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= Take me for a Ride (2016) = Take me for a Ride or UIO: Sácame a Pasear (original Spanish title) is a 2016 Ecuadorian coming-of-age drama movie that sees Sara (Samanta Caicedo), a depressed teenager who is in her last year of high school. She is tagged as the “weird” girl by her classmates to protect herself from her bullies she spends her lunches smoking behind the school in a hiding spot. This is, until one day her hideout is invaded by the new classmate Andrea (Maria Juliana Rangel). Andrea and Sara immediately fell for each other, bonding over their love of books, high school life, studies, music and their loneliness. For once Sara is overcome with joy as she found someone who doesn’t make her feel like an outcast. Little does she know her world is not going be the same as it was. Sara must overcome homophobic classmates and parents. Viewers are on the edge of their seat wondering if they are going overcome the hate and homophobia.

Silence
The run time of this film is short, but the audience can get so much of it despite not continuing for hours. Silence is perhaps the main theme of this film as despite its short run time the dialogue is limited. David Pountain for Film Doo writes, “In light of the passionate, impulsive territory of young romance that the drama navigates, Take Me for a Ride can at times feel too soft and muted for its own good. Nonetheless, in between these weaker spots, Rueda offers a touching, keenly measured, if rather familiar, tale about a still-growing teen learning to be vulnerable, honest, comfortable, and brave.” Though what the film lacks in dialogue, its moments of silence are able to speak volume. Silence is also what keeps Sara focus on her studies instead of dwelling on her school bullies. It is silence that brings her to Andrea, since her smoking spot is secluded from the rest of the world.

Outcast
Being outcast is never a great feeling. Though for queer people we face this the most often; rather it is at school, work, with friends and or family not being part of the equation of the gender binary and or a heterosexual relationship. Society tries to understand or tries to a certain degree convert a queer person to becoming “normal” again and if this fails well that individual will be shunned from their community. We see Sara at first being rejected from her peers at school, as she keeps to herself. Yet as the viewer we do not understand why Sara is an outcast. It is never made clear, but one could understand of her being an outcast is perhaps because she is queer. Nonetheless, Sara never comes out rather we learn by her passionate relationship with Andrea that she is queer. Coming out is another part of queer culture – to be proud of one’s self and step out of the closet. Though this is what heterosexual individual might ask a queer individual “what is your coming out story,” they might be shocked to understand that not every queer person has a coming-out story or they identify with this “milestone.” Martin Manalansan, an academic studied how vocabulary in the Filipinas differs from the North American idea of coming out as queer. He writes, “The closet and the process of coming out are not culturally constituted by Filipino gay men in the same way as the mainstream gay community. As one informant said, "I know who I am, and most people, including my family, know about me - without any declaration.” One can relate Manalansan reading to this film, as for Sara, coming out isn't part of her growth or identity; there is nothing wrong with that.

Reality
Queer folks in comparison to their heterosexual, cisgender counterparts in Ecuador may face certain discrimination in regards to its legal system. Though same sex marriage is legal in Ecuador, couples are not entitled to have the same financial and legal protection has opposite sex couples. Transgender folks are legally allowed to change their preferred gender on official documents. Moreover, same-sex relationships and gender identity are protected under the country’s constitution. However, when it comes to family, LGBTQ+ folks may not adopt, this is also applicable to single parents. While these laws are advanced and to a certain extent show how Ecuador is moving forward with-it progressive laws and ideologies surrounding LGBTQ+ folks there are still some cases of violence against queer individuals. Take me for a Ride gives the viewer the sense of what homophobia might look like in a young teenager. Sara is bullied by homophobic classmates when they learn about her relationship with Andrea. This leaves her feeling heartbroken because once Andrea is made aware of the bullying and the homophobic actions, she distances herself from Sara. Once again Sara is left by herself in her own silence. Nonetheless, Sara finally musk the courage to explain to her parents her love interest (without coming out) she is met with silence. Viewers can see that this silence is an uncomfortable once as the body language of her parents show that they feel a discomfort with the news that their daughter just announced to them.

Awards
Take me for a Ride director, Micaela Rueda, was nominated for a few film awards, such as the San Sebastián International Film Festival 2016 Nominee Best Latin American Film and SXSW Film Festival 2016 Nominee SXSW Gamechanger Award.