Dating Amber is a 2020 Irish coming-of-age film directed by David Freyne.
As its original title Beards would suggest, it is about two Closet Gay teenagers in their final year of school in 1995 Kildare, Eddie Cotter (Fionn O'Shea) and Amber Keenan (Lola Petticrew), who decide to fake a relationship. The pair are in very different places: Eddie is still figuring himself out in deep denial and seems resigned to a life of repression in the military; Amber knows who she is and awaits the end of school so she can get to London, be herself, and open "an anarchist bookshop with franchise potential".
Tropes:
- Armoured Closet Gay: Eddie acts homophobic at times when he panics due to his gayngst. When seen kissing another boy at the gay club by someone he knows, his reaction is to push the guy away angrily. Later, once Amber comes out, the stress causes him to lash out and call her a slur, hurting her deeply. Eddie does apologise to her and ends up accepting himself.
- Awful Wedded Life: Eddie's parents Hannah and Ian don't have a very happy marriage. They fight often, with her disliking that he's gone so often due to being in the Army.
- Awkward Father-Son Bonding Activity: Ian takes Eddie training in the woods, calling it "man time" and giving him a number of survival tips.
- Awkward Kiss:
- Eddie and Tracey's at the beginning is beyond awkward to the point of gaining notoriety, with him chatting through it and refusing to put his hands anywhere near her, before promptly ducking whilst she looks befuddled by the whole thing.
- Eddie and Amber's kisses generally fall into this category, although this time they're both in on it.
- The Beard:
- Eddie and Amber to each other, to stop kids from teasing them at school and to get their parents off their backs. Amber offers to date Eddie upon witnessing his attempt to ask Tracey out fail.
- Tracey sort of becomes unwittingly this to Eddie.
- Casting Gag: Eddie and Amber's class is shown to graduate in 1995. Amber's actor, Lola Petticrew, was born that same year.
- Class Clown: Kev often interrupts Sweeney's class to taunt Eddie and sometimes Amber, such as when he called Eddie out in the middle of class to ask why he wouldn't touch Tracey during their kiss.
- Closet Gay:
- Eddie and Amber are both in the closet initially to avoid harassment, agreeing to date for cover.
- Cian, a fellow cadet of Eddie's, turns out to be a closeted gay man like him.
- Sarah, Amber's girlfriend, hasn't come out to her mom, saying she'd have an exorcism for her if she did.
- Coming-Out Story: Amber is first to come out as a lesbian, with her mom reacting far better than she'd expected. Though stressed over this, her gay fake boyfriend/friend Eddie is inspired to as well before the end of the film, with his family accepting him as well.
- Compensating for Something: Eddie can be a bit ''too'' forward in talking about his (non existent) experiences with girls.
- Differing Priorities Breakup: Their differences become more stark after Eddie's Freak Out over being caught with a guy at the club and Amber starts to see Sarah. Amber is increasingly enticed by coming out whilst Eddie has been spooked into a life in the closet. Amber begins to suggest they "break up" when Eddie asks if they can date for real. By that point, it's clear it's "over".
- Disappeared Dad: Amber's father committed suicide before the film is set. Poor Amber also found his body.
- Femininity Failure: Amber comes to meet Eddie's parents in a dress with a flower barrette as well, very different from her usual grungy, tomboyish style. She looks awkward and miserable in it.
- First Kiss:
- Eddie gets his with a guy he meets at a gay club.
- Amber has hers with Sarah, a girl she also meets at the club, who later dates her.
- Flying Under the Gaydar: Eddie is terrified of anyone perceiving him as gay, to the point of going right into Armored Closet Gay toward the end. He is in serious denial even after Amber informs him that she's gay too and that he can trust her.
- Follow in My Footsteps: Eddie is expected to join the army like his father Commandant Ian Cotter and "become a man". Ian admits late into the film that Eddie doesn't actually ''have'' to do this if he doesn't feel it's for him, at which point the pressure seems more internal than external.
- Gaydar: Amber quickly identifies Eddie as gay from how he looks at Mr. Sweeney, their handsome teacher.
- Gayngst: Eddie is deeply in denial and stressed over being gay, to the point he lashes out at other queer people sometimes. By the end of the film, he's accepted himself, as have his family after he comes out.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Amber flies into rage quickly over even minor slights.
- Hated Hometown: Amber has a dream of moving to London and states "this place will kill you", telling Eddie to get out too. Makes sense that she believes this when her father committed suicide, and she blames her hometown for it.
- Headphones Equal Isolation: Eddie wears headphones while biking frequently. He's an awkward, lonely boy who's eager to escape from the world, and early on he obliviously bikes onto a live fire range while soldiers try to stop him.
- Heroic BSoD: Eddie very loudly freaks out when someone he recognises sees him kiss a guy at the club. Amber then asks him for a "break", during which she goes out with Sarah whilst he is left alone with his Gayngst and repression.
- Heteronormative Crusader: All the kids at school mock and harass Amber for being a lesbian. She pretends otherwise by saying Eddie, a closeted gay boy, is her boyfriend. This lets him escape it too.
- I Can't Hear You: As a result of wearing headphones frequently, Eddie often doesn't hear things such as gun shots or people trying to talk to him.
- Incompatible Orientation:
- Eddie wants to carry on with his and Amber's fake relationship indefinitely toward the end so he won't have to face homophobia, with her bluntly rejecting doing so, since both are gay so they'd never be able to enjoy intimacy.
- Eddie also mistakenly thinks that his teacher Mr. Sweeney is gay and kisses him. Mr. Sweeney quickly says he's straight.
- Jerkass: Most of the kids at school, but Kev is the most devoted. They're obnoxious almost all the time, and make Amber's life hell with homophobic insults.
- Jerkass Realization:
- Amber cries after she invokes her father's suicide to talk back to her mother Jill.
- Eddie apologises to Amber "for being such a prick to you" at the end.
- Manly Tears: Ian seems to care deeply for "being a man", but still breaks down crying unashamedly in front of his son over his marriage problems.
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Downplayed and lampshaded when Eddie asks Amber to walk more feminine and she retorts, "what, like you?" and whacks him over the head. She is the outspoken, aggressive, hot-tempered and bold one in the pair. He's quiet, very shy and reserved.
- The Matchmaker: Kev without second thought sets Eddie up with Tracey, the first girl he randomly claims to like to avoid getting called slurs, much to Eddie's dismay.
- Mentor in Queerness: Downplayed. An intoxicated Eddie is mesmerised by a Drag Queen ballad performance in Dublin. He gets on stage and the drag queen asks if he's okay and pulls him in for a hug.
- Modesty Bedsheet: Amber and Sarah lie under the covers after Amber's gone down on her. Then once Sarah starts going down on Amber, it's under the covers too.
- Open-Minded Parent: Ian, Hannah, and Jill are all more accepting of their children than Eddie and Amber think, even if Eddie never comes to realise it.
- Passing the Torch: Just as Eddie is about to leave for the military, Amber hands him the money she's been saving to move to London and tells him to go instead.
- Photo-Booth Montage: Eddie and Amber when they get to Dublin.
- Posthumous Character: Amber's father committed suicide before the events of the film. He is still mentioned often, along with his loss overshadowing Amber and her mother.
- Refusal of the Call:
- Eddie rejects Amber's offer at first, unwilling to confront his sexuality in the way Amber has hers. He has a change of heart when he sees her getting taunted and comes to the rescue by loudly implying they're hooking up.
- Having found a girlfriend in Dublin, Amber chooses not to go to London and gives Eddie the money to go instead, freeing him from his military obligations.
- Sad Clown: Amber's father has killed himself recently when the story starts. She tells Eddie how, unlike what people might think, he had seemed happy and always joked around.
- Sex in a Shared Room: Amber grimaces at a couple doing it in the row behind them at the cinema whilst Eddie stares ahead blankly.
- Sex Miseducation Class: The students watch a poorly acted Christian sex ed video presented by a homophobic nun.
- Shrinking Violet: There's a shot of Eddie curled in on himself on the school step shaking slightly as he psychs himself up to say hello to someone.
- Skipping School: Amber convinces Eddie to skip school to go to Dublin together.
- Soapbox Sadie: Amber is a punk girl who has feminist and anarchist views she voices often.
- Strolling Through the Chaos: Eddie bikes with his headphones on through an active live fire training zone without noticing. The soldiers run after him to try to alert him.
- Teacher/Student Romance: Amber clocks that Eddie is gay because of his apparent crush on Sweeney (played by Peter Campion from Derry Girls). Eddie, in a trance, tries to kiss him at one point, but it isn't reciprocated as Sweeney is not only straight and rejects him wholeheartedly, but also worried that he'll get in trouble over inappropriate contact with a student, even though he didn't initiate this.
- Too Much Information:
- Eddie's brother Jack constantly brings details about Eddie-related gossip up at the dinner table. Ian indulges it and Hannah grimaces.
- Students at the school have no problem announcing rather personal things to anyone who will hear, including in the middle of class.
- Transparent Closet: Amber isn't out as a lesbian when the story starts. However, she's often mocked and harassed for this anyway by other kids. She gets Eddie to be The Beard so they'll stop, but no one's really surprised when Amber later does come out.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Amber and Eddie. The two's friendship is started by Amber throwing a rock at Eddie's bike and knocking him off of it. After that, she dope slaps him once, and both of them insult each other. Despite this, it's clear both are best friends. Amber even gives Eddie all the money she had saved at the end.
- Vulgar Humor: Kev and his friends fall into this frequently, especially when taunting people.
- What the Hell, Hero?: After she comes out without warning, Eddie calls Amber a slur to get her to go away and publicly distance himself from her. Even Kev calls it out, which prompts Eddie to attack him for his hypocrisy. He is then called into Sweeney's office, who tells him this is not like him, and later Amber rightfully knocks him off his bike to yell at him.
- Where Everybody Knows Your Flame: Amber and Eddie off in Dublin party at a gay club. Eddie has his first kiss with a man there, and Amber meets Sarah, who becomes her girlfriend. A drag queen performing there also gives Eddie kind comfort.
- Yawn and Reach: Kev tries this on Janet after seeing Eddie and Amber run off together.Janet: "Don't touch me."Kev: "Totally fair."