Call Me by Your Name

• Beautiful writing, like everyone says (I'm just echoing here really, so I don't really want to expound on the writing anymore)
• Another echo: got weirded out by the peach scene. Completely ruined the vibes for me so I went on The Storygraph for some validation that I wasn't the only one. I wasn't.
• Halfway through, I'm just waiting for things to wrap up. The sequence feels unnecessarily stretched out than it could've been while maintaining the essence of the relationship.
• I found this book funny, which I don't think is a valid genre for this. Reading into Elio's thoughts was very funny to me.

Putting all of those aside and to give way for some actual reflection on the story...

Elio seemed obsessively infatuated with Oliver. Oliver on the other hand, I feel like he enjoyed nurturing his effect on Elio and his own attraction to him, even though I expected him to be more mature and keep his head on what was progressing with his relationship with Elio. Maybe place some boundaries because of the age gap, I don't know. But then, I think I wouldn't put it past any seventeen-year-old to fantasize about their own version of Oliver and be so engrossed in it. Same thing with Oliver: summer, new people, new places, new experiences. I think it was like a “What happens in Italy stays in Italy” for Oliver.

Therefore, I don't exactly agree that this was a ‘toxic' relationship. I think something about the setting made them feel alive and it was the right moment and time for them to explore who they really are.

In the end, though, this is not something I'll hype up to everyone. I feel like the movie will be better executed (I hope so).