MovieChat Forums > Green Book (2018) Discussion > Let’s discuss the gay scene. Homophobic?...

Let’s discuss the gay scene. Homophobic? (Spoilers)

posted 5 years ago by [deleted]
21 replies | jump to latest

So as you know, the doctor is arrested in a bath house, buck naked, with a skinny white man, chained to the water pipes and forced to sit down.

Our hero bribes him out of it.

I’m not gay, but I thought about it and realised that it’s actually a very homophobic scene.

Mr perfect is arrested doing something lewd. It’s not homosexuality presented in any positive light, it’s more degenerate, and shameful, and degrading.

The scene sort of says that everybody has their flaws, and therefore, homosexuality is presented as a flaw to the public. Without our hero, he’d be doing time for homosexual acts with a white man. Career over.

[–] BrunoAntony (1198) 5 years ago

1445 posts on this forum and these are the kind of deep insights you’re putting out there?

jfc...

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Maybe message boards aren't for you. Stick to Facebook champ

[–] BrunoAntony (1198) 5 years ago

Watching and analyzing movies definitely isn’t for you, chaaaaamp.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

it was 1962

[–] mrSalty101 (3) 5 years ago

Was there some subtext behind your claim?
That wasn't my take at all.

[–] jlam888 (574) 5 years ago

Was the real Shirley gay..?

[–] Mattc164 (602) 5 years ago

Of course.

[–] maximmm (3033) 5 years ago

Real Shirley was as gay as it gets - this film presents him as fairly masculine and at times you wonder if he really was gay or perhaps bisexual, while in reality he was more feminine (not in a positive way - over the top body language and mentally a drama queen of sorts - check his interviews) than most women I know.

[–] jlam888 (574) 5 years ago

Yeah I thought it was weird. We didn't see or hear a lot of gay indications at all in the movie and all of a sudden he is found naked with a white guy in the bath house.

[–] PaladinNJ (20307) 2 years ago

In real life, he was a lot more effeminate than he was portrayed. Ali refused to depict some of his most flamboyant traits because he was afraid the audience would think he was making fun of Don being gay.

[–] Otter (24464) 5 years ago

That was the reality of being gay in 1962 America. If the police caught you with your one true love or just Mr. Right Now, you went to jail and your career was over. And if you crossed racial lines in the Jim Crow South, you probably lost some teeth at the police station as well.

Your best hope was an arresting cop that took bribes.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I’m not gay, but I thought about it and realised that it’s actually a very homophobic scene.

Mr perfect is arrested doing something lewd. It’s not homosexuality presented in any positive light, it’s more degenerate, and shameful, and degrading.

The scene sort of says that everybody has their flaws, and therefore, homosexuality is presented as a flaw to the public. Without our hero, he’d be doing time for homosexual acts with a white man. Career over.

riiight , like when the cops arrested him for being out after sundown ? that shows that being out after sundown is lewd shameful and degrading? Thats another flaw in mr Perfect.

and what about the time those white guys were beating the shit out of him for going into a bar? that means going into a bar is a horrible thing to do and you deserve a kicking

and what about that time he wanted to eat in a restaurant instead of a broom cupboard , does this man have no boundaries?? good job our hero was there to save him again .

[–] Destinata (2588) 4 years ago

Take a breath and realize that it's portraying what would have happened in the early 1960's. And this fellow hired him because he knew there were going to be issues. This was one of the issues. Although he was in denial about it, because he said it was the fact that he was a touring artist that broke up his marriage. Um...no.

[–] pioneergrrrl (2388) 4 years ago

consider that back then the American psychological association was (unfortunately) still classifying homosexuality as a mental illness, cops were arresting people for being GLBT and being fired in most other industries for this was 100 percent legal. It's hard to understand today because even with flaws so much has infact changed.

Of course Shirley is going to be in denial re his sexuality. This denial is what made lots of people have issues. They were shut out of society.

I am a white heterosexual woman but I also have epilepsy. I know that if an employer or instructor harasses me after I publicly have an epileptic seizure I can stop them today. Shirley could not publicly identify himself as a gay man.

[–] Destinata (2588) 4 years ago

"Of course Shirley is going to be in denial re his sexuality. This denial is what made lots of people have issues. They were shut out of society.... Shirley could not publicly identify himself as a gay man."

A gay man who has an ex-wife and is saying his being on tour was what broke up his marriage is a gay man in denial to more than just the general public. It went without saying that he had to be closeted back then, but if he knew he was gay, his wife was either a "beard" -- knowingly, which must have had monetary compensations; or unknowingly, which is despicable -- or he was trying to lie to himself. Or maybe when he had the wife he was just really conflicted and didn't know how he felt. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Since Dr. Shirley is gone, we likely will never know. But again, he obviously had to be as closeted as Caesar Romero back then. They were usually called "confirmed bachelors" once upon a time, and folks just assumed they discretely had affairs -- also something one didn't used to announce to the public. Frank Sinatra got arrested for adultery long, long ago. So Shirley could have easily never gotten married, and no one would have thought a thing of it -- except maybe his family, who seemed to have some hang-ups about him. They're probably the reason he got married. And that would still leave the question open as to whether he was honest with himself and the lady, hoped to find happiness with her, or just used her as a "beard."

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

My understanding is that the film is largely based on real events. Let's just suppose for a second that this was a real event. Do you think it's still homophobic as opposed to just the facts of the incident?

If anything I find it refreshing. It shows that Tony can handle the fact that the doctor is a homosexual without judging him for it. He understands that it is what it is and that he's going to have to deal with it as part of being a helper to the man. In a culture where homophobia is even more openly practiced than racism it's actually good to see the tolerance that Tony displays, regardless if it's just a professional consideration or Tony not having an issue with it being what it is. The motive can be questioned but the action is pretty noble considering the implications of what Tony did.

[–] pioneergrrrl (2388) 4 years ago

agree. It would have been perfectly legal back then for Tony to have beaten Shirley over that.. Tony however is more concerned that Shirley is set free from the cops and is okay. Him being outed as non-heterosexual does not change their employment. Tony still stays with Shirley when he could have become uncomfortable and just left, went home. Tony later welcomes him into his home after the YMCA. Presumably Tony is a practicing Catholic--big Italian family.

[–] BeaSouth (2767) a year ago

I get your point but, people in 2023 would also be arrested if caught naked and having sex in a public shower at a YMCA.

[–] stickman38 (3011) a year ago

I was just getting ready to post this. Doesn't matter if you're straight or gay, you're going to jail if you get caught having sex in public. So no, it's not a homophobic scene.

I have no idea if Shirley was actually gay though. His family denies it. So... it is what it is.

[–] BeaSouth (2767) a year ago

Agreed. Here’s a news article from fall 2022 where police were trying to find and arrest a straight couple for public sex acts in the stadium of an Oakland A’s baseball game
https://news.yahoo.com/pictured-couple-accused-sex-act-141525789.html

[–] stickman38 (3011) a year ago

Oddly enough, I've heard of couples doing that at ball games and movie theaters.

I had a woman come on to me during a bus ride one time but I turned her down. haha... I just can't get into the public thing. Some people seem to get turned on by it though. It's kinda strange.