that relationship to me when seem to be nothing more than a strained friendship.
Why does he kiss her, then?
I think the points I raised still stand. Miguel doesn't come off as gay. I mean if you think about it, Fisher (the scientist played by John Amplas) actually appears more 'gay' than Miguel; showing concern for Sarah's safety without a hint of romantic motivation. He's the ultimate gay best friend. Miguel is a stooge for not admitting he needed help and accepting that Sarah was right, but he's not gay.
There's just no evidence that they have a sexual relationship at all.
Is is necessary to have evidence of sexual relations in order to believe that two characters are romantically involved? Given the situation (Miguel has lost his mind, the world has ended) wouldn't sex and flirting be the last thing on either of their minds?
I also can't see any reason they would have thought their time in the bunker would last years, and I don't think they've been down there for years already when the film takes place. The line, "It's going to be a long winter," always suggested to me that this would be their
first winter in the cave (as opposed to, say, "It's going to be
another long winter," or "The winters down here last a long time.").
Plus, given how quickly things fell apart I suspect they've only been down there for a few months - if it had been years, the civilian team and the military would have had to have been operating in some kind of harmony which was clearly absent from the beginning, or at least have established a long term plan of action (again, absent). Far too many issues are brought up during conversations which would have been addressed a long time ago if they had been in there for years (ie, how many survivors left and where? Are the soldiers getting paid? How are they approaching the zombie problem?).
For my money the only obviously gay person in the cave was Rickles, who was madly in love with Steel. Steel was possibly secretly in love with Rhodes, and using Rickles as an outlet for his sexual frustration, but I have to admit that's pretty far-fetched. The rest of the military guys were too stoned to care about sex. We all know what Logan got up to, of course ;) and I think Fisher was just a nice, normal guy, whose mind was on his work.
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He left a note. He left a simple little note that said "I've gone out the window."
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LeeVing88
10 years ago
Why does he kiss her, then?
They were probably each others only confidante for months and a kiss isn't inherently sexual. I've kissed my mother before and can assure you no funny business was going on.
Is is necessary to have evidence of sexual relations in order to believe that two characters are romantically involved?
Certainly not. In fact, I'm thinking the lack of evidence was by design.
I also can't see any reason they would have thought their time in the bunker would last years, and I don't think they've been down there for years already when the film takes place.
They were facing the extinction of humanity, I'd bet smart money that it wasn't going to be a brief mission. As far as how much time has past when we meet the characters... I would have to think they've been down there at least over six months given that a.) 1/3 of the team is already dead b.) The level of insanity Logan, Rickles and Steele have devolved to and what little "give a *beep*" any of the others have left. "Years" may have been an exaggeration but they're clearly more than a little stir crazy.
I must commend your attitude. We may disagree but you have class. I get tired of the "my opinion is the only opinion" attitude some people have on IMDB.
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projectcyclops
10 years ago
I suspect some of the points we're arguing on might have hit a roadblock simply due to difference in opinion, but I'll give a shot on another reply :)
I don't think the kiss thing can be ignored, and it's kind of the deal-breaker for me. It's my view that Miguel was, at that moment, feebly trying to rekindle something of what they had during their first early few weeks/months of being together. It's possible that, if they were in a platonic 'charade' relationship, he might have casually kissed Sarah on the lips sometimes as a friendly gesture, but it doesn't seem likely that he'd do that at that moment. To me it's more indicative of someone who knows their romantic relationship is basically over, and is making one last effort to rekindle things. Miguel knows that he and Sarah won't ever save their love, so he's kissing her in that "please take me back! I'm so sorry!" kind of way.
I also don't think Romero is the kind of writer who suggests anything by omission (I say that with the greatest respect). In fact many of Romero's strongest themes have come about by accident; think of the casting of Duane Jones in 'Night...', which Romero hadn't intended as a comment on racial prejudice, but became one of the most significant elements of NOTLD. Even in 'Day...' Romero hadn't thought about animal cruelty and vivisection when writing the script, but many people have picked up on this as being an important theme of the film.
Romero also tends to shy away from gay characters. When he does use them, he tends to employ the jackhammer approach - such as the two lesbians seen kissing before being brutally killed in 'Land...' or the frankly bizarre decision in 'Survival...' to introduce the lesbian Tomboy by having her masturbating in front of a group of soldiers. To think Romero would be subtle enough to consider a very nuanced relationship between a gay man and straight woman, employed to protect them from outsiders, is perhaps giving the man too much credit. I love Romero to pieces (heh), but he's not that kind of writer.
I do agree that around six months is a good guess for how long they've been down there, but that only serves to strengthen my argument for why they would bother cultivating such a charade in such a relatively short space of time. During their first couple of weeks down there, they would not have known how long it would last. I think they probably did fall for one another early on and start 'dating' in a real way, assuming the zombie problem would eventually be solved and they could keep seeing each other when everything was back to normal. That they would meet and then immediately decide to form a fake relationship when they had no idea whether it would be weeks, months or years, just seems way too far fetched.
I actually agree with you that it would be a great idea, and I think it's a cool theory. But there's just no strong evidence to suggest that it's true. To me, Miguel doesn't seem gay at all, just a 'normal' (ie, not super tough) guy who's become anxious through stress.
Lastly, I think if Miguel can be seen to be gay, so can Fisher, Rickles, Steel, Rhodes and Frankenstein (all displaying slightly homoerotic tendencies during individual moments of the film) and you can't reasonably argue that Romero intended us to speculate on the sexuality of all (or even any!) of his characters. With Romero, what you see is almost always what you get.
PS: You're very welcome for the replies. It's always fun to chat about the little things in the 'Dead...' films, and it just shows how damn well they still hold up after all these years.
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He left a note. He left a simple little note that said "I've gone out the window."
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leightoncollins
10 years ago
Don't think rickles is gay. He's still wearing his wedding ring for starters, which I've always liked as it shows he's still in touch with the pre zombie life.
Rickles and steel are bromance combat buddies but gay lovers .... Don't think so.
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