MovieChat Forums > Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) Discussion > (in the book), is big daddy gay?

(in the book), is big daddy gay?


Just read the book last night, haven't seen the movie but...

1) Big Daddy mentions he hasn't slept with Big Mama in 5 years
2) He is supposedly a "red neck" but he understands Bricks situation
3) At the end it seems a repeating pattern between Brick and Margaret with Big Mama and Big Daddy.

There might be a few other points, but what do you think?

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Although the word has taken on some different connotations since Jeff Foxworthy, the word redneck just refers to the working class (who would get sunburns on the back of their necks), from which Big Daddy certainly came. I think at one point Maggie even calls him a redneck, which was certainly appropriate when the play was written.

As to whether or not Big Daddy is gay, i think he makes it clear that he is anxious to find some women now that he thinks he is healthy.

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I think Big Daddy is not gay. I also believe Big Daddy had frequent sex with men when a teenager. In the play he talks about spending years in railroad Y's (YMCAs), hobo cars, etc. He also reassures Brick that he understands when two men have a very special friendship. But this isn't the same thing as being gay. Big Daddy clearly likes women, young women best of all. He regrest having so much sex with Big Mama and wants now to make up for lost time.

In Tennessee Williams' work, like in life, you shouldn't be too quick to assume that "not a gay man" = "never has had sex with another man", or that "gay man" = "never has had sex with a woman".

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i hope youre not implying that staying at the ymca makes you gay


http://www.forgottenthoughts.co.uk/
Proof I'm Right And You're Wrong

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i hope youre not implying that staying at the ymca makes you gay


No, but in the middle part of the 20th century the YMCA was known as the place where all the homeless gays would go after having been kicked out of their house by their intolerant parents. The YMCA, dedicated to philanthropy, tolerated them.

Gives a whole new meaning to the Village People's "It's fun to stay at the YMCA." (And yes, that's what the song was about)


Proud member of SHREWS (Society for the Honor Required of Eyes Wide Shut)

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In Tennessee Williams' work, like in life, you shouldn't be too quick to assume that "not a gay man" = "never has had sex with another man"


...then what the hell does being a man having sex with another man make you? Straight? That's a really silly proposition.

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I played Mae in a production a long time ago, and I never got the feeling that Big Daddy was gay (but it sure looked like Brick was, and of course Jack Straw and Peter Ochello).

Es ist mir egal.

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No offense but I think your comment is pretty ignorant. Many men who are gay (today and in the past) have had families and had sex with many women but still identify themselves as gay (not just bi). It can work both ways although it would be more likely that today they would say they were bi with a certain preference.

So yes, a straight man could have sex with another man and they wouldn't necessarily identify themselves as gay. It's not outside the limits of possibilities.

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In the film, nothing really pointed to him being gay. I think the reason he hadn't slept with Big Mama in so long is because he genuinely couldn't stand the woman anymore. He'd rather choose abstinence than lay with her at that point.

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And she was already an old bag and Big Daddy preferred fresh meat.

I'm here, Mr. Man, I can not tell no lie and I'll be right here 'till the day I die

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Right. Anyone that thinks Bid Daddy was gay is gay. Brick definitely had the hots for Skipper, I mean, you would have to be very gay not to ravish the stunningly drop-dead gorgeous Liz Taylor in that negligee. I can barely stand to watch the movie, she is so damn hot. Whoever started this thread is a Moron.

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Big Daddy couldn't be further from being gay. The movie makes it rather clear that he lusts for Maggie, I mean how about that crude comment about to Brick about what he would do if he were married to her, not exactly an appropiate remark for a father-in-law to make.

The main reason he hasn't slept with Big Mama in years is probably because he's one of these arrogant old men who refuse to acknowledge that they are getting old and is not attracted to older women.

I don't really think Big Daddy is out to confront Brick about what exactly his relationship was with Skipper. Big Daddy is clearly angry about it and fearful it was indeed homosexual so basically trying to convince himself it was just a good friendship when he talks about his own buddies of the past.

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I cannot comment about the book/play (having never read/saw it), but I just saw the movie and Big Daddy came across as a hetereosexual man with a very healthy sexual appetite which probably could not (and probably was not) satisfied by Big Mama alone during their marriage.

I agree with HarlowMGM that Big Daddy was not out to confront Brick as to what was his relationship with Skipper. Rather, I felt that he (Big Daddy) wanted to know why he and Brick never had such a close relationship. I wouldn't say he was jealous, just genuinely perplexed as to why Brick and he never had a close, loving relationship.

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Big Daddy wasn't gay at all but I am certain he guessed Brick was but wanted him to come out, and stop hiding behind a bottle!

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