This always makes me wonder about the context, and the background of Fitts. I wonder, is he a repressed gay and he's always felt it and always hated himself for it? Or is it more of a sudden awakening? Or maybe even just an experiment, to try to understand his son's mindset, as he perceives it? What's his history? Is this the first thing he's ever done with another man? Or does he maybe have a secret history with men?
share"I wonder, is he a repressed gay and he's always felt it and always hated himself for it?" Absolutely correct. This is why he was such an angry person, completely unaffectionate toward his wife and hard on his son. He was full of self loathing and also anger at the inability to live his life the way he wanted to. Some of the self loathing could have also come from his cowardice at not being honest about himself. He was very conflicted! He was in the army and needed to maintain a certain reputation.
shareI always wondered about this too. I first thought he only wanted to check if Leester would agree on the kiss to make sure he was definitally gay. But Leester turned him down so that made no sense.
shareI used to assume it was part trying to get confirmation of Lester's sexuality and part him trying to understand his son's perceived attraction. But after thinking it over, it seems kinda obvious he's a closeted gay man who's heavily weighed down by a militant and likely religious upbringing that's in direct conflict with his desires - remember the Nazi plate?
This guy couldn't openly come out if his life depended on it, so enjoying the company of other men in secret was the only option he could hope for, but Lester finding out AND rejecting him was his worst nightmare, which is the only reason he did what he did to Lester (idk why I'm trying not to spoil it but there you go). Nothing to do with his son's actions at all, it was all to ensure his secret was taken to the grave.
It wasn't even that he couldn't come out in fear of the judgement of others, it was his own self-loathing and judgment he couldn't face. But the dude was too messed up to love anyone in a normal way regardless of sexual orientation, which is why he couldn't just find someone he actually wanted to be with, and the whole point of his character was to show how ideology can be so toxic and work so hard against your own innate desires as to literally warp your mind, hence why he acted in such an erratic way.
That all makes sense. I really don't buy the "confirming Lester's sexuality" viewpoint, because there will be people who do sexual stuff but will not kiss unless they're in a relationship, so that doesn't feel like quite the right approach to me.
shareI watched it as a kid, so my perception was definitely skewed by my age, but I always thought the dad needed to be sure Lester was in fact the instigator of the relationship with his son so that killing him was justified, at least in his mind. Otherwise, if his son wasn't "coerced" into it, but was the instigator, there was no point in killing Lester, as a similar relationship was likely to recur.
I only understand now that the dad is clearly the one with the problem.
I guess we don't really need to say this but....
**major spoiler ahead**
Closet case most likely but I always viewed this scene of him getting rejected as his tipping point. If Lester went ahead and had sex with him, things would have been ok.
He just couldn't stand getting rejected and felt shame because of it. So, he decided to go nuts and kill Lester.
***End Spoiler***
One time I started a thread on the old IMDB boards entitled 'question for gay people: do you wish you were straight'?
Surprisingly enough, about 30% said they wish they were. So, there are some conflicted emotions gay people can have about their own sexuality. The Colonel probably was gay but decided not to do anything about it.
But 'tipping points' is a recurring theme in this movie. Which, in my opinion, is what makes it so great.
Great response, especially regarding tipping points, never really thought of that before, thanks
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