I recall two scenes which indicated, to me, Virg's interest in the opposite sex. In the first, the bus is stopped at Grace's Diner on the way to Phoenix. Just before the bus departs, Virg chats up Grace. Sparks appear to fly, much to Carl's dismay. In the second, Virg is looking out of the hotel room window (in Phoenix). He spots Cherie lounging sexily in the window sill of the Blue Dragon Cafe. He then tells Bo that he's going across the street because the Blue Dragon seems "kind of interesting." Virg puts on his coat, combs his mustache, and hastily exits the hotel room. And, I might add, as Virg leaves, Bo is standing in the room wearing only a towel. That, however, was not enough to keep old Virgil from seeking that which awaited at the Blue Dragon.
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dmnemaine
13 years ago
Yes, I understand those scenes are in the film. I am talking about something a whole lot more subtle than that -- looks, bits of dialogue, etc. Subtext is what I'm talking about.
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budpatou
13 years ago
Subtext or not there was clear flirting between Virg and Grace during the first stop. And why you think that Virg decided suddenly to stay at Grace's place at the end of the film. There was clear hint that he stayed because of Grace. I believe there was a lot happening between them during the bus driver took his nap.
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dmnemaine
13 years ago
First of all, there is such a thing as bisexuality. Secondly, the filmmakers and the author both knew that there was a percentage of the audience that would clue in to certain things in films that they could not put overtly into the story because of the censorship of the time. Many movies of the censorship code period in Hollywood used subtext in films to play to the gay audience. I know some heterosexual people don't like to hear that, but it's fact.
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au561
13 years ago
Subtext? As Freud said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." You've read into the film something you wish to find.
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dmnemaine
13 years ago
No, it's not something I "wish to find". When I watch a film, I have no intentions or expectations. Like it or not, there are little nuances in this film which could lead one to the possible conclusion that I drew in my original comment. Do I think that Virg was intentionally written as a gay or bisexual characater? Absolutely not. A sympathetic openly gay/bisexual character would not have been acceptable in the 1950s. What I am saying is that the POSSIBILITY is there in the subtext. Another example of the same type of thing is the relationship between Judah and Messala in Ben-Hur, which is also from this same era in Hollywood. A third example is the character Francis Fryer played by Dick Wesson in Calamity Jane. Wesson plays the role in a pretty campy "gay" manner, but just in case the audience is wondering about him, the writer(s) threw in a line for him about Calamity Jane "carrying concealed weapons" when she first appears in a dress. The subtext in Bus Stop with Virg is a whole lot more subtle than that, but certain looks the actor gives, and his feelings of hurt at the end of the film that lead to the decision he makes can be taken to mean something more than the surface plot of the story. So, yes, "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar", but Bus Stop is definitely one of the exceptions.
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au561
13 years ago
Your agenda is showing.
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dmnemaine
13 years ago
LOL Yeah sure. Whatever you say. You might consider weaning yourself off the religious right wing conservative teat sometime and take a look at the real world. You might actually learn something.
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DavidStHubbinsUSA
9 years ago
The OP's remarks are as homophobic as could be. As has been stated, if this is what you saw then there is a reason for it. That never crossed my mind in all of the years and as many times as I've seen it. He is just the loving father figure.
Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man....
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dmnemaine
9 years ago
Homophobic? How in the hell are my remoarks homophobic? Funny, since I'm an openly gay man. I saw gay undertones in the character of Virg. It is very likely that the writers may have done this on purpose, as they could not have written an openly gay character for a mainstream Hollywood film in the 1950s. Hollywood writers and directors were known to occasionally do this. They knew that gay people were watching these films, and many of them were gay themselves. A case in point is 1959's Ben Hur. It has been revealed in the years since the film was released that Stephen Boyd was told by the director to play Messala as if he and Judah had had a love affair when they were teenagers, and that Judah was now spurning him. Who knows but that something similar wasn't done with Bus Stop? All I was doing was wondering if anyone else caught the same little nuances in the film that I did. I'm still finding it very strange that you'd call my observations homophobic.
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au561
9 years ago
Virg is the Ranch Foreman and raised Beau since he was a child. We are not told why, but Virg is the Father figure in Beau's life. This accounts for the obvious Fatherly love and caring that he shows for Beau. Virg is repeatedly shown to be attracted to Women. To read anything more into it, or to hope there is more than that, is your need to see your own proclivities in the movie.
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hodie1
8 years ago
"We see things not as they are, but as we are." I didn't see any reason to question the sexual orientation of either man. Do you think Joe Buck and Ratso Rizzo were sexually attracted to each other as well? At least Joe had had a few homosexual experiences in his life for you to hang your hat on.
I'm sure Virg saw Beau checking out girly magazines. But somehow I doubt he ever watched Beau masturbate to them.
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