MovieChat Forums > Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You (2012) Discussion > James' sexuality, purposely left ambiguo...

James' sexuality, purposely left ambiguous. (Spoilers)

posted 11 years ago by TxMike
3 replies | jump to latest

I found that part of the story curious. Clearly his father wondered, as he asked James over lunch whether he was homosexual. Dad asked it in a playful way, with a grin, as if to say "I don't care either way, I was just wondering." And of course James never said either way.

Then as we see him in various scenes, with his almost feminine features and the way he partially rolls up the cuffs of his trousers. It seems to be there deliberately to raise that question in the minds of the viewers.

Then when he played the bad trick on the homosexual man at work, and when trying to explain himself said "I wanted to see how it was to be someone else." Did that mean someone homosexual, as if he were considering what his own orientation really was?

But overall, when James was explaining the trash can art to the prospective buyers, he referred to the artist as "He-she-it" explaining that labeling a person takes away from who they really are, and thus keeping James' sexual preference ambiguous through the whole movie was in keeping with that theme.

It doesn't really matter what his sexuality is, he is James and he will learn to live his life within who he figures out who he really is.

This is a better movie than what one gets from just a casual viewing.

TxMike
Make a choice, to take a chance, to make a difference.

[–] rooprect 10 years ago

Great analysis. I forgot about the he/she/it speech, but with that in mind, yes, I think the point is to maintain his sexual ambiguity. If we did have to place bets, I'd say he was mostly homosexual or curious at least. I say this not because of any particular behavior, but simply because the "trick" he played on his friend did seem less like a prank as it was him (James) wanting to play the role of his friend's lover. I'm glad they didn't dwell on that point, though, since his sexual ambiguity was the point.

[–] migliodrew 10 years ago

James is a homosexual, if you haven't read the book this movie is based on you should really consider it, it's phenomenal.

[–] Audrain 9 years ago

It's clear by the end that he's gay--homosexual is such a formal term--or, to acknowledge the ambiguity, queer. (There's been a lot of writing since the late 1990s on what "queer" means and how it's more encompassing that "gay" or even LGBT.)

James desires to be mature, to be an adult, to be the kind of man that John would find attractive and desirable. That is clearly queer desire. The gender ambiguity of the trash can artist can also be defined as queer.

All in all, this aspect of the film gave it even greater profundity, though I think even not fully grasping the implications of its queer storyline and discourse, it still paints a moving picture of a adolescent truly becoming an adult.