MovieChat Forums > Dancing at Lughnasa (1998) Discussion > Was Father Jack gay?

Was Father Jack gay?

posted 17 years ago by kinneykknnyw
6 replies | jump to latest

I always hate it when people read gay storylines into things when they aren't really there, but I couldn't help but wonder if Father Jack was meant to have been in love with his friend back in Africa. It seemed that this might be implied by the black-and-white pictures that flashed by at the beginning of the film, and he brought him up over and over again after returning home. Also, the nasty priest who fired Kate said something cryptic like, 'I know all about your brother.' Did anyone else wonder about this?

[–] butt-kisser 17 years ago

No he wasn't gay i don't think. i studied this in school and the reason he kept talking about Okawa was that everything reminded him of his time in Africa and he was there for so long he felt like he was still there. The reason it was so controversial was that he was supposed to be a catholic priest and he was, but since coming back from Africa he had lost his faith and had been converted to this tribal faith with sacrifices and many Gods. In those days it was very shocking for that to happen and it brought shame on all the family.

[–] myndchanger 17 years ago

In the old days they called it "gone native". He became so close to the people that he was supposed to be converting that he became converted to their faith.

[–] maxvioletmum 16 years ago

'In the old days they called it "gone native".'

Exactly. Except they saw it as madness, and being mad was as a big a scandal as having a child out of wedlock.

[–] ti_may_yyyy 13 years ago

What everybody said about goign native is completly true. That's what the priest was talking about. But their is actually a chance he was gay. It's one of those things that is hinted at but leaves it up to you to decided whether or not he was gay.
I'm studying it at school at the moment. So yeah, I'm definetly not an expert.

[–] Veronica65 13 years ago

It's definitely not that he's gay. Everyone is right, the scandal is that he has gone native. To me, a pagan, I think it is marvelous that Jack connected with the Goddess of the Earth--but in that place and time, it would have been seen as shame, scandal and lunacy. Sad, really.

[–] madisonwisconsinite 12 years ago

I hadn't thought a bit about Father Jack's orientation; however, the reference to Kate as a "gander," and her suggesting that young Michael, too, might be a gander, DID make me wonder what "orientation," sexual or otherwise, was meant there, and if so, what it might be. I'm sure that those closely connected to traditional Irish culture would have a better take on the significance of "gander," than I, being four generations removed from the Emerald Isle.