Let me comment briefly on my original assertion about the final embrace. I was commenting more specifically about the shot composition (half-naked embrace back-lit and centered in the frame, open window). It didn’t bother me so much as it felt excessive. But I’m kind of anti-romantic about these things (though I totally cry at the “I hate you Harry” speech at the end of When Harry Met Sally . . ., so it’s a slippery slope).

Having said that, I think you’re right. I don’t think it’s bad that the couple in this movie are straight. As I argued in the original post, I think there needs to be room for complex and progressive representations of heterosexual couples. In addition, I don’t think Adventureland exhibits the homophobia and homoerotic panic evident in other movies of its kind (well, maybe Frigo has some homoerotic panic, depending on how you wanna read his feelings toward James). And I appreciate your comment about the final scene being antithetical to how “losin’ it” usually plays out in other movies. Thinking about this alongside a) Em’s considerable experience in comparison to James, b) how that experience doesn’t configure her as slutty to James, c) the very believeable tenderness (love, dare we say) between them, and d) that we, the audience, never actually see them have sex I think are all very smart choices.

I also really appreciated the characterization of Em, and it seemed like Stewart and the filmmakers were going out of their way to avoid any markers of the MPDG. What makes the movie work so well for me is that it contains many of the semantic elements of a cliche “coming of age” comedy, but it evades many of the genre’s standard pitfalls. It seems like people who are criticizing the movie for its “quirkiness” or over-earnestness or what have you are judging it based on preconceptions formed by Garden State, Juno, etc., and not the actually up on the screen.

But I think I disagree about the final embrace. True, the film ends with a heterosexual coupling like so many other Hollywood productions. But to me, that final scene felt real and earned enough that I think it does the scene a disservice to cast it as just another in a long line of heteronormative romances. I thought the nervy energy in that scene perfectly captured the rush of losing one’s virginity without exploiting it the way so many movies (Porky’s, American Pie, etc.) have. Now, I’m obviously approaching the movie with different points of identification than you are, so that might be a sticking point.

Finally, regarding the music: part of my problem with Marcotte’s review (along with the condescending “I’m too smart to fall for this, even if most people aren’t” attitude) is the notion that including these songs in films somehow ruins the music. I just don’t buy that line of reasoning, and it reminds me of the perpetual argument that remakes somehow ruin the original or “rape one’s childhood.” These people tend to confuse personal attachment to a cultural product with ownership of it. I can understand this to an extent, but hell, I loved hearing Nick Lowe’s “So It Goes,” one of my all-time favorite songs, in the film.