MovieChat Forums > The Deer Hunter (1979) Discussion > Was michael gay

Was michael gay

posted 9 years ago by liverpool26
21 replies | jump to latest

This has probably been asked before but I've justed watched the movie for first time and was wondering is he gay. When stan accused him of being gay the other guys got very defensive i thought that was odd people only react like that if its something true plus it was said he had no interest in women. Then just how he acted around nick made me think he seen nick as more than a friend he told him he loved him but that doesn't necessarily make him gay but when you add it all up it seems to heavily suggest that michael was gay.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Nikon11 9 years ago

👍

[–] bu11dawg (4) 6 months ago

I don't think he was gay. He was not a womanizer - we don't know his background. I always figured he was probably raised by a single mother and didn't want to use women, or something like that. I think he had a moral compass. Linda sure seemed to be his interest. His relationship with Nick is close, but i don't see gay. Michael is the leader of the group, but Nick knows how to handle him. "Why didn't you do that before now?" "Cause I FORGOT." was not the reply of an underling. And..., just to cloudy up this issue even more - ever notice how when Nick catches up to Mike on the basketball court, Mike is laying there butt naked, with a hug pole sticking up between his legs? LOL Despite his protestations, Cimino had to have known the clues he was putting into this movie. Still doesn't mean Michael was gay though. Just adds to the interest.

[–] liverpool26 9 years ago

Lol you sound like a gay in denial I bet you've been to one of those gay to straight camps they have in US. Like I said in original post him saying he loved his friend doesn't make him gay but when you add the other like he's never been intrested in girls and how defensive his friends got when one of them called him gay it not only suggests yes gay or asexual but that his friends think hes gay.

I don't like it myself when people assume characters are gay for no reason like in 'the departed' many say the guy was guy because he called others 'fag' but that's just stupid he showed no interest in men and had a girlfriend, you can't say the same for de Nero's character he showed no interest at all in women and his friends seemed to suspect he was gay.

[–] Nikon11 9 years ago

Mike didn't like to pick up sleazy chicks in bars, or have indiscriminate sex. Doesn't make him gay, necessarily. I think that he was just a really serious guy, and had strong ideals and strong notions of love, friendship, and tradition.

Stan was a tool. His ambitions were small and simple - he couldn't understand Michael, so he made fun of him.

[–] nelson_keith 9 years ago

Michael was in love with Meryl Streep's character. She might have loved Michael too, but he was too shy and slow to pursue her, so she accepted Nicky's more straightforward approach. Mike pretended he wasn't in love with her for the Nick's benefit. That's why he did not have relationships with women, not because he was gay. This wasn't all laid out on film, you have to pick up signals and read into what is and isn't being said. That is why the long wedding scene is so important at the beginning, to set up the characters' interactions naturally.

[–] Nikon11 9 years ago

I agree. Good post.

[–] beyondthesudz56 9 years ago

I sure never thought that Michael was gay. I thought he loved Linda, but he wasn't the type of man who was going to hurt his best friend, (Nick).
I also think that is why he went back to Vietnam, first because Nick had asked him not to leave him there, and also because if he did not do that he would never have been able to love Linda completely.

[–] romanticinsomniac 9 years ago

You stupid bastard. You're so damn stupid I'm not going to bother anymore. What a moron. I feel sorry for your Mother.
100% Comic Book Purist, and Bloody Proud of it !

[–] romanticinsomniac 9 years ago

You stupid bastard. You're so damn stupid I'm not going to bother anymore. What an ass hole.

100% Comic Book Purist, and Bloody Proud of it !

[–] liverpool26 9 years ago

Ha an adult who reads comic books is calling me stupid, i bet you breastfed till your was 15 and are mommies special little boy lmao.

Go and play now whilst the grownups talk.

[–] [email protected] (2017) 3 months ago

I think in the US there is a taboo with male friendships, any showing of love and affections, they immediately jump to gay like the OP assumes. Or maybe it's a recent American phenomenon that they cannot conceive of love without sex.

[–] puplover 9 years ago

Hi, I wrote the very same thing several years ago. I discussed it in detail. I wish it was still on here. It was a very long thread w/ lots of folks commenting, pages and pages.

But, yes, I think Michael had a secret. As I said in my old post, the director is not going to put a gay accusation into a movie for no reason. Every line has a point. I thought Michael loved Nick. Perhaps in "that" way, yes. Point is, his sexuality is in question and that was the point.

[–] la di da 9 years ago

I guess men can't love men unless they're gay.

I thought love was unconditional not sexual.

We are the music makers...we are the dreamer of dreams.Willy Wonka

[–] RoseZ2014 9 years ago

I am watching this film again for the 15th time. Michael's character is in love with Meryl Streep. He's not gay. He loves Nick and all the male characters in the film as his own brothers.

[–] la di da 9 years ago

^^^^ thank you!

Every now and than in see threads like this and it n doesn't matter of its an old or new movie.

It's so ridiculous. It's Even in cartoons.Velma from scooby was gay. ..

I guess from this oddball understanding, michael in the godfather was in love with his own brother fredo because he kissed him on the mouth and told him that he loved him.

We are the music makers...we are the dreamer of dreams.Willy Wonka

[–] Gen_X_Morlock 9 years ago

I never wondered if Michael was gay but I did wonder about Nick. There was some sort of a vibe with the Frenchman.

[–] RobbieCalifornia 9 years ago

I didn't see any gay themes in this movie at all. Brotherhood, yes. Michael loved Linda, as several people have said. He also loved his friends.

This does not make him gay.

[–] AnthonyManero 8 years ago

He probably is gay bc there's a gay porn spoof of this movie called " The Dick Hunter"

[–] wmlopez 8 years ago

This movie takes place in the 1960s' and back then it was common to call another man gay to bust his chops. If he was gay no way these guys would let him hang around with him. Today that's another story.

[–] ImAComputer (244) a year ago

I though it was implied that robert di nero had sex with meryl streep before that kiss on the cheek scene before he goes back to vietnam get Walken.