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About Patrick and the quarterback upstairs in the bedroom

posted 9 years ago by wildandwilde
3 replies | jump to latest

I have not read the book but will soon. Going into the film I had heard there was a gay character and in watching, figured pretty quickly it had to be Patrick, so when Charlie went upstairs at the party and wandered into a room, I knew this was going to be a setup for us (and him) to discover Patrick's sexuality. I mean, when the quarterback had arrived at the party, Patrick had immediately scurried over to greet him and the two had immediately disappeared together.

What seems odd to me is, here they are, lovers for I think the film said 8 months, right? The film also mentions that they had already "done it". Being two teenage boys who are dating, seems to me running off into an upstairs bedroom at a party and being alone together on a bed for what I'm guessing is at least a half hour (the whole pot brownie thing occurs during this, if I'm remembering right) can only mean one thing: they're going to have sex. If they had just wanted to talk, they can talk anywhere, right? Why rush up to a bedroom and shut the door behind them?

Yet when Charlie opens the door, the two boys are still fully clothed - even their ties aren't undone - and only beginning to just kiss - and a quite chaste kiss at that - not exactly a makeout scene. This seems entirely unrealistic to say the least. Again, these are two presumably horny teenage boys alone together in a bedroom with a closed door. Had Patrick been straight, would anyone expect he and his girlfriend to run upstairs the moment she arrived, and a half hour later still be sitting on the bed fully clothed, and only just beginning to have a quite timid, closed mouth kiss as if they had just met for the first time?

So my question is: Why so G-rated a scene? Is the book this G-rated when it comes to these two? Would the filmmaker have been disqualified from the PG rating had the boys been merely shirtless, or more in the middle of a makeout session, when Charlie walked in? Is this because they are gay and they figured audiences wouldn't be able to stomach anything more than a brief, timid, chaste kiss? Much as I like the film, this just seems completely unrealistic and silly and as a gay rights supporter, a bit annoying.

What do people on here think? How does the book handle this scene?

[–] robmillss 9 years ago

What you are saying is the scene were Charlie walks in on Patrick and Brad is unrealistic because both boys are fully clothed.

After reading your points I understand your view and your concern, however, this film is not the raunchy type, it wouldn't fit the theme if both boys were shirtless or naked. Plus, after watching the climax of the film, I think a sex scene would be inappropriate.

All the scene sets out to do is reveal Patricks sexually to Charlie, and to the viewers, nothing more. It achieves this.

[–] wildandwilde 9 years ago

I agree - it accomplished it's goal of telling the view about the sexuality of these two characters. But you can do that a bit more realistically is all I'm saying. Not that I expect full on sex, but still both completely clothed, even the tie not undone? Just seems silly.

I love the film, but stuff like this and a few other things are simply unnecessarily unrealistic. Such as a group of kids who think of themselves as misfits, yet they are at a party with what, 50 other kids? I know of no high school including my own in which the outcasts/outsiders/misfits/oddballs ranked in quite that high a number. The very idea behind being and oddball/misfit
member of the "island of misfit toys" is that there aren't 100 of you in any one school. I felt as though the party scene should have included maybe a dozen kids, max.

Also, in my experience and the experience of everyone I know, rich, slim, good looking kids were automatically not the misfits. Judging from the massive, beautiful houses these kids all live in, they all come from money, all of them are devoid of acne, all are slim and all are good looking.

Aside from these minor quibbles, again, loved the film a lot.

[–] 9 years ago

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