But if you only watch the first minute and a half of this excerpt, you'll see what I'm talking about when I'm talking about homo-erotic tension amid heterosexual men.
That scene: the content, Newman's performance, the staging, wardrobe, dialogue .... it's all so good, it might make you forget George Kennedy's terrible fake accent.
What draws me so intently to Luke and the boys is beyond what's on the screen. It's that guy-on-guy chemistry I can never witness first hand. A woman walks into a room full of men, and the chemistry changes. That's true whether she's in fishnets and stilettos or baggy jeans and sneakers, whether she's 22 or 62, whether she's gay or straight.
Although some chicks admittedly alter the (ahem) chemistry more than others:
Behold the ying yang that rules human sexuality and gender. On one end of the spectrum lies 100 percent masculinity, with 100 percent femininity on the other end. Same goes
with orientation: 100 percent straight faces off against 100 percent gay, but very few of us live on those edges. We're all scattered somewhere in between like dots on a graph. Every woman has a dose of masculinity, just as every he-man has some measure of homo-eroticism floating inside of him. Some of us move around a little bit, trying to find the perfectly sized white dot to fit into our black swirl or vice-versa.Yeah, yeah.
Enough of my penny-candy philosophy. Here's some clips from other movies I love that play with the concept of homo-erotic tension among heterosexual men.
Jaws
One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest
Deliverance
And just to mix it up, A little sugar from Hedwig and the Angry Inch:
4 comments:
I am not sure what it says about me, but Cool Hand Luke is one of my all time favorite flicks.
I find th ereligious elements far more interesting.
You say, "Every woman has a dose of masculinity, just as every he-man has some measure of homo-eroticism floating inside of him." That's kind of a mixed metaphor, or apple and oranges, isn't it? Wouldn't the proper comparison be to say: Every woman has a dose of masculinity, just as every he-man has some measure of femininity floating inside of him...or say: Every woman has a dose of homo-eroticism, just as every he-man has some measure of homo-eroticism floating inside of him? Sorry to nit, Erin...it's a good piece...but this comparison distracts me as being foundational to your argument, but unfair somehow. I'm still a fan, kiddo... :)
"Every woman has a dose of masculinity, just as every he-man has some measure of homo-eroticism floating inside of him."
Of course I believe both assertions apply to both genders, I just didn't reiterate it as such--to save the risk of being redundant. Editorial decision, if you will, Fool. Sometimes the staff here at The Offices of Erin O'Brien is a bit backwards.
And don't worry Hoose. You're not going gay for liking Cool Hand Luke. I'm just pointing out a motif in the film many others would overlook.
I can't think of any good films that showcase nuanced hetero female homo-eroticism the way these do for males.
Anybody?
We're all homo's.
RJ
Post a Comment