The Friend Charlie

Tim McIntyre's performance as Charlie was absolutely brilliant: across his tiny amount of screen time, he created a perfectly recognizable and unforgettable character. That is quite an accomplishment. On the strength of his portrayal of the character, I can say with great confidence that, no, Charlie is not gay... but also I can be pretty sure that he is so deeply insecure in his sexuality that he is terrified that he might be! He hides this insecurity with boasts of sexual conquests which never occurred, all the while seeming a bit jealous of the fact that Jerry actually has a girlfriend. He finally asks Jerry outright if he ever "made it" with "that girl"... when Jerry evades the question, Charlie (naturally) misinterprets his refusal to brag as an admission that Jerry, like Charlie, has "never been laid." Charlie, in his own way, is as heartbreaking a character as Pookie.

For her part, Pookie resents Charlie's friendship with Jerry, and clearly sees him as a threat to their intimacy. Sensing Charlie's insecurity, she launches her attack right where it would hurt him most, at the same time driving a wedge of suspicion between Jerry and Charlie. That, I'm sure, is what Pookie's relentless accusations of homosexuality are really all about: Pookie's own debilitating insecurities can only be assuaged by attacking others mercilessly, and on the most personal level. Thus, Charlie is the perfect foil for Pookie. Jerry can only stand aside and watch, guilelessly bewildered, until he learns how messed-up the people he thinks he knows best really are.

John Nichols never wrote any of that Pookie/Charlie dynamic into his novel. Harry Schoonover was simply an "animalistic clod." Pookie didn't approve of Jerry's transformation into a beer-swilling frat boy, but didn't resist it much, either... and later embraced the whole "scene" much to the detriment of their longterm love affair.

I think it was deliberately left open to interpretation. I have to admit I got a gay vibe, what with the lying about his conquests (that being none). Sure guys will make up having gotten to laid to some girl, but they at least have already gotten laid. This was the 60s of free love and it would be nearly impossible not to have gotten laid by college.