Bernard
I just watched this film for the first time and whilst it is an amazing film which is still relevant today, I am not sure if Bernard is the 'token black guy' or if he has some depth to his character. Any thoughts?
shareI think all the characters are given some measure of depth to varying degrees, but beyond that, each one is a "token" in his own way, representing one gay archetype or another of the era: Michael, the self-hating gay man; Emory, the nellie queen; Harold, the bitchy one; Donald, the neurotic intellectual; Larry, the handsome libertine; Hank, the butch, formerly-closeted conservative; Cowboy, the airhead gym-bunny/hustler.
In the case of Bernard, whom I'd call "the romantic," his race - rather than being a matter of tokenism - serves a dramatic purpose in bringing out Michael's ingrained southern racism as a manifestation of both his self-loathing - which he directs outward toward others, taking dead aim at what he perceives to be their areas of vulnerability - and his artifice. He's spent his entire adult life trying to bury - and by doing so, escape - the small-town Mississippi boy he once was under a veneer of urbane sophistication, in the form of globe-trotting, expensive clothes, gourmet tastes, witty repartee and the like.
Bernard, not only as an African-American but as a generally sensitive and genial soul, is both Michael's easiest target and, perhaps, his most painful reminder of that which he's struggled so desperately to rise above.
Poe! You are...avenged!
I never really saw it that way! Thanks for the reply!
shareTo tell the truth, I hadn't really given it any thought until you asked the question. In considering it, that's what I came up with.
I'm glad you did ask it, because it opened my thinking to a new way of looking at how Crowley crafted his characters and their relationships to one another. As you suggested, it's still powerful drama and, as you said, still relevant. And I think one of the hallmarks of any quality work of literature, theater or film is that there are always new things to be discovered therein.
Poe! You are...avenged!
There is also the element where Bernard and Emory are close enough friends that they have this running insult game, where Bernard lays into Emory with vicious snaps on Emory's effeminacy ("You're a natural-born domestic, Emory!"), while Emory tells quite a few jokes at the expense of Bernard's race ("Says the African queen! You can come too - you can fan me while I'm making the salad dressing!").
A casual viewer of this film could very easily get the idea that these two hate each other, but look at how they dance together, take up for each other, and how Emory corrects Bernard when he's calling his mother's employer ("SON, not BOY"). I like the layers of their friendship - it feels unique and realistic.
I can attest to the realism; I've known many sets of friends who had relationships like that, where the apparent viciousness is actually an ironic expression of affection. What gives away the fact that they don't actually hate each other is the tolerance with which the insults are accepted.
What's just as ironic (to me, at any rate) is that this is behavior I've seen exhibited much more frequently among heterosexual male friends: swapping put-downs in place of overt expressions of affection. In drama, it might even be said to have reached cliche status, as in "buddy films" portraying friendships of, say, a pair of cops, for example, where they're constantly one-upping each other with witty insults.
It's interesting that Crowley uses a similar device in portraying what's probably the even deeper friendship between Michael and Harold, where there's underlying tension and hostility in the sniping they do at one another. If memory serves, I think Harold even says mockingly to Michael something about being such a good friend that he'll tell him "what even my best friends won't tell me" (or words to that effect).
Theirs is clearly a much more complex relationship than that of Emery and Bernard - perhaps more like family than just friends - as evidenced by Harold, after having just destroyed Micheal emotionally, adding a gentle and sympathetic, "Call you tomorrow." It's as though Harold is saying, "I'll cut you to ribbons after enough of your BS, but still care enough to see if you're alright."
I've known someone like that, too.
Poe! You are...avenged!