Homophobic? Maybe. But at least Midnight Cowboy showed me gay men on screen | Ryan Gilbey | The Guardian

Contents:

• 'SUPERMAN' STAR CHRISTOPHER REEV HAD GAY AFFAIR: BOOK
• HOMOPHOBIC? MAYBE. BUT AT LEAST MIDNIGHT COWBOY SHOWED ME GAY MEN ON SCREEN
• GAY PORN STAR CAL CULVER CLAIMS HE HAD AN AFFAIR WH SUPERMAN STAR CHRISTOPHER REEVE
• SUPERMAN 'HAD GAY AFFAIR'
• GAY PORN STAR CLAIMS HE HAD A RELATNSHIP WH ‘SUPERMAN' STAR

'SUPERMAN' STAR CHRISTOPHER REEV HAD GAY AFFAIR: BOOK

I didn't thk he was gay but he seemed willg to try anythg once. Midnight Cowboy moseys to UK cemas aga next month on the ocsn of s 50th anniversary, and wh another opportuny to ask whether this is a film about homophobia or a homophobic film.

HOMOPHOBIC? MAYBE. BUT AT LEAST MIDNIGHT COWBOY SHOWED ME GAY MEN ON SCREEN

My feelgs toward the film were formed by seeg my early teens, when I already knew I was gay and hankered after imag of other gay men on screen whout rg whether they were problematic or toxic – words, cintally, that would never have been ed that ntext when I first saw the s portrayal of the iendship between two New York Cy street htlers – the buddg gigolo Joe Buck (Jon Voight), tall and sweet as an ice-cream sundae, and the stunted, snivellg chancer “Ratso” Rizzo (Dt Hoffman) – the picture hts at the exprsible sir any bromance.

Evintly the homophobe doth prott too much, for we have been privy to Ratso’s fantasi which Joe ns shirtls wh him along the beach. Photograph: Louis Goldman/Warner Bros/Kobal/REX/ShutterstockIt is the penultimate scene, when Joe robs, beats and perhaps even kills a gay client, that throws the movie to disarray.

GAY PORN STAR CAL CULVER CLAIMS HE HAD AN AFFAIR WH SUPERMAN STAR CHRISTOPHER REEVE

The scene self provis a snapshot of Joe’s own shame and self-doubt, and a film should be allowed to pict the nsequenc of homophobia whout beg acced of perpetuatg .

But ’s the way the attack on that man is swept blhely asi the next scene that sts doubts on the motiv of the film, and on the tegry of s gay Brish director, John Schlger.

What we look for our formative years n be very different om the mands we make later as analytil adults, and was certaly more important to me that reprentatns of gayns were plex or lourful than that they were posive, whatever that meant.

SUPERMAN 'HAD GAY AFFAIR'

As far as I was ncerned, film-makers were wele to be hostile or mockg toward homosexualy jt so long as they didn’t ignore . Photograph: Uned Artists/Kobal/REX/ShutterstockWhat heterosexual dienc may need longer to appreciate, havg grown up surround by reflectns of their own kd on every screen and billboard, is that gay dienc will take whatever image they n get and then dra for meang and nourishment. That explas my affectn for films that wouldn’t pass the gay equivalent of the Bechl a child, I wanted to vis the secret nightclub The Pk Panther Strik Aga where everyone is limp-wristed and light the loafers.

Better psychos than (Pl Freeman) may be sliced up at the start of The Long Good Friday while cisg at a swimmg pool, but I loved seeg the whole plot set motn by a gay man’s sir, even if they do prove fatal. Silence n’ were nuanced reprentatns of gayns when I wanted them (Dog Day Afternoon, My Betiful Lndrette, The Naked Civil Servant) but was a different kd of tective work wklg out the gay bs otherwise straight films.

Gay was very big that year, what wh Personal Bt (sporty lbians) and Makg Love (a married man havg a gay affair).

GAY PORN STAR CLAIMS HE HAD A RELATNSHIP WH ‘SUPERMAN' STAR

Was the film sensatnalist, even homophobic? But Superman star Christopher Reeve once had a gay affair and was 'cur' about homosexualy, acrdg to a new book. Cal Culver, a gay porn star, has claimed om beyond the grave that Reeve was not gay but was 'willg to try anythg once'.