lol. I had a guy friend watch this movie with me (one of my favorite movies btw, I love Audrey) and those were the first words out of his mouth when the movie was over.
I thought about the plausibility of it before, but him saying it really made it stick this time. Makes me wonder if the gay vibes to his character were done purposefully. Thoughts?
"yeah he asked me how I was"
"...and you told him?"
Not at all. What movie did you see?
The man was an academician. He preferred learning and knowledge to being with women.
Hell, the whole story's about how Eliza wins him over and gets him to fall in love with her. It's about him realizing that there's more to life than just relentlessly pursuing his career.
Well first off, my post clearly stated I did not believe Professor Higgins to be gay as hell, but my friend did. I merely found the quote in itself hilarious and also acknowledged that it did get me thinking about the possibility that he was.
I said the same thing as you to him, because I naturally assume at the end of the film that Higgins is falling for Eliza. I am admittedly a romantic. But my friend responded saying that gay men and women have dependent relationships all the time and it absolutely does not mean the man is not gay or that he is falling for her. Today we call this a 'hag' and they routinely do for women the things Higgins did for Eliza, (make her more fashionable, improve her appeal to men, etc)
I am not saying he absolutely was gay, in fact I still think its probable he's not, but its definitely something to consider.
"yeah he asked me how I was"
"...and you told him?"
Okay, I understand a little better. But Henry Higgens is hetero. The dude wired for women, but finds them exasperating, which was one of the themes of the flick.
shareYour friend is obviously a closeted gay.
shareAccording to the trivia section here at IMDB, "George Bernard Shaw adamantly opposed any notion that Higgins and Eliza had fallen in love and would marry at the end of the play, as he felt it would betray the character of Eliza who, as in the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea, would "come to life" and emancipate herself from the male domination of Higgins and her father. He even went so far as to include a lengthy essay to be published with copies of the script explaining precisely why Higgins and Eliza would never marry, and what "actually happened" after the curtain fell: Eliza married Freddy and opened a flower shop with funds from Colonel Pickering. Moreover, as Shaw biographers have noted, Higgins is meant to be an analogue of the playwright himself, thus suggesting Higgins was actually a homosexual..."
Your friend might have picked up on something.
I found this thread at the exact same time where Higgins says "why can't a woman be more like a man". hahahaha
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Ohhh now I get it...
shareAnd yet, Sofistali, Shaw had Eliza return to Higgins at the end of the 1938 PYGMALION film, for which he not only wrote the screenplay but won the Oscar as well. The movie ends with the famous "Where the devil are my slippers?" line, which was incorporated into the musical.
Anyway, I too thought Harrison's Higgins came off a bit gay -- or rather, effeminate. The way he talks, his mannerisms. During the song "An Ordinary Man" there's a point where he sort of straddles the easy chair, his legs crossed and swinging. Yes, he was a bit swishy.
The notion that he may be gay occurred to me during 'Never Let a Woman in Your Life' and later when he lamented why women couldn't be more like men and how life would be easier if men fell in love with men I was convinced. And I think the character of Eliza is supposed to know that he is, as she later tells him that she cares deeply for him but understands that they must just be friends. I do not think they fell in love and stayed together at the end.
shareHis head being up his butt, your friend has a highly limited view of the world. Whenever I view comments on IMDB, I am constantly amazed by the number of comments regarding gay content or gay behavior. Are we that concerned about our sexuality that it skews our perception of the author's point?
Don't go witch-hunting for gays where there are none. 'Enry 'Iggins was just a Victorian stereotype, a male comfortable with other males of his type, not uncommon at a time when contact between the sexes was limited, especially among members of his class. This stereotype--or caricature, in this case--was skillfully used by Shaw, who liked to use caricatures.
Just an aside, but it might interest your friend to know this: Back when, among communally living Quakers where men and women lived separately, the energy that would have been expended otherwise (i.e., in courting, pursuit, etc.) produced some of America's most ingenious and beautiful architecture, furniture, music, and philosophy--energy that would have been spent in other pursuits, given the chance.
The flip side is that they never produced enough children to carry on the tradition. Hence the relative paucity of Quaker communities these days.
Higgins' sexual orientation is pretty ambiguous and there is almost no evidence either way. Clearly he despises women's personality traits (as he sees them). On the other hand that doesn't mean he was homosexual. On the other hand you don't see Higgins pursuing or even showing interest in women at any time in the film. On the other hand the film is set in a time period when homosexuality was repressed and not discussed whatsoever. When Higgins performs "A Hymn to Him" the thought did cross my mind for a minute, "Oh...wait... are Higgins and Pickering actually lovers?" But the whole issue was never resolved. My guess is that Shaw chose to leave it as yet another unanswered question in the story.
shareL0L thats what i always thought.
His voice, mannerisms all scream out 'GAY' to me.
When he said stuff like 'Why can't a woman be more like a man..' that convinced me he might be gay?
And the fact he's a "bachelor" and lives with Colonel Pickering? Hm...
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lol umadbro?
Dear Troll, Just to state the obvious, gays often enter into a traditional marriage. This can be because they 1) feel some need to hide their true sexual identity; 2) deny their sexuality to themselves (see Elton John); 3) want to live with a person they consider a true friend; 4) you name it. It takes a certain strength for anyone, straight or gay, to be able to choose and live comfortably a life alone.
sharePerhaps it is all right to say that Professor Higgins is allowed to be all that gay, but maybe Eliza comes across as a little too repulsive at the beginning, enough to repulse Henry and Colonel Pickering to think somewhat unfavorably toward that woman.
Perhaps also, Henry Higgins and Colonel Pickering are a little better off close to Oxford, England, than Oxford, Mississippi, in that regard. Sergeant James Hathaway wouldn't look for them there.
But anyway, it's okay if they are gay, and it's probably all right with Audrey, too.
Oh, my God -- nobody challenged this statement when it was first made????
Pickering and Higgins did not live together and were not lovers. In fact, before the story begins, they did not know each other except by reputation. This is clearly established early in the story when they meet for the first time outside the theater and Pickering says he came to London with the express intention of meeting Higgins. Higgins then invites the Colonel to stay in his home as a guest. THAT'S ALL.
Well back when this movie was made, the term "confirmed bachelor" was used pretty much exclusively as a euphemism for 'gay'. So.... yeah. He was gay. I always imagine that she and Freddy end up together :)
shareI've never heard that before.
shareNo, he wasn't, and the euphemism is something you made up. Higgins was a misogynist and that explains why he's a bachelor, by misogyny and homosexuality are by no means synonymous. Don't jump to clichés.
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No, that euphemism is not something that the poster made up. It was pretty commonly used in the era depicted, and up through the 40's - 50's.
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by stevenvh » Sun Jan 1 2012 05:45:39 Flag ▼ | Reply |
IMDb member since December 1999
No, he wasn't, and the euphemism is something you made up. Higgins was a misogynist and that explains why he's a bachelor, by misogyny and homosexuality are by no means synonymous. Don't jump to clichés.
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Rome. By all means, Rome.
That's what I picked up on first, and what I interpreted.
sharelol! your idea of Henry Higgins does put a twist on things.
From my own observations/interactions with many professors, I'd say he's a heavily absorbed (and snooty as hell) scholar type. He's entirely wrapped up by his studies whatever he is? a linguist or phoneticist.
It's possible to like women physically but find their personality traits to be unbearable. Higgins seemed like the academic equivalent of a macho guy who actually represses his liking for women.
shareThoughts?
Yeah, you have no concept of what intellectual masculinity is. Some women like that. Apparently Audrey's character did.