Bisexuality: From Freud to Today!

In against Monogamy by Leo Bersani, I found most interesting the section that discussed the Oedipus Complex and Freud's opinion of bisexuality. Bersani describes an idea that each person contains multiple parts of their desire. He says every sexual act is an event between four individuals including the desiring woman within a man, and the desiring man within a woman. I think that if people were to recognize the complexity of desire, it could help people understand that being attracted to someone is not simply black or white. In terms of bisexuality, Freud disputed the claim that heterosexuality is more natural than homosexuality. He argues that a presumably natural and universal bisexual disposition would be somehow more acceptable and more respectable. I really like this idea because if everyone was believed to be bisexual just some more attracted to both sexes than others, it could help people not differentiate each other into groups or labels. For example, if a female feels she is attracted to men, considering the idea that we all are bisexual in different ways could make her more accepting and understanding of people who have atypical desires.

This brings me to the point I would like to make about bisexuality in the film industry. Channing Tatum is a popular mainstream actor who is typically scene in love stories such as Dear John or Step Up in which "the guys always gets the girl." An interesting thing to think about is that this actor is open about his bisexuality. If more people were open to viewing bisexuality as Freud sees it, I wonder how this would affect the amount of bisexual love stories in mainstream film. I would like to see more loves stories in the film industry exploring this kind of romance instead of focusing on typical relationships. I understand that movie directors and writers want to create a film that the masses can relate to. HOWEVER, CAN'T WE ALL RELATE TO LOVE? Why should it matter what form of love we are watching on the screen?