Would Leopold and Loeb have gone down in history for one sloppy murder, which is barely newsworthy, if it weren't for the fact that they just happened to be same-sex lovers? Most likely not.
They went down in history because they were the first murder (that we know of) that the sole motive was to get away with the perfect crime for just the reasons spoke of in the film.
It also flew in the face of some crackpot theories that had grown out of Darwin's theories - that race had something to do with brain development. They even argued for movie censorship by claiming that "lesser developed" races were more prone to violence and killing if shown how. Since both Leopold and Loeb had exceptionally high IQs and were well educated and yet killed without conscience it went against all of that.
And then the defense claimed that since they'd been taught Nietzsche's philosophy in college in a serious manner they couldn't be completely blamed for following it....
Before the murder, Leopold had written to Loeb: "A superman ... is, on account of certain superior qualities inherent in him, exempted from the ordinary laws which govern men. He is not liable for anything he may do".
Think them being a couple was the least of it at the time.
Only thing that has me scratching my head (about the film) is that Brandon for all his intelligence and feelings of superiority had either not been sure he was gay until well into college and/or he was putting up a front since it's said in the script that he used to be one of Janet's "romances". A guy who was in the closet in college now suddenly doesn't care what people think if he murders someone? Yikes.
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Last night, I was lying back looking at the stars and I thought...where the *beep* is my ceiling???
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15 years ago
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robotrix
15 years ago
Be real
would heterosexuals do something this depraved??
ask Charlie Manson
Of course they would. And they have.
The Gay aspect of the real case and the characters in the movie just makes it easier for some people to understand the "hold" that the more dominate of the two had over the other.
That's not fair but.....
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Last night, I was lying back looking at the stars and I thought...where the *beep* is my ceiling???
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zzdalym81
15 years ago
Yeah I've never thought that they killed because they were gay. It was an issue of dominance that led to the killing. Brandon obviously has hold over Phillip in their relationship and that's why he goes along with it when he is obviously conflicted. Whats in the play but not the film is the fact that Brandon had also had an affair with Rupert. It was because of his admiration and relationship with his teacher that he adopted Ruperts ideas and theories quite literally. Unfortunately, Jimmy Stewart refused to play the fact that the Rupert was gay and so you don't get that dynamic in the film. I agree that Mrs. Danvers was gay but don't think Hitch was trying to make gay villans. I think he was just not afraid to tell the story he wanted to.
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TheSolarSailor
15 years ago
Jimmy Stewart refused to play the fact that the Rupert was gay and so you don't get that dynamic in the film. >>> Are you sure about that? I thought that, in the supplements, there was mention of that aspect being left out during the script stage. I don't think it was ever on the table at all by the time Jimmy Stewart took the role. Many things were changed, altered, and Americanized during the script stage, but it still manages to be a fascinating film. I think it works well without Rupert being gay, but that is just my opinion. I agree that the effort here was not to make gay people villains, but to simply tell the story of dominance. The inclusion of the gay subtext was a challenge for Hitchcock in 1948, one that he wasn't afraid to tackle and one that he did an excellent job of quietly layering into the film.
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Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?
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zzdalym81
15 years ago
Pretty sure..I'll double check but I believe it's discussed on the DVD extras in the Masterpiece Collection.
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