I think that, no, Roger is not gay.
I also think that what is missing here is an appreciation for the time in history. No, someone with lots of sexual magnetism would not have made a good Tom. Every one in the story exhibited an appreciation of good manners, and what was important to Tom's character was how he broke through that (being American, he could).
For the time and place, Tom didn't have to sizzle sexually. Roger didn't have to be inflamed by the new experience of 'picking up some girls.' There are lots of movies that transport us back to a different time and have people acting with the same impulses, manners and feelings that they would have today. In those times, though, they wouldn't have the lens through which we see things today.
I realize it serves an agenda. However, Abraham Lincoln shared living quarters and a bed with a dear friend who was a man and was not homosexual. There's a recent attempt to portray Lincoln that way. Walt Whitman has also been portrayed as and 'outed' as a homosexual. The times were different, then.
For people living in this time, especially gay men, Roger in this movie is 1) handsome and 2) confides something to his mother about a new experience for him. Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winnah... must be gay. Just those two things, and all sorts of things you might read into brief exchanges with his father (shown via a screenwriter and director, by the way).
Now, the actor himself? Dunno. It's ACTING, dahling.
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AZINDN
12 years ago
Well stated. Many on this board have no idea about the historical context of this film, 1930s London and the society and class behavior of the characters presented. Try reading more Brideshead Revisited to understand the subtle discussions of homosexuality of the period and how it was represented in literature. Roger is not gay, he's a young inexperience man whose understanding of the birds and bees was as uninformed as most of his era. Sexuality and experimentation was not overt, and men were not seething hormonal driven studs -- that was left for the gardener -- read Lady Chatterly's Lover. Most obviously, the gay characters, Charles is neither a drag queen nor fop, he's elegant and in the closet when in the social setting of Julia. That's where gay men were unless in their own social circles. Remember, homosexuality was criminal and punishable by arrest, prison and social disgrace. Roger is a lovely young man who has elegance and manners, raised by his nanny, he's university educated, unmarried and wants to be outside the theatrical world of his parents. Likely the forthcoming war will be his next stage of growth.
-- Ew lover, you gonna make me clutch my pearls --
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amorehl-93-99338
10 years ago
Excellent points. Also, I imagine most people posting here are Americans. So since no one has mentioned it yet: It has long been noted that Americans have been known to confuse an appearance of being English with that of being homosexual.
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