November 4, 2024
EDGE Interview: With 'Chasing Chasing Amy' Director Sav Rodgers Looks at the LGBTQ+ Film That Saved His Life
Matthew Creith READ TIME: 7 MIN.
"Chasing Amy" has a special place in the hearts of many, including myself. It is a controversial film that continues to divide mainstream audiences, offering an authentic portrayal of queer relationships that stands in stark contrast to the stereotypical depictions of the past. In Kevin Smith's 1997 rom-com, Ben Affleck plays a New Jersey comic book writer who falls for pansexual Alyssa (Joey Lauren Adams), who primarily identifies herself as a lesbian. Affleck cannot overcome his own insecurities about dating someone so open about her sexuality, nor is he helped by the comments by his bff, played by Jason Smith, who may be using homophobia as a way of hiding his queer identity.
But what is it like to look at the film more than 25 years later through a queer lens? That is what filmmaker Sav Rodgers decided to do when he started making a documentary about the film in 2017, affirming its impact and evolution through interviews with the filmmakers and stars who made 'Chasing Amy' a classic.
Rodgers first discovered the rom-com when he was 12-years old while going through the Ben Affleck movies in his mom's DVD collection. Unlike "Good Will Hunting" or "The Town," Chasing Amy,' written and directed by Smith, had a profound effect on him. Later when he gave a TedTalk whose title explains it all: "The rom-com that saved my life." That wasn't just rhetoric: Rodgers credits the film for having kept him from committing suicide during the time he was being bullied in high school.
"When marginalized people talk about the need for representation in media, they are not being hyperbolic," Rodgers said in his TED Talk about the film. "Seeing yourself on screen endows you with the feeling of existing in the world, and seeing myself on screen gave me the strength to navigate that world." What he didn't fully realize when he started making his documentary is how important it was in his decision to transition. It became so important that Rodgers reluctantly became one of the film's interview subjects. "I genuinely did not want to be in the movie," he told IndieWire. "I didn't want to expose myself in that way and open a vein out for the world to dissect and judge... However, it's the byproduct of years of collaboration that I felt safe enough to say 'Yeah, this is who I am now, and this is what I've learned and here's where the challenges were,' and to be able to close that chapter of my life."
Rodgers was named to Forbes "30 Under 30 in 2024," and is also the Founder and Executive Director of the Transgender Film Center, a nonprofit aiming to help trans creators bring finished films to audiences around the world. According to his website, he lives happily lives with his wife, Riley, and his two pugs in the desert. He is a proud University of Kansas graduate and still sports KU baseball caps wherever he goes.
EDGE caught up with Sav Rodgers to discuss "Chasing Chasing Amy," Kevin Smith's impact on queer pop culture, and how audiences perceive changes in LGBTQ+ representation from the 1990s to today. You can watch the entire interview in this video. Below are some excerpts:
Rodgers on his journey from touring the film festival circuit to "Chasing Chasing Amy" finally arriving in theaters...
Sav Rodgers: I'm so happy that after over six years of work, people are finally going to be able to see it. They're finally going to be able to see it in a movie theater, which, for a documentary, feels like a luxury. It has been a constant, I would say grind in some ways, but one that I love. I love film festivals. I have a career thanks to film festivals and festival organizers for taking a chance on my work before it was popular or anything like tha. We played at least 76 film festivals in the last year and a half. Three sold out crowds at Tribeca was this huge privilege. We had the metrics to show that there was an audience for the film, and so we're so happy to be able to put the film out with Level 33 and for them to really, truly be partners in this theatrical, VOD, etc, endeavor with us. That is reaffirming for not just the movie, but for my life. This is what I spent most of my filmmaking career on so far, and I'm also just so stoked for it to connect with a wider audience.
How it feels to have Kevin Smith's approval of the documentary...
Sav Rodgers: It's been life and career affirming. That is the guy who made me want to make movies by making "Chasing Amy." Everything you see in the documentary is 100% genuine and 100% Kevin. I'm really thankful for his time and his participation. He didn't have to give me that much time or participation. He didn't have to agree to so many interviews. ... Kevin has this quote, "It takes nothing to support an artist." The thing that I always want to give Kevin a lot of credit for is this film directly. It shows critiques of him, and he engages with them very thoughtfully. When we were doing the interview process, he wasn't defensive whatsoever. I don't think a lot of people would do that talking about past works that they've done. But Kevin did say yes, and then some. I will always, always, always be grateful to Kevin.
Concerning queer representation on film from the 1990s versus today's landscape of content...
Sav Rodgers: I think every film is a product of its time. "Chasing Amy" is a product of 1997 as much as any other thing, right? It's this interesting inflection point where new queer cinema is happening, and has been happening, and so those films are coming out. I just think we are all influenced all the time by the world around us. This is a point in time where there are a lot of films authored by queer people that are very truthful, some of them are angry. So you're seeing queer filmmakers take up their own mantles. They're releasing their own independent films in mass in a way that just hadn't been done in that way before. A lot of credit to the work of Todd Haynes and Gregg Araki and many, many, many other people at that time for helping queer film start to be in the more public conversation, authored by queer people. So "Chasing Amy" is a product of that period of time.
On how Rodgers own transition while filming "Chasing Chasing Amy"...
Sav Rodgers: When you get to be yourself, and you get to be seen as you, you have your basic needs met. You get to be treated the way that you asked to be treated, and people really see you as you are. That's a nice experience. I wish that for everybody, whether they're trans or not.
Watch the interview below:
