Postmodern Queering of Family in '101 Reykjavik'

Abstract

In the postmodern 1990s, LGBT families were portrayed as pioneers for new family forms and processes of individualization. The queer viewpoint was that of a socially beneficial vanguard that could help liberate everyone from stale heteronormativity and dysfunctional socialites. The Icelandic queer dramedy 101 Reykjavík (2000) lets its slacker protagonist reinvent himself through the mentorship of his mother's Spanish partner. His renegotiation of family can be read as analogous to the way in which Nordic social democracies countered the threat of neoliberal globalization. How the film ends with queer assimilation points to our era's challenges of cultural renewal.