Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost

Oh my god. Okay, this scene in Never Let Me Go was probably one of my favorite scenes because of how they dealt with female sexuality. She said this line to her love interest, as if it was something shocking and unusual, and he looked at her and asked “But you know that everyone feels that way, right? You know that now?”

He did not call her a slut or a whore, he did not think any less of her, she was not framed to look like someone who had done anything wrong. This is a good woman, framed more often as the “innocent”, “pure” blonde (the Mary, the Virgin) as opposed to her more promiscuous and easily jealous friend (the Eve, the Seductress), the protagonist of this story who we are meant to identify with and feel close to, who had strong sexual urges and “everyone feels that way”. 

Why can’t more films and books treat sexuality like this? It would have been so comforting to have seen this growing up. It is life affirming to see it now. Sexuality is just a part of life and it doesn’t make you less of a person for having urges like that. What you do with your life is far more important than whether or not you have sex or even think about it. Sexuality is perfectly illustrated in this movie because it is not a part of the main story, it is not the focus of the narrative, nor does it have an effect positive or negative on any character, it’s just a scene or two in the overarching plot of life.

(Source: thesmalltownboy)