Margarita With A Straw: Scene Analysis

The repetition that motivated my investigation of the scene is Laila’s apparent need to prove her sexuality as something that exists although she has disability. I was drawn to this scene specifically because it encapsulates both her need for validation through able-bodied male approval and her yearning to assimilate with able-bodied society, or what she perceives as “normalcy”. In Margarita with a Straw, Laila’s apparent need to prove her sexuality “despite” her disability might reveal that this film’s message is that one cannot be simultaneously happily disabled and sexual, as they must be happily disabled and asexual, or unhappily disabled, yearning to assimilate, and sexual. In this specific scene, the use of headshots to show Laila’s expressed …show more content…
She gets defensive and calls him “jealous”, as he is referring to her able-bodied friends. The scene then jump-cuts to a long take, with Dhruv in the background at long distance and Laila at short distance, along with Dhruv being cast in the light while Laila is cast in the darker part of the shadow. This is when Dhruv says “being friends with normal people won’t make you normal”, to which we see Laila react with a deeply saddened and hurt expression as she is faced away from him, and then she refers to him as an “asshole” as she leaves the area. The usage of light in this part of the scene seems to portray that Dhruv is in the right and Laila is in the wrong, and that this is known among them both. Laila knows that she will never be accepted fully into the “world” of able-bodied people. The darkness that she is cast in almost echoes the darkness she feels within herself when she thinks of this, as it seems she tries to fight it by trying to assimilate, using her sexuality as one of her methods. This part connects to the larger film as it highlights Laila’s internal struggles regarding her acceptance of her