Pitch Perfect: The Lesbian Musical That Could Have Been
This film was instrumental in helping me discover that I liked girls.
The first Pitch Perfect movie is by far the gayest not-gay movie I’ve ever seen.
It’s one of those movies where the main romance is technically heterosexual, but the gay subtext is evident to those looking for it. And even to those who may not be looking for it. When I first watched Pitch Perfect in high school, I thought I was only attracted to guys, but I still noticed the lesbian undertones.
At the time, I wasn’t particularly into musicals. I only decided to check this movie out after a male friend of mine kept mentioning how cute Anna Kendrick was in it. And as someone who definitely absolutely was 100% not attracted to girls, I had to see what my friend was talking about so I could form my own totally heterosexual opinion.
I immediately understood what he was talking about. As someone who grew up in the alternative/emo scene of the early-to-mid 2000s, seeing Anna Kendrick in plaid shirts, spiked bracelets, and black horn earrings really did something for me.
While I’d been expecting her to be pretty, I hadn’t expected this mainstream musical with a straight romance to be so…gay.
Our protagonist, Beca (Anna Kendrick), begins her first year of college by being asked to join the school’s all-female a capella group, the Barden Bellas, by one of its leaders, Chloe (Britanny Snow). Beca rejects the offer. Later, Chloe hears her sing in the shower and convinces her to join the Bellas.
Yes, this conversation takes place while they’re both naked. Yes, it’s awkward and filled with tension. Yes, it made me feel things I wasn’t entirely familiar or comfortable with.
Meanwhile, Beca develops a ho-hum romance with another freshman named Jesse (Skylar Astin), a member of one of the rival a capella groups. I literally had to look up what that character’s name was because he was so uninteresting. The movie’s plot would have been largely unaffected without shoehorning in this romance, but I think they included it to appeal to a broad heterosexual audience.
Indeed, Beca has much more chemistry with Chloe than with the bland straight boy she ended up with. In one scene, the Bellas sing a mashup of Bruno Mars’ “Just the Way You Are” and Nelly’s “Just a Dream.” The former is a disgustingly romantic song, while the latter describes sadness after a lover leaves. Both of these songs explicitly mention female lovers. Chloe and Beca stare into each other’s eyes for the majority of the mashup.
I mean, with lyrics like, “I was thinkin’ ‘bout her, thinkin’ ‘bout me/ thinkin’ ‘bout us, what we gon’ be/ opened my eyes, yeah, it was only just a dream,” how can you expect queer fans to not read into the subtextual lesbian romance?
Oh, right. Because the film actually does include a confirmed lesbian character. And it isn’t handled well, to say the least.
One of the other Bellas, Cynthia Rose (Ester Dean), is a Black butch lesbian and the only out queer character in the movie. When she’s first introduced during the audition scene for the school’s various a capella groups, the audience is meant to laugh when the judges are surprised that she is “not a dude” despite wearing masculine clothing. When she finally comes out to the rest of the Bellas, we are meant to laugh at another character feigning shock.
So, the film hints at a possible gay romance while actively laughing at outward gayness. If that's not queerbaiting, I don’t know what is.
Speaking of queerbaiting, the company behind the movie, Universal Studios, noticed how popular the “Bechloe” ship had become in queer online circles. So, in the two sequels, they doubled down on teasing queer representation without actually delivering. While I’m definitely disappointed, I can’t honestly say I’m surprised.
Every time I watch Pitch Perfect, I get upset about how gay it could have been if only it weren’t so homophobic. While it was instrumental in helping me realize I was queer, I’m so glad there are better films these days that feature actual, explicit queer representation.
Even if none of them feature Anna Kendrick.
