MovieChat Forums > A Passage to India (1985) Discussion > Aziz and Fielding: Homosexual subtext

Aziz and Fielding: Homosexual subtext


Knowing that EM Forster had already written his gay novel Maurice in the 1910s (unpublished until the 1970s), I have always felt Forster's frustrations about keeping that novel a secret was somewhat carried over into the relationship between Aziz and Fielding in A Passage to India. The difference here being that unlike in Maurice, the attraction is not consummated and is kept as a kind of platonic love. The film emphasizes the desire Aziz has for Fielding right from the start, his willingness to please him is constantly evident, and Fielding for his part is clearly taken aback with Aziz's emotional intensity toward him, and seems to reciprocate it through complete faith in Aziz's innocence and integrity of character.

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Don't forget Aziz was previously married with two children - his wife died in childbirth. He continued to keep her photograph in his drawer. Also, in a scene in Aziz's house, he tells Fielding "You must not tell Callendar, but last year I took sick leave and I went to Calcutta. There are girls there with breasts..."

My 'Passage To India film locations' website:
http://www.mapability.com/travel/p2i/

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Just because 2 "non-blokey" guys become friends, doesn't mean there's some other subtext at play. Aziz I think was delighted to have a few English people, Fielding, Adela, Mrs Moore, treat him with respect, something he patently was not used to. I think he just became a bit excitable, maybe over-friendly, as a result. As pointed out in the last comment, Aziz liked women. Fielding a little harder to read maybe, but not really. SPOILER: He obviously ended up married, so...

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<sigh> For some people, every male friendship MUST indicate a homoerotic attachment. God forbid 2 men could care for each other in a friendship that has no sexual overtones.

The OP also misses a central aspect of Forster's story: the subservient psychology of colonialism. Paul Scott put the patronizing, infantilizing British mindset well in The Raj Quartet: "I am your mother and your father." And I guess Goforth missed the comment that - was it Art Malik? - said to his Indian comrades: "Why is it we admire them so much?"

Aziz admired Fielding and was pathetically eager to please him - to the point of giving up his own collar stud so Fielding wouldn't go without - the way a child would fawn over an adored adult. There was no sexual subtext...except, of course, for the wet-dreamers who are compelled to project erotic meaning onto every human interaction.

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I think the conversation went something like: '[Why do we talk about about the English so much?].' To which the response was, '[Because we admire them so much].' xD

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i don't know about the book but the film make it clear that aziz is fond of women with big mango breasts, and they found something like indian playboy magazine under his bed. so i don't think there is anything sodomite in the movie.

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i don't think any such subtext is implied. Aziz and Fileding like each other, but i don't think it goes beyond that. Aziz seems to be quite keen on ladies.

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I think I can disagree with TheGoforth without being condescending. As a gay man myself, and based on Indian men I've worked with and known - and I don't mean to broad-brush all Indian men - I perceived interest from these men that I realized was in no way sexual. They were simply intellectually and spiritually honest in a way that western men generally are not. There is such a thing as the desire to know, to understand a person. I can understand why some read what may simply be affection or respect and conflate it with sexual interest.

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Yes, close male friendships in movies always indicate homosexuality. It's a rule of cinema. Didn't you know? Everybody's gay.

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