MovieChat Forums > The 24th Day (2004) Discussion > 'No one is 100% anything' (spoilers)

'No one is 100% anything' (spoilers)

posted 15 years ago by Yinky
5 replies | jump to latest

One thing I've noticed on the board is the lack of comment on the scene where Dan and Tom are discussing sexual labels. Tom makes the comment "I am not gay." And Dan replies something to the affect, "But you had sex with a man. And if I find a woman sexually attractive, I will sleep with her, though I prefer men. No one is 100% straight or gay." (Sorry for the horrible paraphrasing.)

I have been arguing with people about this for years. Most straight men will say that if a man has sex with another man, even if it's just once, twenty years ago when he was 13, that guy is gay. But those same men will say that a straight woman can have sex with a multitude of other women, and she can still be straight. (Yes, I realize that this is a particularly common straight man's fantasy.)

I also know men who say they "can't tell" if another man is attractive or not. As if saying, "Yes, he's a good-looking guy" automatically makes you gay. Women have no problem commenting on each other's looks (and also have a great time tearing other womens' looks to shreds, but that's a completely different topic).

But anyway, I agree with Dan. You can be straight, but attracted to your own sex, and maybe even acting on those feelings once in a while. But it doesn't make you gay. Or visa-versa. Just wondered if anyone else might want to comment on the subject.

And my favorite angel was Kate Jackson, too. It showed even nerdy girls can be glamorous. I really needed to see that in the eighth grade! I was bummed when they didn't mention Christie Love as a bad ass, hot 70s cop (Angie Dickinson, snore). She was the schizzle.

[–] cdjunkee-1 14 years ago

I agree with your statement. I think human sexuality can be very grey instead of black and white. I think people are put in categories pertaining to their sexuality. "are you gay or straight?" either answer carries alot of expectations.

As for how Tom reacted to the question it made me think. he stalked Tom stalked Dan and went to a gay bar on numerous occasions chatting up other men. would a typical straight man do that? there were times that Dan showed sexual interest in Tom which was quickly replaced by anger and hostility. at one point it looked like he put his lips to Tom's lip after putting duct tape over his mouth. I kept getting mixed signals from Dan the entire film.

~I love the rhythmn it is my methoood!~

[–] hb-boyd 14 years ago

Yes, Tom says he's straight but he clearly has feelings for Dan though he tries to hide them throughout the film. And while Dan may show contempt towards Tom, for his actions, you can see that Dan has a strong attraction to Tom. Their relationship is complex and they share a strong bond and have lots of chemistry, which I believe both are fearful of. Dan is scared of Tom and Tom furious with Dan but despite what they say neither wants to be without the other. At the end of the film both find their worlds turned upside down and the only thing they have is each other, which leads me to believe they stay together.

[–] t__cruise 13 years ago

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've read many posts in the threads for this film which have made me question whether or not the posters actually listened to the dialogue. The script is quite clear about the relationship between Tom and Dan. There was never a relationsip. One night, 5 years earlier, a drunk, heterosexual Tom had his first and only experimental homosexual sex with Dan. It was an anonymous one night stand. Fast forward 5 years, and the only reason that Tom is searching for Dan, is to find out if Dan is HIV+, and had infected both him and his wife. Dan, as depicted, is a shallow, lying, patroizing, narcisist, who contrary to his first answers to Toms questions, does have unsafe sex, and has not been tested for HIV. There is no ambiguity about the test results. Dan IS HIV+. In the end, Tom takes the responsibilty for having made the choice to have unprotected sex with a stranger, thus infecting himself and his wife, and lets Dan leave. The only gray area is Dan's reaction to the test results. He seems to be in denial, or maybe too selfish to change his lifestyle. The viewer is left wondering if Dan is going to go on having unsafe sex, and infecting other people. This leads me to wonder how the previous poster could write: "At the end of the film both find their worlds turned upside down and the only thing they have is each other, which leads me to believe they stay together." Were we watching the same film?

[–] emmeaki 14 years ago

Sexuality is a sociological construct and I think there'd be more gay or bi people out there if there was no stigma attached to it.

What a waste. Oh, the humanity!

[–] scorpiomay-1 12 years ago

tom says he chose a life, one set of feelings over another. that's exactly what we're told to do. pick one and one only. i remember back in college when i'd be out drinking sometimes feeling something then pulling back because there's no way i wanted to go down that road. i think that's why this movie clicked with a lot people...kind of shows what could have happened.