WE ARE WHO WE ARE: The Universal Dysfunction of Finding Our Identity
HBO2020 has been a year of conflict and disaster. From global pandemics to raging wildfires, the year has seen mass destruction both physically and socially with even the moments of positive progress, such as Joe Biden winning the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election, met with large social conflict. The fight between conservative norms and progress still rages on with fatal results. Yet for everything that has happened in 2020, despite nearly every single person on earth having their life drastically changed, life still continued. Life took a break for no-one, which speaks to a larger truth regarding the modern dysfunctional fight in finding one's purpose and identity with no easy answer or clean path to follow. Just as this was evident in real life, this idea was also portrayed on screen within Luca Guadagnino's series We Are Who We Are. Set against the backdrop of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, the series portrayed the modern coming-of-age experience in a powerful and authentic honesty that makes the series one of the most relevant and timely summations of the human experience in recent memory – alongside being a powerful time capsule of the troubling experience that life in 2020 simply is.
Of the truths exposed within We Are Who We Are, the first notable one is simply the sheer size of the question "Who are you?" With tools like the Internet widely available, the conscious identity modern youth have to contend with has never been larger. While in the past, one's identity has largely been defined by their parents and what one receives from their parents and community, the Internet has broken down these barriers exposing youth to the entire world. Never before has youth been more conscious of the range of identities one can have in religion, political belief, gender identity, sexual orientation, and so on. Just within the small cast of characters featured within We Are Who We Are, each one of these pieces of identity is pushed and touched upon, showing simply how much youth have to contend with when deciding who they are and finding their place.
This process can be overwhelming and confusing, with life offering no remorse or assistance along the way. Although these identities have been the subjects of various feature films and fictionalised projects displaying cinematic struggles for acceptance and understanding, life is rarely as clean and straightforward. There are no screenwriters writing the perfect conclusion or journey for one to reach. No matter what is happening in the world or to those around someone, their own struggles and truth cannot be stopped or ignored for long. Within We Are Who We Are, this dysfunctional relationship between life and the journey of self-understanding couldn't be clearer. From Harper's (Jordan Kristine Seamón) journey of finding their gender identity within a family led by a highly conservative father, who has never felt more empowered due to Trump's presidential run, to Fraser (Jack Dylan Grazer) who has to roll with the unstable moves of his family that leave him feeling alone while he explores his sexuality; no one within We Are Who We Are has an easy path regardless of position or belief. Even Harper's father Richard (Scott Mescudi), who just wants to raise a conservative family, isn't given an easy journey as he slowly loses touch with his family members who reject his morals and find their own places in life.
In addition to these mostly personal takes on the idea of life not making the journey of self-understanding easy or clean, the series also speaks to a larger more universal truth regarding this. The choice to set the story on the backdrop of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election – which saw the conservative and controversial Donald Trump elected president – is no casual decision. Whilst one's specific personal situation can lead to a troublesome existence, the larger political divide makes this even more troublesome. Politics have become not just a system of how to systematically run the government but also a catalyst for hatred and ignorance. Conservative politicians historically attack minorities and, to this day, refuse to show empathy or understanding for these fragile communities. Donald Trump being elected immediately put minorities on notice. Their existence was now not guaranteed and the fight for their identity became more important than ever. This is a tremendous amount of stress to put on anyone, especially on youth who deserve a free and accepting space to find who they are. Instead, the conversation on a global level became toxic and deadly, with some even promising violence against those who choose to express themselves authentically.
History says these threats are not just hollow either. Over the previous number of years, there has been a large increase in violence against minorities, with murder and mass shootings becoming almost a staple of the modern news cycle. Yet again, even if the world proves to be unsafe and scary, one cannot truly run from who they are leaving them in an impossible situation. Either be honest with who you are and put yourself at risk of not just judgment but also violence, or hide who you are and live a safer life even if that leads to inner conflict and struggle. There is no easy answer and no path comes without consequence.
Not only are these consequences often personal but, as 2020 proves, they also can be largely universal. Make no mistake that the ultimate failure of a response to the COVID-19 pandemic was largely due to politics which decided to make simple things like wearing a mask a political debate to further divide the left and the right with a presidential election on the horizon. The spread, to this day, is uncontrolled in nearly every U.S. state but still, action is incredibly limited and simple areas of response like stimulus checks are caught up in petty bureaucratic debate. Even an election has become weaponised to sow division and conflict with some pushing for a dictatorship that openly ignores the results of an election with no tangible evidence for any wrongdoing. Yet, still, life continues.
No matter what happens, I still have to wake up every day and find my place in the world as a gay individual. Every day I have to wake up and be aware of each piece of my identity. This is the truth not just for myself but everyone. We Are Who We Are is a series that doesn't just acknowledge this truth but accepts that there is no answer. There is no secret mindset that will lead to a perfectly peaceful and balanced existence in modern society but the one thing that can make it better is human connection. It is finding love and support from the community around you and supporting each other through thick and thin. This isn't easy or pretty, but it is the state of the human condition in 2020 and We Are Who We Are captures this in an authentic lens better than perhaps any piece of media to come before it.
