Shit on me, I'm the Cool Girl.

Sequin in a Blue Room (2019), dir. Samuel Van Grinsven - Australia

Last Night in Soho (2021)

I've read quite many reviews and analysis of this film, saying that it's a loose and transgressive adaptation of the Greek play Oedipus Rex, related to the major twist of its story. Moreover, a poster of Pasolini's Oedipus Rex (France: Edipo Re) made an appearance in this film that just looks like an absolute hint. But is it just the major twist that makes Funeral Parade of Roses a correlation to Oedipus Rex? Nah, I don't think so.

If you're familiar with the story of Oedipus Rex, then you'd know that it's more than just a story about the incest thingy. It talks loudly about fate. That many things happening throughout our lives are mostly, if not constantly, already planned for us. No matter how hard we try to refuse, if some things are meant to happen, they'll find their way. That's what happen to both Oedipus and the protagonist in Funeral Parade. They certainly have choices. We all have. But they just can't runaway when it comes to fate. The one thing that's been there the whole time and just waiting its time to come out. The one thing that's not to be found out why and how it happened in the first place.

In Funeral Parade, alongside with its main storyline, director Toshio Matsumoto shows us some documentary shots where real-life transvestites and gays are being interviewed about their sexual and gender identity. They got asked on why and how they chose to live their life. Their answers are ranging from "I don't know, I just like it", to "I was born that way". Those people just can't elaborate exactly why they became the way they are, or why they have a same-sex love interest. Their answers parallel the main Oedipus-Rex-adaptation storyline. Matsumoto and those gay boys are trying to tell us that it almost feels like it's their fate. It's been there within them the whole time. They don't have the answers to why they become gay. Do we need to find out why we have an interest in certain things? Do we know the answer?

Thus, it's not them to blame for their sexual identity. It's not them to be questioned why. It's not them to be asked when to stop being who they are and be straight instead. It's not them who force themselves to become gay. It just happens. Humans don't always have the answers to why things happen, do we?