MovieChat Forums > If.... (1969) Discussion > Gay subtext in this film

Gay subtext in this film

posted 9 years ago by fyfytj
4 replies | jump to latest

I've always remembered this movie for being about teen rebellion and freedom from opression, but after watching it again last night I've noticed some things that previously went over my head, and yet have never heard them brought up in discussion about the movie.

First of all, we have a boarding school for boys which seems like the type of place where frustrated boys would resort to each other sexually. The Whips, being sadistic hall monitor-type authorities, not only get their name from their favorite disciplinary action (ritualistically whipping boys' asses and legs), but also casually (albeit implicitly) chat about using the younger boys for sexual favors. One scene among the Whips is absolutely dripping with creepiness, in which an effeminate-looking boy named Bobby Phillips is serving muffins to the Whips. One of the Whips is staring weirdly at Phillips, and once he leaves (they all rubberneck as he walks out), they talk about being jealous of the lead Whip for having the "wholesome Bobby Phillips" as a servant. One of them comments that the boy "gets a little lovelier each day", and that he wants to trade servant boys with the leader.

A little earlier in the movie, a character named Stephans is confessing to a priest that he has "thoughts... dirty thoughts" (not necessarily gay thoughts, though). The priest tells him that everybody has temptations (presumably the priest included), and as Stephans lowers in head, the priest puts his hand on his head. Not in a comforting way either, but on the back of the head, as you would to lower somebody's head onto, well...

Then there are the several scenes of boys showering together, the pretty obvious attraction between Phillips and Wallace, and the notion that the oppression of the school causes drastic behavior, like Mick Travis and his friends shooting up the school at the end, or the implicit gayness that the all-male student body resorts to when unnaturally pent up and oppressed/repressed.

I can't believe how little I was paying attention when viewing the movie in the past. It's like the subtext of the movie went from "Catcher in the Rye" to "Nightmare on Elm Street 2" territory or something!

[–] henrimaine 9 years ago

I just saw the film for the first time. And indeed the gay references are hard not to notice. Let is not forget, among other things, two boys sleeping in the same bed in one scene. It was surprising to see so many gay-stuff in this film. First because it's an old film an I imagine topics like that were not very welcome in films in those days. And second because the film is not directly about homosexuality, all the gay-stuff is more of a side topic, which makes me ask why they included it? Perhaps the "gayness" among boys in boarding schools was/is just so normal that the filmmakers found it impossible to exclude it.

[–] ronfirv 9 years ago

Your final sentence sums up the social position the UK was in(re. boarding school hothouses) back in the 60's, and earlier.

[–] franzkabuki 8 years ago

The director's a fairy, so it's no surprise the film is bursting with male bare ass.

"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan

[–] marktayloruk (2509) 3 years ago

Not just a subtext!