It’s Pride month, which means that if you’re within 100 yards of an open bottle of Tito’s vodka or a DSW with a sale on Tevas, you’re liable to hear a coming-out story. And listen: Coming out is a process that looks different for everybody. Some people have no problem coming out to their family and friends as soon as they’re sure of their sexuality. Others, like me, start crying before their clarinet lesson because they feel like they have to tell their mom something, but can’t quite spit it out for another eight hours. Despite how far we’ve come with progressing collective social thought, telling your loved ones that you’re queer remains delicate.
For Dakota Johnson’s character, Lucy, in Am I OK?, it’s also insufferable. The new dramedy directed by comedian Tig Notaro and her wife, actress Stephanie Allyne (now streaming on Max) is a well-intentioned but grating look at coming out in your thirties. Lucy is a textbook late bloomer who only finds herself admitting to her feelings for women when she has a drunken conversation with her best friend; turns out a booze-fueled safe space was all it took for her to drop the right hints. Lucy is 32, and the longer she’s held onto this secret, the more pathetic she feels for not just owning up to it as she’s gotten older.
While it’s really no big deal for someone to be figuring out their sexuality at 32, Lucy can’t seem to bear the anguish of starting down the path ahead of her. Life as a gay woman is filled with such crushing uncertainties as, “What app will I use to meet other lesbians?” and, “Is my flirtatious coworker into me?” Of course, these are common concerns across the spectrum of queerness, but for Lucy—a grown adult with a cushy job, seemingly no family, and a........