Homoeroticism in Plain Sight: The 1980s
 

Quentin Tarantino's rant on the homo-eroticism of Top Gun is hilarious, although it's certainly tongue-and-cheek.



There is a music-less version of the training scene from Rocky 3 which is pretty funny (Rocky dancing around in a tank top and the boys spontaneously having a hugfest on the beach). Just watch the clip without sound.

https://youtu.be/lVY8SbQGW-Y


I think Just One of the Guys floated some interesting LGBT themes in an indirect way.



https://youtu.be/XN_py_XHZmg


Which films would say successfully discussed gay/lesbian themes/issues in a manner which was non-threatening/sub-conscious to 80's audiences? Here I am looking for those films of the 80s that oblivious viewers did not realize were gay or which had homoerotic layer to which they were, largely, oblivious.

Would this include the rampant use of peeping toms throughout the decade i.e: Revenge of the Nerds, Animal House, Porky's, etc.

I don't know. I wouldn't think so off the top of my head. Maybe? What are you thinking about these examples?

Re: Homoeroticism in Plain Sight: The 1980s
 

Nightmare on Elm Street pt 2 would be up there. Guy straight up visits an S & M bar and bumps into his gym teacher there.

It's been a long time since I've seen that one. Played for a joke, a joke that plays on homophobia, but a set-up which also indicates curiosity by taking us there. And in showing an "everyday" person in that location, it conveys normalcy which takes the curse of the joke even as it is being made.


EDIT: How about the exercise scene in No Retreat: No Surrender

Re: Homoeroticism in Plain Sight: The 1980s
 

I want to throw in Eddie Murphy's Raw and Delirious here as they had theatrical releases. Eddie "goes there" quite a bit in joke that today we would regard as callously homophobic, but then again... ...those outfits. One get the sense that the macho man doth protest too much.

Technically not quite the ‘80s, but my favourite uni lecturer used to cite Grease as a case of the protagonist secretly being in love with his male best friend, with ONJ acting as a flat-chested teenage boy substitute. Make of it what you will.

Edit: it was made by a gay man, too.

Interesting. They were both trying to transform themselves, at the end, in order to fit in the world of the other. Travolta goes square, ONJ goes rogue. Perhaps there was more of a journey being attempted here? On the other hand, if being into prime ONJ makes one gay, sign me up for the Pride Parade.

Note that I didn’t say I agreed. But it has stayed with me over the years. Such a bizarre POV. I can kind of see it, but it’s also far-fetched.

That's part of the fun, right?



We're in territory where it is hard to confirm or deny. If something is veiled, then that implies deniability right?

Exactly. Other than that, Tango & Cash.