LESBIAN ROMANCE RULES - Lost & Delirious

Films have formulas and rules, but how well do films follow those formulas?  What about Lesbian Romance films, do they follows a strict formula and a set of rules?

Lost & Delirious is about a girl new to a boarding school and the lesbian relationship of her room mates.

The following analysis may contain spoilers for

LOST & DELIRIOUS (2001)

"I wasn't really sure what I'd just seen.  I know this sounds, like, naive, but at first, I mean, I thought they were, like, practising for boys." ~Mouse.

RULE #1 - A Coming Out Story

Mouse is the main character, but isn't part of the relationship.  So that kills this rule right there.  Let's try to salvage it, though, and apply this to one of the girls in the relationship.

Tori, is in a lesbian relationship before the film starts, so that kills it a little as a coming out story, but she does appear to be refusing to come out to her family.  She is also, clearly, into boys, and if we're labelling people (which is pretty much what this rule requires me to do) she's bisexual or a LUG or going through a phase.  That is almost the opposite of the girl in the rule - who is growing to discover she is homosexual.  Unless she's completely faking heterosexuality to please her parents and society.

RULE #2 - There May Be T&A

Boobs and lesbian sex scenes.  Both actresses, Jessica Paré (Tori) and Piper Perabo (Paulie) all four boobs.  No butts or anything, but breasts are good.  It's certainly about the usually level in these films.

RULE #3 - Unsatisfied

Tori seems satisfied with her life and relationship when she's with Paulie, but seems vaguely unsatisfied and truly seems to be faking satisfaction with Jack her male lover after she breaks up with Paulie, but as the film goes on seems to grow more satisfied (or better at faking it).

RULE #4 - Enter the Lesbian

Paulie is fits this category more than Tori, so let's go with it.  Sure she rejects the label, stating she's not in love with a girl, she's "Paulie in love with Tori" but hey, I'm in a labelling mode.  Boyish name, slightly more masculine facial features, the more flat-chested of the two, smokes, angry, outsider.  She isn't out until they are together.  Once out she does decide she wants a hair cut, but never goes through with it.

RULE #5 - Just Good Friends

Obviously, the gave off the impression of just being friends.  Interestingly, after Paulie and Tori break up and Paulie is outed as a lesbian, Mouse is confronted about her friendship with Paulie.  Tori says they are just friends when Paulie demands that Tori admits that Tori loves Paulie.

RULE #6 - Rejection By Friends and Family

To avoid rejection, Tori tells her sister that she's straight and Paulie snuck into her bed.  And Tori also denies it to her friends, even though they seem pretty accepting of it.

RULE #7 - Will They, Won't They/On Again, Off Again

They were already on when the film began, so will-they-won't-they is blown away.  They are off when Tori denies to relationship and with only a brief session where Paulie climbs on top of a sleeping Tori and she reciprocates and then rejects Paulie again.

RULE #8 - Redemption/Acceptance

Not applicable.

RULE #9 - Happily Ever After?

Paulie is hurt and becomes obsessive when Tori breaks up with her.  It begins as just bad break-up thing, but becomes a complete breakdown: advancing to ranting to animals, breaking mirrors and forcing others be become blood sisters and then yelling and screaming in public.  Stabbing Jake with a sword probably puts her in the crazy category.  The suicide soon after conforms to the lesbian-crazy-death cliché.  So it follows the ends-badly rule rather than happily-ever-after.  Then again, there's the implied turned-into-a-bird interpretation of the ending, but let's not go there. 

RULE #10 - No Sequels

No sequels, but later Piper Perabo (Paulie) played the coming-out girl in Imagine Me & You, which you may have heard of before and don't say you haven't because it would hurt my feelings.  I mean it's only been covered twice in this blog.

Results

• Rules that are followed in this film:  2, 4, 10.
• Rules that are partially followed, or not clear, in this film:  1, 3, 5, 6, 7.
• Rule not applied to this film:  8, 9.

~ DUG.

Remember to do the survey to determine the fourth genre to be tested.
Check out the schedule for upcoming Film Rules films to be reviewed.
Also a question for the comments...  Do people prefer the alternating between 2 sets of rules or would they like to see one set finished before the next starts?