Contents:
- BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH REFLECTS ON PLAYG A REPRSED GAY CHARACTER 'THE POWER OF THE DOG'
- IS PHIL GAY IN POWER OF THE DOG?
- ‘THE POWER OF THE DOG’ WAS INSPIRED BY THE TE STORY OF A GAY MAN IN THE 1920S
- IS PHIL GAY THE POWER OF THE DOG?
- GAY WBOYS? ‘POWER OF THE DOG’ DO NOT STAND ALONE GOG THERE
BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH REFLECTS ON PLAYG A REPRSED GAY CHARACTER 'THE POWER OF THE DOG'
Though the ultimate du, he is somehow not like the other is bee he is gay. Is , like so many prtig gay works, a tragic romance? Extrapolate those lsons too much and you end up patently homophobic terrory—we should not assume that every abive oaf p for a Bron Henry.
Is Phil gay The Power of the Dog?WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE POWER OF THE DOGTHE POWER OF THE DOG: Based on a te story?Image om Netflix Media Center.Is Phil gay The Power of the Dog?Y, many sequenc the film suggt that Phil is a closeted homosexual, keepg his homosexualy hidn om everybody else on the ranch.We’re troduced to the character as a nontatnal, hyper-mascule antagonist who is prented as beg nstant petn wh the men around him. He’s the alpha male and the others – bis his brother – speak to him like the patriarchal figure of the land.When they ask him about Bron Henry, they do so a childlike manner, as if they’re askg their father about their grandfather.As the narrative progrs ’s implied that the excsively macho exterr is actually a way to avoid anybody disverg that he is gay; an overpensatn of sorts stemmg om reprsn.
When Peter asks if they were naked, Phil’s silence suggts that they were and to rece any more of the story would fully nfirm his homosexualy.Divg eper, there are parallels between Bron and Phil’s myster relatnship and Phil and Peter’s.
IS PHIL GAY IN POWER OF THE DOG?
”If only his character wasn’t bogged down by the need to humanize him by revealg halfway through that he is a eply closeted gay man.
To say that is appropriate to have homosexual them or allns a Wtern is like sayg p movi shouldn’t have r chas. Take another look at the source material, say that is appropriate to have homosexual them or allns a Wtern is like sayg p movi shouldn’t have r Burbank is a man who tnts and hounds his brother and sister--law so relentlsly that they are aaid of him even when he’s not around. But fact, the film mostly rerc the longstandg and problematic trope of the tortured homosexual, which only further intifi L.
(The fact that Cumberbatch’s last big Osr-worthy movie, “The Imatn Game, ” volved him playg a eply reprsed gay man, this se forced to unrgo chemil stratn when he is found out, do not help. Cumberbatch, who is straight and has prevly played a gay character, has faced creased scty this role.
‘THE POWER OF THE DOG’ WAS INSPIRED BY THE TE STORY OF A GAY MAN IN THE 1920S
The actor prevly played mathematician Alan Turg, a gay man, 2014's The Imatn Game.
| Cred: Netflix Early reactns to the film clud discsn on the character's sexualy, as the book the film is based on — Thomas Savage's 1967 novel of the same name — impli that he's gay, though never explicly nfirms .
IS PHIL GAY THE POWER OF THE DOG?
Last week at The Power of the Dog's Telluri Film Ftival premiere, Cumberbatch (who's married to a woman, stage director Sophie Hunter) spoke about his cisn to play a queer character seven years after he received his first Amy Award nomatn for playg gay mathematician Alan Turg the 2014 film The Imatn Game. A key scene, some reful dialogue, and Phil’s sudn sire to strike up a iendship wh Peter show that Cumberbatch’s character is gay. The scen clue the dience to the fact that Phil’s aggrsivens is meant to mask his sexualy and the lonels he feels a time which homosexualy was disapproved of.
All of the subtle elements of The Power of the Dog e together to prove that Phil is secretly gay, even though is never explicly nfirmed. Director and screenwrer Jane Campn, who adapted the book, vised the ranch where thor Thomas Savage, a gay man, grew up Montana and met wh his livg relativ. “Savage was a gay man who was at that time, not openly gay.
GAY WBOYS? ‘POWER OF THE DOG’ DO NOT STAND ALONE GOG THERE
So, is Phil Burbank gay? Although is never mentned out loud, Phil is most certaly gay ‘The Power of the Dog.
Several reports claim that Savage, who was married and had children, was a closeted gay man. Although Phil is partly based on Savage’s step-uncle, William Brenner, the novelist adds his own stggl wh homosexualy to the character.