I watched the film again a few days ago after not viewing it in several years, and boy, what a great movie! I had forgotten how good this is. The acting, the dialogue, the pacing, the cinematography... every aspect is very well crafted.
Alas, in regard to Gabriel: Yes, he was definitely a jerk and used Billy, and as a few others have mentioned, Billy was better off without him. Of course he wasn't as much of a jerk as say, Stanley from A Streetcar Named Desire, or Darth Vader- *laughing, but a jerk nonetheless. That's what makes Gabriel a great character. He isn't an antagonist who sits there twiddling an evil, pointy mustache. There is a lot of "gray area" with him.
A few posts in this thread delve into Gabriel's point of view and seem to be a bit lenient on him, by suggesting that the time he spent with Billy was genuine for example. While that viewpoint is interesting, I'd have to respectfully disagree with the notion of Gabriel being agenda-less and forthright. In hindsight, Gabriel doesn't come across as being genuine to Billy at all, in any way, shape, or form. This was made especially more apparent by not having watched the movie in a long while and seeing it again with fresh eyes.
Gabriel definitely had an agenda. Sure, Gabriel is nice enough to Billy when the two first meet, but why wouldn't he be? In their first scene together, Gabriel is the coffee boy at a small cafe. Gabriel surely is aware of his own good looks and I imagine that he was hoping to meet a coffee house patron (be that a director, a photographer, movie star, etc) with connections that could move him on to bigger and better things. The person just so happened to be Billy, and that bigger and better thing was a modeling career.
At the initial art show, Gabriel doesn't exactly hesitate to jump at the modeling offer from Rex Webster. Nor does Gabe hesitate to postpone the photography shoot with Billy right away at the behest of Rex Webster's offer. Right from the get-go, Billy gets shoved to the side. And it's not like Gabe is going to say "No" to going to the movie with Billy or hanging out at Billy's place in the interim... after-all, Billy makes it possible for Gabe to meet people like Rex Webster. It's in Gabe's best interest to be nice to Billy at this juncture.
And when Gabe flirts with Billy (the light touching, the shirtless sleepover, the teasing in bed, and so forth)- it's not that Gabe is particularly attracted to Billy... Billy just happened to be there. Billy could've been any photographer guy. Gabe didn't seem "curious or questioning." He seemed closeted and probably had gay encounters prior to Billy. Unfortunately Billy was the vessel through which Gabe officially "came out." Thankfully Gabriel did do one jerk-less thing by putting a stop to the near disastrous sex romp with Billy. Even with that being said though, given Gabe's superficial/shallow personality, vain nature, and flippant treatment of Billy, I think that in the heat of the moment, Gabe probably realized, "No, I'd rather be sleeping with that other hot model guy." So, it's not like Gabe rejected sleeping with Billy out of consideration for Billy's feelings.
Then, when Gabe makes the late decision to leave Billy a phone message about going to Catalina, you can tell by the tone of Gabriel's voice that he doesn't even want to be calling Billy... he likely stalled all day and held off on calling, because he knew Billy would try to come (Gabe probably didn't want Billy there, fawning over him, especially after the awkward night). Out on Catalina at the Rex Webster after party, when Billy walks up to talk to Gabriel, it's easy to miss, but the ditzy make-up girl that Gabe is taking to- she gives Billy a look of pity as he walks up. Prior to Billy walking up, the conversation likely went something along the lines of Gabe saying, "Yeah... that Billy guy, I hope he doesn't show up. He has a crush on me. He's kind of annoying. Oh, crap, there he is. I was afraid of this. Okay, okay everybody, stay cool." When Billy asks Gabe if they can talk, Gabe just keeps standing there, not wanting to give Billy the time of day and knowing all the while what Billy wants to talk about.
During their last scene on the beach, while Gabriel isn't nearly as harsh as he could've been, he still blows Billy off in a flippant way. I mean, geez, would it have hurt Gabriel so much to be a bit more gracious in regard to the rejection? Essentially Gabriel said, "You dote on me... I'm not confused... I'm pretty sure what it is I'm supposed to want," then walks off into the sunset with the hot model guy that Billy could never compete with. Ouch. Ca-ca-ca-cold hearted... snake! Lol. Sheesh. Anyway, yeah... so Gabriel... not so genuine.
At the very end of the film, I'm very glad that Billy meets a potential love interest and that things are left open. It still leaves us with a happy ending. The guy that walks up to Billy at the Hollywood Screen Kiss art show seems to be GENUINELY interested in Billy and his work/ likes Billy for who he is.
Phew, wow! I didn't intend for that to become such a long character breakdown of Gabriel, scene per scene. Lol. I apologize for the length of this post. :)
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