oneself off from finding that person, to immediately halve your options by eliminating the possibility of finding that one person within your own gender, that just seemed stupid to me. So I didn't. But then you came along. You, the one least likely. I mean, you were a guy....And while I was falling for you I put a ceiling on that, because you were a guy. Until I remembered why I opened the door to women in the first place: to not limit the likelihood of finding that one person who'd complement me so completely. So here we are. I was thorough when I looked for you. And I feel justified lying in your arms, 'cause I got here on my own terms, and I have no question there was some place I didn't look. And for me that makes all the difference"
• a roadblock to their gender-transcended relationship surfaced when Holden questioned her sexual past (he learned that it was one of wild experimentation and adventurous sex; she had acquired the nickname 'Finger Cuffs' after engaging in a menage a trois threesome with two guys during HS - Rick Darris and Cohee Lundin (John Willyung), involving both oral sex and intercourse simultaneously: (Cohee: "So Rick's the one that come up with the nickname, cause that day she had us locked in tight from both sides like a pair of god-damned Chinese finger cuffs!")

Flashback: The Origin of Alyssa's Nickname in HS Told by Cohee Lundin (John Willyung)

Alyssa to Holden: "I was an experimental girl, for Christ's sake!"

• when the conservative-minded Holden confronted Alyssa about her high-school promiscuity ten years earlier and how she had been "used," Alyssa vehemently defended herself: ("You don't think I would've let it happen if I hadn't've wanted to, do you? I was an experimental girl, for Christ's sake! Maybe you knew early on that your track was from point A to B, but unlike you, I was not given a f--king map at birth, so I tried it all! That is until we, that's you and I, got together and suddenly I was sated! Can't you take some f--king comfort in that? You turned out to be all I was ever looking for - the missing piece in the big f--king puzzle!"); Holden ended their conversation by stating his hope: "I want us to be something that we can't...A normal couple"
• after Holden's conversation with Alyssa, during lunch at a local diner with local stoners and drug dealers Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith), Holden listened as Silent Bob told about his own past romantic relationships; he happened to explain the reason for the film's title when he descibed dating someone named Amy; Silent Bob confessed that his insecurities (similar to Holden's) about his girlfriend Amy's past sexual escapades, adventures, and history unfortunately led to their inevitable break-up when he mistakenly and regretfully pushed her away: ("So I've spent every day since then chasing Amy... So to speak")
• Holden gathered both Alyssa and Banky together and suggested a threesome as a solution to resolve all of their issues: ("I know what we have to do. And then you - Bank, you Alyssa, and I - all of us can finally be alright...We've all got to have sex together"); his proposal was not well received by Alyssa who promised to always love Holden, but said she could not agree to any more sexual experimentation: ("I'm past that now. Or maybe I just love you too much. And I feel hurt and let down that you'd want to share me with anyone. Because I never wanted to share you. Regardless, I can't be a part of this. Or you. Not anymore I love you. I always will. Know that. (She slapped him) But I'm not your f--kin' whore"); she then stormed off to move on with her life - they were all left to live their separate lives