My friend, colleague, fellow singlehood activist, and Singular Selves co-editor, Ketaki Chowkhani, identifies herself as a birder. I never knew “birding” was even a thing until I saw A Birder’s Guide to Everything, a dramedy about teenage birders. While I’m not inclined to devote energy to sighting birds, I agree they are a fascinating species. I’ve wondered what it would be like to be a bird, just to be able to fly anywhere at any point. In a sense, we singles may be like birds.
In its own, Birdy makes that analogy. Working at Blockbuster Video gave me the benefits five free movie rentals each week; Birdy was one of those, as Roger Ebert’s four-star review had given me the impetus to check it out.
The story revolves around two teenagers from Philadelphia. Al is cool, slick, and a sexual dynamo; Birdy is introverted and loves birds more than people. These two opposites develop a deep friendship, which continues after they’ve been drafted into the Vietnam War, and both end up scarred, Al with a disfigured face, Birdy with a severe case of PTSD. The film flashes backwards and forwards between when our protagonists were in happier, pre-war times, and the present, when Birdy’s in a mental institution, much like a caged bird.
I remember having liked it the first time, but when I watched it on Netflix, it felt a bit too episodic for my liking. Their different adventures, with women, fixing up a car, toxic parents, felt fragmented, as did the constant cutting back and forth between the present and past.
But it is pro-single. While Al is a ladies’ man, he’s not coupled at the end of the film. And today, Birdy might be categorized as asexual. Two instances:
1)The two boys meet up with a couple of girls at Atlantic City. While Al makes out with one girl on the beach, the other tries to engage in conversation with Birdy, but he watches Al in action, and you can tell he’s thinking about the mating habits of birds. The girl is creeped out, and her friend follows him. 2)When Al chastises Birdy, the latter refers to breasts as “overgrown mammary glands.” 3)Birdy goes to the prom, begrudgingly, with a girl named Dolores, who begins undressing him with his eyes after he confidently, authoritatively delivers a class presentation on birds. Dolores takes off her shirt for him, but he’s not into it.
Bojack Horseman received a great deal of publicity in the asexual community for its portrayal of Todd, an ace character. Birdy isn’t nearly as well-known, and it was made in 1984, so it’s an easy piece to overlook. But I would encourage its viewing among the community. Moreover while Todd coupled at the end of the series, Birdy did not. So it hits two fronts: pro-ace and pro-single. It was made ahead of its time.