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Patricia Highsmith on the sexuality of Tom Ripley

posted 9 years ago by AllieMDA
23 replies | jump to latest

Came across this kind of by accident & thought others on this board might find it of interest. It's from an interview with Patricia Highsmith, who created the character of Tom Ripley and followed him through a number of novels:

Tom Ripley is constantly mistaken for being "queer." He likes to attend all-guy parties and to masquerade in other men's clothes, particularly the garments of males who obsess him. In The Talented Mr. Ripley, he develops an undeniable crush on Dickie Greenleaf. When Greenleaf spurns him, Ripley kills the young man...
"I don't think Ripley is gay," Highsmith says adamantly in Toronto. "He appreciates good looks in other men, that's true. But he's married in later books. I'm not saying he's very strong in the sex department... Ripley is married. And he's not lost."

Here's the link to the rest of this interview:
http://www.geraldpeary.com/interviews/ghi/highsmith.html

So, Tom's sexuality may be somewhat fluid, but he is definitely NOT exclusively homosexual.

Happy debating!

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] AllieMDA 9 years ago

Highsmith's Ripley is clearly very different from Anthony Minghella's.

The movie and the novel are certainly two distinct works of art, that is very true.

[–] AllieMDA 9 years ago

It's possible that Highsmith was not pleased with how Minghella's film diverged from her novel.

Also, this would be surprising, when you consider the fact that Anthony Minghella's film version of The Talented Mr. Ripley was produced several years *after* the death of Patricia Highsmith.

[–] IcySpoon 9 years ago

....Hey, We get that you like the film - The numerous posts are impossible to ignore but just because you're obsessed with "Ripley," MUST everyone who comments on it be up to date on all the minutiae as well? Please. Get over yourself-other people have lives.

"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it." Norman Maclean

[–] ganjagaminggg 9 years ago

You get over yourself and accept that u were wrong.
He is just telling u that she died before thayy, so u should be thanking him for information.

[–] Moonlighty 9 years ago

Well I thought being a sociopath he wasn't really attracted to anyone but wanted to use people to his advantage. He definitely seems to have an unhealthy fixation on Dickie but that's because he's rich and popular. His relationship with Meredith could have just been for show but I think he was attracted to her position as well. He may have been attracted to Marge and Peter because of their kindness. I'm basing this all on the movie, but I didn't think he was exclusively homosexual or that he was necessarily physically attracted to anyone but just mentally attracted to their status or friendliness but can't really love anyone but himself.

-
Consider the daffodil. And while you're doing that I'll be over here looking through your stuff.

[–] AllieMDA 9 years ago

he wasn't really attracted to anyone but wanted to use people to his advantage...[Dickie] is rich and popular.... He was attracted to [Meredith's] position as well... He wasn't necessarily physically attracted to anyone but just mentally attracted to their status or friendliness but can't really love anyone but himself.

Moonlighty: I agree with almost every point you make here. It's power that Ripley is attracted to. He wants more than to be rich; he waits until the moment when money intersects with a high level of power and prestige. He gets to Italy and sees Dickie - perfect. Moneyed, desirable (look at Marge!), and living a life of lazy hedonism in Europe. It's Dickie's wealth and social standing that Tom desires, and it's Dickie to whom he was first attracted, in some bizarre "love" that is really full of envy.

I disagree with the statement that Tom "can't really love anyone but himself." I agree that he has no love for others... He does not seem to think of others as distinct individuals... but I think he himself is included in that despised group. I think Tom HATES himself. He's hungry for the respect and notice of others, which he confuses for love. I think one reason we don't know more about his origins is because it does not matter what he has been through before; it only matters what he has at any given moment.

In this film, he seems happy enough to spend time and what he thinks of as "love" with men as well as women - money and power are all that it takes to gain the affections of Tom Ripley.

Of course it's impossible to know FOR SURE one way or another; I take the author at her word when she says, "I don't think Tom is gay" - even Patricia Highsmith, who has created this character, did not want to rule anything out for her most famous protagonist; Tom is a little unpredictable, after all.

[–] AllieMDA 9 years ago

we don't know more about his origins

Hey this would make a great sequel - "Tom Ripley: Origins". Who would you cast as a young Matt Damon?

[–] dedeurs 9 years ago

"I don't think Ripley is gay"

Oh come on. Why do writers say such things? It's bullchips, of course. Highsmith was a fiction author, she created the Ripley character, she designed every one of his thoughts and dialogues and actions. So she should have said 'He could be gay', leaving it to the reader's interpretation, or wishful thinking.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] AllieMDA 9 years ago

Why do writers say such things? It's bullchips, of course. Highsmith... created the Ripley character, she designed every one of his thoughts and dialogues and actions. So she should have said

This makes no sense. You say, "She created", "she designed", yet she SHOULD have said... ?
You give Patricia Highsmith a lot of credit only to take it away. She created, she designed, so she is allowed to speculate on the possibilities of her own fictional character.
It is a wording issue. "I don't think he is gay" is intended the same way your suggestion: "He *could* be gay". Each statement gives her latitude, and each statement does do what you suggest: leaving things up to an individual's perception or interpretations. And it doesn't put her into a corner with future narratives. What more do you want from her?
In that same interview, Highsmith mentioned that, in the later books, Tom Ripley is married and spends time with his wife...but he's not really a sexual dynamo one way or another. He could be gay, straight, or some combination, but it doesn't much matter to the plot. Sexual desire is not one of his main motivations, but she doesn't want to rule anything out, either.

[–] dedeurs 9 years ago

In that interview she treated her readers as people who believed that Ripley was a real person. That's both ridiculous and patronizing.
Anyway, in the movie the Ripley character is undeniably every inch a homosexual in nature and in motives. So actor Matt Damon must also have thought he is, and subsequently ignored Highsmith's 'I don't think he is gay.' LOL.

[–] AllieMDA 9 years ago

she treated her readers as people who believed that Ripley was a real person. That's both ridiculous and patronizing.

I've encountered a number of writers who don't know exactly where their fictional characters are heading. It is, in my opinion, why Highsmith left it vague - she truly was not sure, at the time that she gave the interview. Not the least bit patronizing to the reader. Some writers sit down to write and, in their minds at least, the characters kind of lead them in their imagination. I would venture to speculate that this happens most often with prolific writers (such as Highsmith) who are devoted to writing as a full-time job, sitting down at the typewriter and writing whatever comes to mind, even if they don't know exactly where things are going, and feel led by a character's words and deeds. I can't personally attest to this, not being a successful writer of fiction, but I have no reason to doubt those who describe their writing process along these lines.

I'd be surprised if Matt Damon made his own choices about the character's sexuality. Yeah he was big and important with "Good Will Hunting", but in The Talented Mr. Ripley, he's got a screenwriter and a director guiding him and responsible for the overall tone of the movie. I'd be surprised if Damon knew (or cared) one way or the other what Highsmith might have intended - as others have pointed out, the movie and the novel are distinctly separate works of art.

- Ultimately it doesn't matter. Ripley is a loathsome murderer who has absolutely no sense of morality and will apparently do anything to advance himself in the world.

[–] dedeurs 9 years ago

I've encountered a number of writers who don't know exactly where their fictional characters are heading

Stephen King, for one.

[–] AllieMDA 9 years ago

being bi-sexual was practically unheard of

sickofdotcom: You know, somehow I forget that this movie is set so many years in the past - it has a contemporary feel to it, but must remember that the book it's based on was published in the mid 50's (when people said things like "nervous condition" instead of "alcoholic" - not exactly the same thing, but hefty amounts of euphemism are certainly involved.). Your point is a good one.
Even the statement "I don't think he is gay" can be easily interpreted as you put it - he "leaned both ways."

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] AllieMDA 9 years ago

Thankfully today things have changed somewhat and homosexual individuals are accepted as any other member of society.

Absolutely, and we can hope to see that path even further. Sometimes I marvel at how things have changed in my lifetime (and I'm not THAT old! :)

[–] xoxoamore 9 years ago

I'm in the middle of reading the book and I don't get the strong sense that Ripley is gay (although in the book, he finds out that Marge and others think he's "queer"). I really didn't get much sense of him being sexually attracted to anyone. He is, though, extremely jealous of Dickie's lifestyle and when he feels Dickie is tiring of him, he kills him to assume his identity. I think Minghella's film is closer to the book (though Dickie paints and has only a casual friendship with Marge).However, I preferred the handsome, cool Alain Delin to Matt Damin's bland Ripley.

[–] AllieMDA 9 years ago

I preferred the handsome, cool Alain Delin

I did not realize there was another version of Ripley; I looked it up and see that Delin played Ripley in a film called "Purple Noon". I'll keep an eye out.

Also, there's a mention that John Malkovich was interested in directing this project, and he went on to star in a 2002 film, "Ripley's Game." That sounds vaguely familiar to me, but I don't think I ever sat down and watched it. I'm definitely going to look into that one.

[–] AllieMDA 9 years ago

I really didn't get much sense of him being sexually attracted to anyone. He is, though, extremely jealous of Dickie's lifestyle

Also, this. He'll go out of his way to get money and what he perceives to be power, but never seems to actually have sex with anyone.

[–] Stenian 9 years ago

He wasn't gay per se, but he admired other men. He was an insecure type of person and affectionate. He reminded of that (usually straight) woman who finds so many other women pretty and thinks that she can't compare. They usually admire their gender and envy them, even at times inappropriately, where they think to themselves "wow, I wish I can look like that".

I'd say Tom was sort of that way. A straight (albeit slightly confused and questioning) man who wanted to be like the perfect men, both sensually and personally.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] NurseMaria 9 years ago

Interesting article, thank you. I didn't realize this was based on a novel.