Saw Midnight Cowboy for the first time.

Saw Midnight Cowboy for the first time. Nov 18, 2020 0:51:36 GMT

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Post by Toasted Cheese on Nov 18, 2020 0:51:36 GMT

Nov 17, 2020 20:40:16 GMT gameboy said:

Nov 17, 2020 11:12:50 GMT Toasted Cheese said:

I don't have an issue with MC and any homophobic undertones it may have for some reason and usually I would be the first to jump on the phobic bandwagon.The film entirely encapsulates its era and attitudes. It does depict male hustling as being a sleazy last resort that only the desperate will engage in, but by the flip side, the same can also be said for female prostitution. Joe Buck was depicted in a movie theater getting blown, but that was out of convenience as well and was at the same time a sad and compassionate scene with the kid who couldn't then pay him. That kid did annoy me though, as he had no business taking advantage either if he had no money. He should have had a wank. Joe was depicted as selling himself to women in a proper apartment bed and he was with that old dude near the end in a hotel room.

Ratso derided it as fa@@otry and referred to gays as "fruits", but it was in character and him and Joe had a very strong male bonding, even if not sexual. Who'd want to get it on with that filthy sewer rat anyway...

Hoffman tends to get most of the praise for this film, but Voigt was the revelation for me.

It's been a long time since I saw the movie but the kid probably thought it was consensual sex. Movie theaters used to be popular cruising spots back in the day.

It just depicts the whole gay world as rather sordid. Also odds are that the cowboy was downlow and gay anyway. Any male prostitute who has sex with men is at least bisexual. I believe they hinted that he was gay. There is a dream sequence as well where Ratso imagines himself running shirtless on the beach with the cowboy. The homoerotic allusions run throughout the film.

Gay men's passions always lead them to death. It's homophobic but it was a much more homophobic world back then.

Yeah, that kid may have been a bit naive as to what those dudes were hanging around for, really waiting for a cash paying john. It just seemed like nothing was going right for Joe.

I agree about Joe Buck being bisexual. He could have gone back to work in a diner as a busboy/dishwasher, but he opted to whore himself out with the other fruits. He wanted to do it. A flashback sequence also alludes that he was raped along with his gf and this wasn't that subtle either.

The director was gay, so I'm not sure if what he wanted to depict was meant to come across as homophobic, or perhaps for the sake of a then easily shocked audience, he may have had to compromise a little. I think overall, considering the era the film was made, Schlesinger made a good balance of things in alignment with the attitudes. The film doesn't really project judgement either. It just unfolds matter of fact. I do find it a bit difficult to empathize with Joe towards the end after what he did to that self-loathing old man.