Love Is All You Need? – Reviewed

Love Is All You Need? is a short film that reverses the concept of normality.

When it was first released in 2011, the film gained critical acclaim in the short film festival circuit and despite its 2 million plus views on Youtube the film seems under-recognised by the LGBT community.

Through reversing the norm it highlights the ridiculousness of the very concept of normality. Nothing is ‘normal’.

It is society that decides and teaches what is acceptable and what is not.

The film explores the struggle of a teenage girl growing up as she realises she does not fit within society’s idea of normal.

She is what the film terms a ‘breeder’: heterosexual.
In a world where gay is straight, and straight is gay, she is shunned by her schoolmates, her family (who talk about heterosexuality as a perverted lifestyle: ‘a sin… it’s just so revolting’) and the church.

Through exploring the concept with the focus on a teenage girl and other teens around her, it captures childish innocence and shows just how embedded within society prejudices are: how easily influenced we are when raised in a society saturated by discrimination.

By putting a question mark at the end of the title it draws attention to the idealism behind the well-known phrase. It shows that when a certain type of love is not accepted by society, then it is simply not enough.

It uses terms such as ‘breeders’, ‘heteros’ and ‘queerby’ to create the sense of taboo and hatred around heterosexuality, that surround the LGBT community in reality.

Parallels are clearly observable between the plot and the famous case of Matthew Sheppard, the 21 year old attacked and murdered as a result of his sexuality. This draws unavoidable attention to the unexplainable discrimination received by the LGBT community.

Some of the comments on the Youtube video show intense criticism of the film, which highlights how narrow-minded audiences can still be through their reluctance to understand the reversed portrayal of society. Through criticising something that is assumed ‘normal’, the film becomes a powerful tool for drawing attention to the stupidity of discriminating against those who are just trying to be themselves.

As comments have shown, it won’t change everyone’s minds, but it is an interesting exploration of the strange assumptions our society is founded upon.

According to imdb the film is due to be adapted into a feature length film in 2014, so watch this space!

Watch Love Is All You Need?.

For more information on the film see: visit the website www.loveisallyouneedthemovie.com

Anne Loveday is a film student who is obsessed with questioning what culture teaches and tells us, particularly about the concept of normality.
In short, a film-loving, open-water-swimming, culture-obsessed, music addict.