Billy Mack and Joe
I always assumed their relationship was platonic, am I right?
shareYes, you are right. But, they are older single men who both lived for their careers.
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MovieChat Forums > Love Actually (2003) Discussion > Billy Mack and Joe
yes. they love each other, but i don't think we are meant to infer it is in any way sexual.
shareNOT sexual but closer than most brothers. Joe is the one constant in Billy's life. He has been Billy's manager for decades & when everyone walked away from Billy, Joe stuck by him. That kind of loyalty is hard to find.
Billy & Joe are a wonderful story.
Yes, they're my favourite story in the film.
shareInteresting.
I always saw it as a romantic gesture. IMO, I thought it was obvious that they were meant to be gay.
I guess tge writers/director made their relationship to be however the viewer wants it to be.
Have you watched that last scene, Olivia? Billy comes to Joe's place, saying he's realised Joe is the one person he wants to be with; Joe laughs and says, what, twenty minutes at Elton John's and you're as queer as a hatstand? And Billy says, don't be stupid... Let's get drunk and watch porn.
Of course they're not about to fall into bed together - as the above posters say, they are just loyal, committed long-term friends. Not all love is sexual. Which in fact is the overarching theme of the film, that there are many kinds of love.
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Where did I say it was sexual? I said romantic. Just because I assumed that they were gay doesn't mean that they had to be a sexual same-sex couple. I was saying he realized he had romantic feelings for his manager. Not all romantic relationships are sexual.
shareBut them loving each other and being gay would suggest a sexual relationship wouldn't it? if they were gay and attracted to each other that would be something different from what I think the film suggests.
shareFair enough
shareJust my two cents.
I never thought Joe was gay. In fact, when Billy turned up at Joe's place after being with Elton, and declared Joe to be the love of his life, Joe looked positively horrified. Clearly he wasn't interested in any such entanglement with Billy.
Billy, on the other hand, could be assessed either way in my view. My suspicion was that he was making a pass at Joe, knowing he would be rejected but hoping otherwise. When rejected, he laughed it off and suggested they get drunk and watch porn.
It could have been, as already suggested, that he was declaring his undying platonic love and friendship for Joe. I think it can be taken either way and interpretation will differ from person to person. But my take is that Billy swung both ways and was looking or hoping for more from Joe.
When I said I wanted to be a comedian, they all laughed at me. Well, they're not laughing now!
Very interesting. You said clearly what I had only inarticulately bounced around in my head for years. Every time I have seen that movie, I've been puzzled by that final couple of scenes, and I think you are ultimately correct.
Bolstering your analysis is that the very final time we see Billy, he is with girls again. The "both ways" intuition would be consistent also with the movie's overall presentation of many different kinds of love relationships. The porn star stand-ins, for example, are classic British humour (like Monty Python), satirizing the genre and yet framing genuine human stories about yet another outcropping of love.
Thanks so much for your post!
i never thought either of them were meant to be gay. i think they are just very good friends. i don't see any sign of B illy making a pass. he has simply realised that his manager is the person in the world he is closest to. everything doesn't have to be about sex.
shareOh well, this has become one of those 'Depends what you mean by...' conversations. I think we're all agreed that it wasn't a physical relationship, anyway.
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