Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters: Know Your LGBT History

Friday, March 05, 2010

Know Your LGBT History - Midnight Cowboy

With Oscars coming up Sunday, you all probably think that I'm going to mention Brokeback Mountain.

Guess again.

I want to talk about a legendary award-winning movie strictly because it contained one of the most repulsive anti-gay scenes in the history of cinema.

Midnight Cowboy (1969) tells the story of two oddballs in the city of New York; one played by Jon Voight thinks that he has what it takes to be a gigolo. The other, played by Dustin Hoffman, is an asthmatic loser who acts as his pimp.

For some reason, this movie was a monster critical hit, winning several Oscars including Best Picture.

I found the movie to be scuzzy and squalor and one scene stands out in a horrid way.

Voight's character needs money for a bus trip to take Hoffman to a warmer climate before the New York weather kills him.

To do so, he allows himself to be picked up by a self-hating gay man played by Barnard Hughes.

The following scene, starting at 5:55 just turns my stomach.

I know many gay men and in that number there are a few which I despise. But I hope that NONE of them ever end up like Hughes's character:

3 comments:

David L Rattigan said...: Hmm, I'm not sure if it's anti-gay or not. Could it be it's just reflecting the reality of being gay at the time? That you were forced into a closet of self-loathing seediness?

Seen the movie loads of times, but not in a few years. Another one to revisit.

And the director was gay, of course. Not that gay directors can't be homophobic.; 2:29 PM
Anonymous said...: You totally missed the point of 'Midnight Cowboy.' I'm gay, open and proud, and this movie is not even close to being anti-gay. In fact, the relationship between Voight and Hoffman has traces of homosexuality in it, and it's seen as the most pure relationship in the film. The violence that Voight's character eventually perpetrates is a result of the troubled lifestyle as a hustler, which is a clearly indicated theme of the movie. He also felt particularly enraged by this client because of his own unwanted homosexual tendencies. By the end of the movie, Voight is prepared to end his career as a hustler and live with and take care of Hoffman.; 8:49 PM
BlackTsunami said...: Nevertheless, I still didn't like the scene when Jon Voight practically beat the gay guy to death.; 10:29 PM