Sure Pilot might have been a lil curious but Jack was totally straight, they were just bestfriends. You gay guys do kno
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devilsreject1981-1 — 20 years ago(January 19, 2006 10:48 PM)
Okay fallen angel23 I'll bite. I am sick of people going to every actor's board asking if he or she is gay. I am sick of people asking if characters in movies are gay when clearly they're not or the writer makes a gay joke(it's funny when a straight guy acts gay). It gets old. I just liked this movie and thought Pilot might be curious but the other guy showed no gay intentions or tendencies. They were just bestfriends. I'm sure you could look at any two guys who are really close(have known each other forever) and think, wow, they must be gay. It's so redundant and annoying, people shouldn't give a sh*t if someone is gay unless the person is out. Sorry you think that I'm ignorant(ignorant is also an overused word). Oddly enough a critic described one of the characters as a sexual predator and I did happen to see Brokeback Mountian. The reason I said you could go say ubergay instead of homoerotic is because that movie is clearly about two gay cowboys(okay so they claim they were straight at first) but no straight guy would fall in love with a guy. Bi or bi-curious maybe. I'm sorry to say but if someone is truly straight, they don't fall in love with another man or have sex with another man. It's not like girls who just do it to be trendy or piss daddy off. Like Family Guy said, it's not a choice, well not for guys.
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elamae1 — 20 years ago(January 20, 2006 06:02 AM)
Just saw Highway last night and had to comment on this. Being one of those women who watch most media through slash-tinted glasses. I've been a slash writer and reader for nearly ten years, so my interest was piqued when I read this comment.
First of all I love that everyone can use places like this to post their comments and opinions, as everyone is entitled to them.
I do see slashy undertones from Pilot, though not from Jack I have to say. From Leto's character all I get is intense friendship, that bond that comes from having known someone pretty much all your life.
The film for me does carry a sense of homoerotic undertones, nothing really that you could pin any moment with, more a case of subtle bits of curiousity. Using the word sexual 'confusion' rather than 'frustration', two moments when outsiders either question or approach Pilot with homosexual innuendo (club and alligator boy), and some subtle expressions from Pilot at various moments throughout the film; in the car when he askes Jack if he came after his night with Cassie (of course this could be attributed to jealousy - both at his own inability to satisfy himself and jealousy of Jack's time with Cassie rather than his best friend) specifically.
Personally I think I enjoyed Pilot's character more anyway, he seemed to have so many layers and emotionally very complex. (Plus Jake Gyllenhaal is both gorgeous and a brilliant actor).
Of course the fact that the other main reason for the road trip was for Pilot to chase the girl (Amy) and when he returned at the end it was for his 'girl in Vegas' so that's pretty conclusive that Pilot at least at that point considering himself heterosexual. Of course you could (if you wanted) interpret the girl Amy as a 'fantasy girl' from Pilot's past, someone he has glorified in his mind due to his current physical/sexual/emotional problems, someone he remembered (or not!) as being with successfully and happily (physically and emotionally) and he was striving to find that again. Hence 'fantasy'. Returning to his girl Lucy could also be a return to the familiar and to someone who loved/accepted him, rather than pursue something that at that point was unconsciously out of reach. If he did have feelings for Jack, he could see that his best friend is now happy and safe (with mending feet) with Cassie and that this was his own safe place/home to return to.
I could ramble on more about this but am horrified with how much I have written now! -
Welcome_to_mars666 — 20 years ago(January 30, 2006 01:26 PM)
To Rebel, how can you call it unnatural? That's ridiculous, people can't help who they love. No guy sits there and says "Hmm, I'll make life harder for myself by being gay and uninvited into a homophobic society" it's not like that. I would prefer a guy to be out of the closet and at the least, accepted then in the closet and getting in a relationship with a girl who he doesn't love. People seem to think that gay people are only gay because they want to be, but it comes with alot of confusion, disgust and self-hate for them, because we all seem to view it as wrong, when it's just who you're attracted to and who you love. What gets me is that, there is so much hate, war, rape, child abuse, poverty and all that kind of thing, and currently, we're hung up on a guy loving a guy. At least it's love.
And uh can two guys ever act in a movie without being accused of being homosexual? Incase you didn't actually watch it, Jack hooked up with Cassie, not Pilot. For Pilot, the whole reason of the road trip was to find Amy Barnes, who, just happens to be female.
But because most of us are silly girls, we'll never understand a male friendship and the depths of it, and we view heterosexual men as pride filled egotistical dorks who scream whenever another guy touches them. Or maybe you're just hoping because it turns you on. -
elamae1 — 20 years ago(February 02, 2006 04:50 AM)
"And uh can two guys ever act in a movie without being accused of being homosexual?"
Um, maybe not, but then what's wrong with that? It's fantasy and that why it's fiction. Just because in the story Jack ends up with Cassie and Pilot was chasing after Amy - and yes I think we all have watched the film, otherwise we wouldn't be posting here - it doesn't stop anybody from musing on a post-film scenario. It doesn't stop people from picking apart the layers in a film and its characters. I know that there are complex and deep relationships between men without there being a sexual reference, I've had deep relationship with my girlfriends that haven't.
Maybe it does turn people on to think of these two characters together but hey, we're the audience and it just shows how much we like and become involved with the characters and that can't be a bad thing. It shows the movie has got us. -
chaosgoddess — 20 years ago(February 15, 2006 03:05 PM)
Well, as a bi-sexual woman, a slash writer, and someone who has studied homosexuality throughout history i couldn't help but chime in.
Random note: who said they didn't read the homosexual undertones in On The Road? Jack Kerouac was one of the most post-humously over analyzed bi-sexual men I've studied! Read it again darling. Its all right there. (Then research his relationships with Alan Ginsberg, et cetera)
But thats a side note/a pet peeve. What really bothers me about this whole discussion is that gender/sexuality and all the rest of it are culturally constructed concepts. Julius Ceasar who practically ruled the world in his time was bi-sexual and it was a great joke amoung his army (who still respected him.) I'm sorry if this is a little disjointed but I think anyone who has followed the thread will know where I'm going with this.
If you don't want to see the sexual undertones from either character then don't but they were definately there. Speaking from expeirience (I was in love with my best friend for years and never could tell her because I thought she was "straight" only to find out years latershe's had two husbands and we've both had several relationshipsthat she is every bit as bi-sexual as I am.) So, my heart goes out to Pilot especially being that I can TOTALLY see him in the same capacityand leads me to wonder if Jack isn't every bit as bi as my friend (who'dve thought!)
What this post is really about is the predjudice against being homosexual or bi-sexual that is being argued here. Some people see slash, some don't. That doesn't matter. What does matter is the further spread of lies such as "men kissing isn't natural." In Japan men who are just friends kiss on the lips and nothing wrong is seen in it. Its unfortunate that some countries, America especially, still has a borderline Puritan view of such things. Its unfortunate that some people will never be able to move past their preconceived bias' against anything that isn't in their culturally constructed "norm." I find that sad.
AnyhowI was in the mood to rant a bit. Thank you to any who actually read through all that! And by the waywhy isn't there more slash about this HOT movie out there? Hehettfn.
chaosgoddess
is your life boring? -
devilsreject1981-1 — 20 years ago(March 11, 2006 10:06 AM)
Only gays would see them as homoerotic. They were good friends and Pilot was just young and curious. That doesn't make him gay. He did travel all the way to Seattle to see the girl he was in love with, remember? Gay guys and women wouldn't understand because when two guys are bestfriends and have been I'm sure there are plenty of quasi gay moments but that's just being friends and genuinely caring about one another. And Caesar wasn't gay, those were just rumors about him, and if he were gay, you can't prove it. Also what you have said was DISJOINTED and askew because as you said, you are a bisexual woman. Do you know that guys can love each other and not be gay? Just be really good friends? Sometimes a guy will appear a lil bi or curious because he's hero worshipping his friend(which is clearly what Pilot was doing). I don't want to argue but you said you've studied bisexual men, so obviously you're looking for gay undertones. That's like a Christian finding Christian undertones in Buffy the Vampire Slayer even though Joss Whedon is a self proclaimed angry atheist. This is why so many guys are homophobic gays are creating this kind of hysteria and it's sad so guys can't show any affection for other men without them looking or being accused of being gay or bi.
"When God gives you AIDS - and God does give you AIDS, by the way - make lemonAIDS" -
shrinkrapt — 20 years ago(March 21, 2006 01:55 AM)
The point about homoeroticism is that it IS subtextual. You're not gonna get any kissing or obvious moves, because then it becomes textual (homosexual). The two are completely different things.
I just watched this the other day, and the gay subtext is very clear to me. Not just from Pilot, but also Jack. AND also from the director. Of the three main characters, the camera lingers most on Jack - fetishises him. He is presented as the ideal beautiful youth. His figure, face, and eyes are caressed by the camera (the male gaze). When he manages to come inside Cassie, we are made to watch him for a very long time, and he is presented as beautiful and ecstatic. Cassie is a prop - something for the two boys to get into conflict over - but really she could have been anything.
Some people don't see all this. Fine - but it's there, and it drives the whole movie. -
pumpkinrosie — 20 years ago(March 28, 2006 05:45 PM)
chaosgoddess
Total kudos (bisexual, female, slah writer here too :P)
Everyone is different. They're all gonna see different things someone doesn't see the gay subtext? shrug Their loss!
I wish they'd come out with a deleted scenes version. I liked the subtlety but I can always go for some hot boy on boy action.
I know! What's with that?! I demand more slash in this fandom! It's so neglected. -
bond_girl26 — 20 years ago(March 28, 2006 07:52 PM)
I never suspected anything on homosexuality. I felt that Cassie was just in the way of friendship, like in many other stories. But now that I think about it, it does seem likely. It hit me why Johnny asked if Pilot was jealous. And the whole thing about now wanting to go to the Dan D. Fine. But the whole after the whole Amy and Lucy thing, I don't really care anymore. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. This movie is amazing. I wish they would put out more stuff for it. Was it out in theatres? I'd never heard of it until recently when I became a Jake fan.
Love,
Vanessa
Fallonized.com
Chrisparnell.net
You like fine cooking? I've got a Swanson's dinner in the freezer with your name on it. -
riverviewantique — 19 years ago(May 14, 2006 06:40 PM)
I read that it didnt do good in a test showing so it sat on a shelf and then they dvded it in 2002. Its obvious that Pilot and Jack were inseparable all their lives till the right girls finally came along and they had to go their separate ways. the same thing happened to me at that age.
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eramduasvezes — 19 years ago(June 28, 2006 04:34 PM)
Plot Keywords for
Highway (2002)
-Independent Film
-Body Painting
-Boyhood Friends
-Drug Dealing
-Fugitive
-Love Triangle
-Mobster
-Road Movie
-Unrequited Love
-HOMOSEXUAL SUBTEXT
-Las Vegas Nevada
by IMDb
http://www.imdb.com/board/10165361/keywords -
Psylocke83 — 18 years ago(October 18, 2007 03:31 PM)
Ofcourse there was homoerotic subtextuals in the movie!
One would have to be blind and deaf not to notice.
Pilot didn't sleep with the prostitute; like everyone else has said he just talked to her, and she said "sexual confusion" instead of other words such as "sexually frustration". If he did have sex with her, the director would have needed to have a small sex scene or atleast some talk of the sex itself to show the viewers that Pilot had beaten his problem.
There were so many moments throughout the film that hinted for (atleast one-sided) Pilot/Jack that it wouldn't make sense if he wasn't supposed to have a crush on Jack. There were a few moments with Jack as well but it felt more or less like he was jealous over losing Pilot's love/admiration for him to some 'fantasy girl' Pilot had met two years earlier. I believe Pilot went back to Lucy at the end because Jack was happy with Cassie, or perhaps for the same reason as stated below.
To me, Cassie seemed to be just some kind of lifeless doll they threw in at the last minute in order to not make Highway a "gay movie" and thus fail with getting an audience (which surely wouldn't be the case).
"No girl is worthy the God of beep
Further gay innuendos in the movie was when Shanks asked Pilot if he liked alligator dick, and if Jack likes to get f-ed.
And what was it with Shannon Leto and the guys started to undress Pilot at the club?
Loved shrinkrapt's comment to this thread; her point about the director and Jack is too true!
I just watched this the other day, and the gay subtext is very clear to me. Not just from Pilot, but also Jack. AND also from the director. Of the three main characters, the camera lingers most on Jack - fetishises him. He is presented as the ideal beautiful youth. His figure, face, and eyes are caressed by the camera (the male gaze). When he manages to come inside Cassie, we are made to watch him for a very long time, and he is presented as beautiful and ecstatic. Cassie is a prop - something for the two boys to get into conflict over - but really she could have been anything.
Takeshi Kaneshiro fan ~ | ~ Naruto addict
~~ 30 SECONDS TO MARS ~~ -
caspers_mystical_univers — 18 years ago(October 21, 2007 01:27 AM)
I recently got the movie from netflix but it skipped throughout and at the end it didn't want to play at all so i have no idea what happened and i don't feel like sending away for it again just for that. can anyone tell me what happened at the very very end?
₪PerfectIsTheEnemyOfGood.Ξ .o