Is Foxtcher homophobic? Gay subtext and rough tra the wrtlg film.

foxcatcher gay

How Foxtcher promot gay pathology

Contents:

MARK SCHULTZ ATTACKS 'GAY RELATNSHIP' WRTLG BPIC FOXTCHER

Mark Schultz mounted an angry social media asslt on Miller after crics reviewg the film suggted there may have been homosexual unrton to the relatnship between the on-screen Schultz, played by Channg Tatum, and multi-lnaire wrtlg imprar John DuPont, played by Steve Carell.

Fally, US journalist Christian Caryl lambasted send world war breaker drama The Imatn Game the New York Review of Books for pictg Bra’s Alan Turg, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, as a “dour Mr Spock who is disliked by all of his -workers” and “jt the sort of mythologil gay man, whey and weak, that homophob love to hate” ntradictn of what the cric said were historil facts. Foxtcher’s Gay Subtext Brgs “Rough Tra” to the Movi.

To unrstand the disfort that many gay viewers are undoubtedly feelg screengs of Foxtcher—the dreary b of Osr ba jt out om director Bent Miller—you need to unrstand a few thgs about gay archetyp and how they have historilly functned. This is important, bee I nnot thk of another recent movie that so clearly reli on homo-anx, dog-whistle shorthand for both s characterizatn and plot; and yet, save for Armond Whe’s sthg piece OUT, the film’s largely posive reviews have avoid real examatn of the issue. To be fair, some crics have wonred aloud about the film’s “hts” at homoeroticism, but they have ultimately shied away om gog further.

FOXTCHER’S GAY SUBTEXT BRGS “ROUGH TRA” TO THE MOVI

Those elements are probably there somewhere, but ’s the gay subtext— this se, the age-old story of a wealthy, effete fairy gog after rough tra—that feels most central, most necsary for the movie to make whatever narrative sense do. But then, none of the read as crypto-gay eher.

Schultz wr his memoir that “I had my spicns [that du Pont might be gay], but I never observed … anythg that would e me to say he was a homosexual. The term will be faiar to many gay rears, but perhaps ls so to others, so here’s a quick troductn. Tra is a slang word om Polari, a gay English dialect popular the 19th and early 20th centuri that’s mostly died out now save for a few exprsns.

The term generally refers to a mascule-prentg man who is not gay-intified, but who will have sex wh gay men for money or social stat.

FOXTCHER'S MA CHARACTER IS FUR ABOUT THE MOVIE'S GAY UNRTON

Even if you didn’t nscly know about the fairy/tra dynamic before, you’ve almost certaly picked up along the way as a cultural trope, a lazy way of reprentg gay male relatnships as predatory—and there li my problem wh this movie.

REAL-LIFE WRTLER WHO CRICISED "FOXTCHER" GAY SUBTEXT APOLOGIZ: "I'M SORRY I SAID I HATED IT"{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}CELEBRIBY DAN AVERYJANUARY 20, 2015/5:26 PMBY DAN AVERYJANUARY 20, 2015 / 5:26 PM{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"NEWSARTICLE","HEADLE":"REAL-LIFE WRTLER WHO CRICISED \"FOXTCHER\" GAY SUBTEXT APOLOGIZ: \"I'M SORRY I SAID I HATED IT\"","DATEPUBLISHED":"2015-01-20T22:26:38.000+0000","DATEMODIFIED":"2015-01-20T22:26:38.000+0000","IMAGE":{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","WIDTH":1920,"HEIGHT":1080},"URL":","THOR":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","NAME":"LOGO TV"},"MAENTYOFPAGE":{"@TYPE":"WEBPAGE","@ID":"},"PUBLISHER":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","@ID":","NAME":"LOGO TV","URL":","LOGO":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT"}},"CREATOR":"DAN AVERY","ARTICLESECTN":"CELEBRI"}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}CRICS REVIEWG THE OSR-NOMATED DRAMA FOXTCHER NOTED THE ODD, ALMOST SEXUAL TENSN BETWEEN WRTLER MARK SCHULTZ (CHANNG TATUM) AND HIS ECCENTRIC PATRON JOHN DU PONT (STEVE CARELL). THE REAL MARK SCHULTZ PICKED UP ON TOO—AND HE WAS NOT {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"I HATE BENNETT MILLER," SCHULTZ TWEETED LAST YEAR. "I HATE EVERYTHING THAT SCUM TOUCHES. EVERYTHING!!!"{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}RELATED: CHANNG TATUM DONS WRTLG SGLET IN “FOXTCHER” {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}ANOTHER SCE-LETED TWEET WARNED, "YOU THINK I'M GOING TO SIT BACK AND WATCH YOU DESTROY MY NAME AND REPUTATION I SWEAT BLOOD FOR. YOU AINT' SEEN NOTHING YET DUDE."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}IN A MORE GENT MOMENT, SCHULTZ WROTE ON FACEBOOK THAT "THE PERSONALI AND RELATNSHIPS BETWEEN THE CHARACTERS THE FILM ARE PRIMARILY FICTN AND SOMEWHAT SULTG."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}IT'S UNRSTANDABLE SCHULTZ IS SENSIVE ABOUT THE ISSUE: IN 1996, DUPONT LDLY SHOT AND KILLED HIS BROTHER, FELLOW WRTLER DAVE SCHULTZ. DUPONT WAS FOUND GUILTY AND DIED {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}[PTN ID="ATTACHMENT_179004" ALIGN="ALIGNCENTER" WIDTH="555"] MARK SCHULTZ AND CHANNG TATUM[/PTN]{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}SCHULTZ CLAIMED "LEAVG THE DIENCE WH A FEELG THAT SOMEHOW THERE ULD HAVE BEEN A SEXUAL RELATNSHIP BETWEEN DU PONT AND I IS A SICKENG AND SULTG LIE."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}BUT NOW AS WE ENTER AWARDS SEASON, AND FOXTCHER IS A FIVE-TIME OSR NOMEE, HE'S CHANGG HIS TUNE.  "I FEEL TERRIBLE ABOUT WHAT I DID TO BENT," SCHULTZ TWEETED OVER THE WEEKEND. "I SHOULD HAVE FOLLOWED GOD, NOT MAN."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}FOXTCHER EARNED OSR NOMATNS FOR BT DIRECTOR (BENT MILLER), BT ACTOR (STEVE CARELL), BT SUPPORTG ACTOR (MARK RUFFALO), BT ORIGAL SCREENPLAY (E. MAX FRYE AND DAN FUTTERMAN) AND BT ACHIEVEMENT MAKP AND {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;CLEAR:BOTH;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;MARG:0 TO;WIDTH:90%;M-WIDTH:288PX;MAX-WIDTH:1440PX;M-HEIGHT:194PX;}LATT NEWS

But what really soured Foxtcher for me (asi om disverg that so much of this stuff arose om artistic choice rather than historil fact) was Miller’s sistence that the te st of this gay drama was not to du Pont or even Mark, but to the heterosexual fay.

The more I reflect on this movie, the more I feel like reli on a particularly sid—and troublgly effective—kd of homophobic suggtn for s allure. Nothg anti-gay is ever prented clearly, and yet, if you’re primed to accept homophobic iology (or to look for media), s prence Foxtcher is palpable. Foxtcher is basilly a horror movie, wh a superrich and super-weird gay man as the monster.

He acknowledg wispread mours at the time that du Pont was gay, but do not nnect the to their relatnship. The film’s central foc as a gay monster movie seems to have e om the imagatns of the film-makers rather than the ttimony of the only survivg person who was volved events. Some crics have seen this as homophobic: “In s grim, art-movie way, Foxtcher is a form of gay-bashg, ” wrote Armond Whe Out magaze.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* FOXCATCHER GAY

Is Foxtcher homophobic? Gay subtext and rough tra the wrtlg film. .

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