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Going Nomad

Name: Going Nomad
Director: Art Jones
Released: 1998
Duration: 97 min

No Poster Available

Representation Score

3.5/10

Limited

1998

TV-MA

Director

Art Jones

Runtime

97 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Going Nomad is a character-driven drama centered on the existential malaise of El Cid Rivera. The film provides moderate representation by placing a character of likely Hispanic heritage in a central role within an urban Manhattan setting. However, the narrative remains largely traditional, focusing on individualistic self-discovery and masculine identity struggles. It lacks significant engagement with LGBTQ+ identities, disability representation, or a diverse supporting cast that challenges social hierarchies. Ultimately, the film functions as a standard tale of personal purpose, offering some ethnic visibility but failing to provide deeper, characters who reflect more than one aspect of diversity.

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Category Breakdown

Does Going Nomad have LGBTQ+ representation?

Limited

The film doesn't include any explicit mentions of LGBTQ+ characters or non-assuming gender matches what was assigned at birth identities. The story revolves around a protagonist's existential crisis and his social circle in a Manhattan bar.

How does Going Nomad portray gender?

Fair

The story centers on a male protagonist who struggles with masculine expectations and maternal pressure. While it explores male vulnerability, it lacks strong female roles or significant challenges to gender hierarchies.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Going Nomad?

Fair

The protagonist's name, El Cid Rivera, suggests Hispanic or Latinx heritage. By centering a character of color in a Manhattan-based story of self-discovery, the film offers moderate representation.

How does Going Nomad represent religion and culture?

Limited

Themes of individualistic escapism and finding personal purpose align with conventional Western ideas. The narrative focuses on personal calling rather than critiquing Western family structures or institutions.

Does Going Nomad include disability representation?

Minimal

There are no depictions of visible or invisible disabilities or neurodivergence. The focus remains on psychological restlessness and existential malaise rather than intentional disability representation.

Present on Screen

The film centers a non-Anglo protagonist, providing meaningful racial representation.
It explores male vulnerability, disrupting some hyper-competent masculine clichés.

Limited or Absent

The narrative lacks representation of LGBTQ+ identities or non-assuming gender matches what was assigned at birth characters.
There is a notable absence of characters with visible or invisible disabilities.
The story relies on conventional Western clichés of individualistic escapism.

Official Synopsis

El Cid Rivera is 33 and has never left Manhattan Island; neither have his childhood friends, whom he meets every day at the same bar around the same table. He's tired of his humdrum life and a going-nowhere career. And he's been saddled with the name of an epic hero played on-screen by Charlton Heston (his mother's favorite). Bouncing between dead-end jobs, El Cid struggles to find his calling, yet fears he'll never succeed on the epic scale his mother expects. To find escape, El Cid takes to the empty streets of New York at night - as part of a group who call themselves Asphalt Nomads. He and his fellow travelers cruise Manhattan's 900 miles of open blacktop after midnight in boat-like '70s Buicks and Lincolns to find a sense of control, serenity and briefly, freedom. A tale of self-discovery and the search for purpose

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