You know what? I’m glad I get the chance to explain myself, because I have a lot of opinions on this character. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is one of the best movies I’ve ever watched, because I love the soundtrack and stylistically it’s really fun. Ramona Flowers, in my memory, was the first time I had ever seen a character as having romantic relationships with two genders.
The problem with this movie is that it is a very toxic representation of what bisexuality is, because it’s posed as a phase that she went through in her life. So when I watched that for the first time, it really didn’t help me in trying to figure out what my sexuality was. I was like, “Okay, so it’s normal wanting to date two different genders and experiencing romantic attraction, but she’s posing it as a phase that she went through, and I don’t know how to feel about that as a young person who’s trying to navigate these feelings I’m having.”
So, I don’t know. I think it did both harm and good in terms of introducing me to the fact that bisexuality does exist, but I think there was also internalized biphobia that I experienced as a result of her story and her character, because I wasn’t sure how to think about my own experiences and feelings based off of what she was going through. It helps me understand now, as somebody with a platform, the ways in which I should actively strive to create better representation for bisexual people, and share my voice in not making people feel guilty or crazy for what they’re feeling.
Yeah. I totally agree with everything you said about how the movie doesn’t have the best representation, but it did end up giving some iconic lines about queerness, like “I’m in lesbians with you.”
Yes, oh my god. One of the most iconic lines ever to exist.
And in her fight scene with Scott and Ramona, Roxie says, “I’m a little bi-furious!”
[laughs] Yes! She deserves so much better!
Out of all the characters in the movie, which one would you say you relate to most?
Honestly, I think it’s Knives [Chau]. So much of my childhood was spent trying to be something that I wasn’t, and trying to fit in because I felt too different from my peers. [I relate to] her assimilating and adopting white culture to a certain extent so that way she could fit in with her peers. She wanted Scott, a white man, to want her by copying this other person.
Because I was one of three Asian kids in my entire class, nobody [in my school] understood what that experience was like to desperately be trying to cling on and assimilate to what was around you because you wanted to fit in. I was like, “Oh, wow. I really see myself inside of her.” And I didn’t get to experience that a lot as a mixed race kid growing up.
Are there any parallels between this movie and your music?
I definitely think the different aspects of Ramona going through an abusive relationship, feeling reliant on Gideon and not knowing how to escape that. The concept of trying to find yourself is something that I definitely grapple with in a lot of my music, and identity in general is something that I discuss within my lyrics. So that was definitely one of the first movies where I was watching it and started to think about messaging and themes [around selfhood and relationships].
Even the fact that the movie is about music, like, Envy trying to find herself after breaking up with Scott and becoming confident in who she is. Subconsciously, I’m sure it helped me feel like, “Hey, this is something that I can do, too — process whatever I’m going through, through songwriting.”
Oh, that’s so wonderful. I love the scene when Envy is playing “Black Sheep” onstage, and you realize that she’s a badass, and Scott’s actually a loser.
Oh, yeah. One of my red flags, whenever I potentially date someone, is asking them if they’ve watched Scott Pilgrim. And if they actually [identify] with Scott as a character, I’m like, “You’re gone. That’s it.”
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