Kevin Smith opens up about the comic-con scene in Chasing Amy and expresses his belief it was years ahead of the time of the event's popularity. Written and directed by Smith, the third film in his View Askewniverse centered on comic book artist Holden McNeill as he falls in love with fellow comic book artist Alyssa Jones, much to the displeasure of his best friend and business partner Banky Edwards, though finds his feelings complicated upon learning she is a lesbian. The film reunited Smith with stars Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, Jason Lee, Ethan Suplee, Scott Mosier and Brian O'Halloran, all of whom starred in Smith's previous effort Mallrats while the latter two of whom have worked with Smith on every film in the series since Clerks.
Hitting theaters in 1997, Chasing Amy received critical acclaim and sits as his second-best reviewed film behind his feature debut, Clerks. The film would later be referenced in future View Askewniverse projects, including Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, with Smith scribing the latter as an "eight-page sequel" to Chasing Amy. Of the countless things to pull from the film in the years since, there is still one scene that sticks out to Smith from the film.
In the latest episode of Scene Studies with Kevin Smith, in which the filmmaker explores scenes from his filmography, he breaks down the first Comic-Con scene from Chasing Amy in which Holden and Banky sit in on a lecture from fellow comic book creative Hooper LaMont, acting as faux hecklers for his politically driven speech. While reflecting on the making of the scene itself, Smith opined that the scene is largely ahead of its time for getting in on geek conversations before it was considered a mainstream concept to do so. See what Smith said below:
"This is us talking about comic books and comic book characters and name checking characters years before you heard any of these characters referenced in movies, let alone had movies made about them."
To Smith's credit, the Comic-Con scenes featured in Chasing Amy do feel very authentic to the real life convention scene. Given the film's small budget of $250,000, the independent filmmaker couldn't too many major publications or characters for copyright purposes, but still filled the scenes with characters and references that the general public would not be familiar with until they got solo films in the future. Some of the biggest examples include multiple characters wearing shirts adorned with a symbol akin to that of DC Comics' Captain Marvel/Shazam, who would make his cinematic debut with Zachary Levi portraying the hero for the DC Extended Universe, and a debate over whether DC's Robin or Marvel Comics' Elektra looked better in bare legs.
Nearly 25 years later and Chasing Amy continues to remain a gem for every kind of viewer. From its subversion of the Hollywood rom-com formula to its authentic depiction of the comic book world, it continues to show its worth as one of the better installment in the View Askewniverse and Smith's filmography. For those eager to revisit the film or haven't yet seen it, Chasing Amy is now streaming on HBO Max.
Source: Kevin Smith