MovieChat Forums > Battle of the Bulge (1966) Discussion > Gay Vibe (Sgt Duquesne + Lt Weaver)

Gay Vibe (Sgt Duquesne + Lt Weaver)

posted 12 years ago by rimnod
7 replies | jump to latest

OK IMBD is full of trolls and a lot of them are always alledging things like racism and gay vibes where racism and gay vibes do not exist ----I've seen Battle of Bulge many times and I have to tell you that the subtext to the relationship between Duquesne and Weaver is as gay as a football bat.

Notice the tension between these two at the start ---? Its more than irritation for a gung-ho Sgt on a green Lt. There is a bitchiness about it and some heat. Kind of like a love spat.

Later when they are captured we have that moving scene where they are about to be split up with the LT being sent to an officer's prisoner camp and the lovingforlorn looks they give each other before the Malmedy massacre begins is touching.

I am not saying the script promotes a gay vibe between the two characters but Ibet that the director pushed the two actors in that direction.

Lets be realistic ----that relationship is anything but unrealistic unless you insert all the elements and theme of a love story.

Your thoughts?

[–] foster1234 12 years ago

Do you cruise around this site, and look for movies to post "this is a gay relationship" thread. Or This actor is gay thread.

Are you that insecure

Mongo like candy!

[–] Bklyn4ever 12 years ago

I would rather not descend to the level of personal invective employed by the first respondent.

However, I concur that there is little or no homo-eroticism ("gay vibe") in the relationship between the sargent and the lieutenant.

I see "gay vibes" in lots of male bonding scenes (like Spartacus), but I just don't think there's any intensity or "heat" to it in this film.

[–] silvercometred1 10 years ago

"I would rather not descend to the level of personal invective employed by the first respondent.

However, I concur that there is little or no homo-eroticism ("gay vibe") in the relationship between the sargent and the lieutenant."

I agree. On the personal level the relationship is more like father and son (with the sergeant being the father.) No gayness intended.

On the military level platoon sergeants are supposed to look out for their assigned, inexperienced platoon leader. The look that the LT gives the old Sarge when LT is told they will be separated is the realization that his survival rate will go down once the Sarge is gone. It's fear of the Germans and the unknown; not a gay attachment.

[–] spookyrat1 10 years ago

It didn't quite seem to be your typical Sgt/Lt relationship.

Then again the Panzar commander had his corporal with him, who'd apparently followed him everywhere, though longing to go home to his family.🐭

[–] beth-kcmo 10 years ago

Gay vibe? How idiotic!

The entire point of these two characters is to echo the relationship between the Dana Andrews/Henry Fonda characters and Robert Shaw/Hans Christian Blech characters. I.E. to illustrate the all-too-common and tragic circumstance where lower rank officers are more intuitive and have more common sense than their so-called superior officers who arrogantly think they know it all and wind up leading their troops into disaster.

In some cases, e.g. the James McArthur and Dana Andrews characters, these men are humbled once confronted with the catastrophic consequences of their arrogance. This results in CHARACTER GROWTH, a critical factor in any worthy drama.

To trivialize the horrors men witnessed in war, the humility it wrought in their souls, even in a mere film meant to honor their sacrifices, by debasing things to the level you suggest is disgusting.

[–] beth-kcmo 10 years ago

Also, the entire point with the James McArthur character is a matter of overcoming his cowardice. He was all to ready to surrender to the Nazis, while his sergeant was dead against it. James McArthur's surrender resulted in his sergeant getting killed

Later, when the McArthur character his hiding out in a barn and a group of privates finds him, the first thing they ask him is, "Should we surrender?" And McArthur responds with what his sergeant kept telling HIM, "No. Just hang loose."

Look, I'm not homophobic. But it gets endlessly tedious to see the gay outlook on life narrow the wider experience of human existence.

[–] chrissso 9 years ago

Talk about looking for things that are not there! Do you also imagine monsters under your bed???