Bi the Way | |
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Directed by | Brittany Blockman Josephine Decker |
Written by | Brittany Blockman Josephine Decker |
Produced by | Michael Huffington Martha Shane |
Cinematography | Nils Benson Brittany Blockman Josephine Decker Wilmot Kidd |
Edited by | Brittany Blockman Josephine Decker |
Music by | Daniel Raimi |
Release date |
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Running time | 85 mins |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Bi the Way is a 2008 documentary film about bisexuality in the United States. It had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas. [1] The film has aired at film festivals throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Turkey, Greece, Australia, Brazil, and Taiwan, including at Silverdocs Film Festival, Outfest, Newfest, !f Istanbul, and Rio de Janeiro Film Festival. It was aired on the Logo Network in summer 2009. [2]
The film follows the lives of several young bisexuals in the United States. [1] Its makers, Brittany Blockman and Josephine Decker, also appear on camera to frame the stories. [3]
The film is structured around a roadtrip, [4] during which the creators introduce five young Americans confronting issues relating to bisexuality. [5] Former cheerleader Pam, from Memphis, Tennessee, navigates between the tolerance and sexual openness of her friendship group and the conservatism of her southern Catholic family. Black hip-hop dancer Tahj, enjoying little success with girls, forms a relationship with a man he meets on MySpace and must weigh the rejection of his community against his newfound love. [6] 28-year-old Taryn is contemplating marriage to her boyfriend but also embarks on a new romance with a woman, testing the limits of monogamy and the boundaries of gender roles. David, 24, defies the expectations of his parents and ex-girlfriends to assert his bisexuality, while seeking to reconcile his traditional values with his open-minded views. Lastly, in San Antonio, Texas, Josh, 11, fears his gay father will reject him if he pursues his growing interest in girls.
The film interlaces these stories with commentary from evolutionary biologists, psychologists, and anthropologists to discuss themes of sexual ambiguity.
Roy Michael Huffington Jr. is an American politician, LGBT activist, and film producer. He was a member of the Republican Party, and a congressman for one term, 1993–1995, from California. Huffington was married to Arianna Huffington, the Greek-born co-founder of HuffPost, from 1986 to 1997.
Dorothy Ann Richards was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995. A Democrat, she first came to national attention as the Texas State Treasurer, when she gave the keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Richards was the second female governor of Texas, and was frequently noted in the media for her outspoken feminism and her one-liners.
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Sheela Lambert (1956-2024), a native and lifelong resident of New York City, was an American bisexual activist and writer.
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The first English-language use of the word "bisexual" to refer to sexual orientation occurred in 1892.
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Josephine Decker is an English–born American filmmaker. Films she has directed include Butter on the Latch (2013), Thou Wast Mild and Lovely (2014), Madeline's Madeline (2018), Shirley (2020), and The Sky is Everywhere (2022). She also co-directed the documentary Bi the Way (2008) with Brittany Blockman.
The portrayals of bisexuality in the media reflect societal attitudes towards bisexuality in the existing media portrayals. Throughout history, numerous bisexual characters have appeared in television series, including cartoons, anime, video games and web series, along with literature, comics, radio, and other mediums.
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The history of bisexuality concerns the history of the bisexual sexual orientation. Ancient and medieval history of bisexuality, when the term did not exist as such, consists of anecdotes of sexual behaviour and relationships between people of the same and different sexes. A modern definition of bisexuality began to take shape in the mid-19th century within three interconnected domains of knowledge: biology, psychology and sexuality. In modern Western culture, the term bisexual was first defined in a binary approach as a person with romantic or sexual attraction to both men and women. The term bisexual is defined later in the 20th century as a person who is sexually and/or romantically attracted to both males and females, or as a person who is sexually and/or romantically attracted to people regardless of sex or gender identity, which is sometimes termed pansexuality.