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The audience can see from the beginning that Adam is not nearly as invested in his relationship as May is, but Polly makes no secret of her attraction and love for her friend. She is very clear in her advances, and she accepts May for the slightly deranged person that she is, even professing that she “loves weird” prior to the couple’s tender love scene (amusingly, she also states that she is “dead serious” about May, a silly allusion to the climax of the film).

Also, while May is consumed with perfection, Polly matter-of-factly tells her that it’s the “imperfections that make you special.” She is comfortable with herself and May’s quirks more so than anyone else in the film, and she serves as the surprising voice of reason among an otherwise bizarre cast of characters.

May’s sexuality is never stated in the film, and it is difficult to say for sure whether she is truly bisexual or just a straight girl yearning for physical affection wherever she can find it. May received very little love and attention in her childhood; her mother insisted that she keep her doll locked away in a glass case, and she was also very mentally abusive to her daughter. As a result May is very needy, and much of her pursuit of both Adam and Polly is driven by the need to receive physical attention from anybody who will give it, whether it is her doll, a cat, or a person (living or dead, as we discover towards the end of the movie). All of these interactions seem less about sexual attraction and more about her quest for acknowledgement and affection. In this regard, it is difficult to label May as bisexual, even if her behavior connotes this classification.

Typically, mental abuse is the easy way out in describing a straight character’s lesbian tendencies, but May’s storyline never veers off into this direction. She is not drawn to Polly because her mother and peers have psychologically damaged her; if anything, she is more accepting and open to any relationship because she was so ostracized as a child.

Similarly, bisexual (or bicurious) characters are often presented in films as villainous and conniving, and frequently they end up using their fluid sexuality with malicious intent. These negative representations range from sexual manipulation (in movies like Wild Things) to murder (depicted in films such as The In Crowd). As a whole, positive representations of bisexual women are very difficult to find, and frequently their perceived sexual confusion (however inaccurate) is used simply as a springboard to violence and evil.

While May is far from perfect and the outcome of the movie is expectedly negative, it could still be considered one of the few exceptions to this stereotype. May eventually kills all of those who have scorned her, but her social position as an outcast (rather than a perceived struggle with sexuality) is what leads to her homicidal spree. She may be a murderer, but she is presented as a pathetic (if not sympathetic) character, and the audience is meant to feel for her social stumblings, almost to the point of forgiveness for her climactic behavior.

Despite her open-mindedness in deciding to pursue a relationship with Polly (however pathological the reasons might have been), May just can’t seem to get anything right. In the end, she is a tragically misguided figure who is unable to deal with her own flaws, or anybody else’s for that matter.

Just like the title character for which the film is named, May is similarly flawed but likeable. The lesbian content in the film is not forced or exploitative, and both of May’s relationships and breakups are comparable. While director Lucky McKee nervously jokes in the DVD commentary that the short lesbian kissing scene with May and Polly required the most film and was reshot many times, he later recounts his apprehension at exploiting the actresses or making them feel uncomfortable.

In fact, as a film that does not specifically center on lesbian content and comes from a straight, male director, the subject matter is handled surprisingly well.

Despite its murderous, mentally deranged bisexual character, viewers are left feeling compassion for social outcasts and those who are facing heartbreak, two characteristics that defy gender and sexuality labels. In treating the sexuality of its main character as open and fluid, the film challenges typical barriers of sexual orientation, while still tantalizing viewers with the sought after blood and gore of a campy, low-budget horror movie.

While May is not without some of the expected clichés and twists typical of horror films, overall it presents an interesting commentary on love and acceptance within an atypical genre.

Get May on DVD

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