Homoeroticising the Hollywood film part 1
For many years it has been a taboo to depict homosexual relationships in mainstream cinema. This subject matter is often only dealt with in the independent sector or found in foreign films that originate in countries which look upon homosexuality differently from the way it is seen by Hollywood. The only films to deal with homosexuality in mainstream cinema and Hollywood cinema are the camp comedies such as To Wong Fu thanks for everything Julie Newmar and The Birdcage. Gay characters are normally reduced to stereotypes, the comic relief and the gay best friend. Films dealing with the relationship between two males as something more than friends have only ever been a subject for art house and independent films such as the work of Gregg Araki, the director of Mysterious Skin. The work of Gregg Araki comes from the 1990’s New Queer cinema movement in independent cinema but it was still only in independent film that gay relationships were portrayed. It shows that the world is still a small minded place when it comes to depicting homosexuality on the big screen. Homosexuality still offends many and thus we have not seen a gay hero or gay lead in a Hollywood picture. So what happens if you want to see male romantic relationships being depicted? Well, the answer is to use your imagination. In recent years a phenomenon has begun to get more notice and recognition and that is the idea of Slash. So what is slash? Well, simply put it comes from the sign on a computer keyboard, the back slash key. Those who wanted to see male relationship decided to take male leads and pair them with each other in fictional tales. The idea is that you watch a film and it occurs to you that something more is going on between the male characters. Therefore you decided to write a story about how these men are more than just friends. These stories are known as fanfics . The pairing of the male characters is called slash because when you write about the pairing you write the two characters names separated by the backslash symbol e.g. Aragorn/Legolas (a favorite pairing among Lord of The Ring fans).
“Slash fan fiction, to give it its proper title, describes scenes between existing media characters (or real people such as musicians, actors and sports stars) that are usually homoerotic, often explicit and almost exclusively written by young, heterosexual females” Elisabeth Easther: Metro Paper.
“Slash fan fiction, which posits same-sex relationships between the (mostly) male series protagonists, originated with Kirk/Spock fan fiction in the 1970s; the term slash derives from the "/" employed to denote a specific romantic pairing (Jenkins, Textual Poachers 186-7). Slash fan fiction has been discussed by a number of academic writers (cf. the work of Henry Jenkins, Constance Penley, Camille Bacon-Smith, Patricia Frazer Lamb and Diana L. Veith). It has been described as "romantic pornography," as a critique of traditional masculinities, because quite often traditionally "feminine" traits such as nurturing and the open declaration of feelings are extended onto the male characters, or as a utopian vision of a continuum of male homosocial and homoerotic desires, because the most popular formula of slash writing sees two men who were formerly best friends suddenly discover their physical attraction to each other.” Susanne Jung, Queering Popular Culture: Female Spectators and the Appeal of Writing Slash Fan Fiction University of Tübingen, Germany
Slash fiction as well as fan art only depicts same sex relationships, the characters you are slashing will be either be both male or both female. Most surprising about this phenomenon is that the majority of Slash is in fact written by women. This opens up an idea that does not often get talked about; the idea that women do fantasies about male on male sex. It is common place to find that men fantasies about women and lesbianism but people are only just beginning to realize that women have similar fantasies about men and homosexuality. One of the major aspects of Slash is that it is done because women find it erotic. Slash may be about a wish to see homosexual relationships but it is because of desire we want to see this. Slash offers women a chance to indulge in their own sexual fantasies, if film will not offer women depictions of what many find erotic then slash becomes a very important and fulfilling option to women.
Although slash is only just being recognized it can be traced back to the 1960’s especially within the Star Trek Fandom . One of most popular fandoms was that of the Star Trek community and it was with this community where slash was first seen.
“Slash, or K/S fiction, represents a long-standing tradition in the women's fan-writing community which poses ways of con¬structing homoerotic fantasies employing the series characters. Slash, as many writers have now noted, represents a powerful form of resistant reading, an active appropriation and transformation of dominant media content into forms of cultural production and circulation that speak to the female fan community's needs and interests. Slash has proven empowering to its female fan readers and writers, helping them to articulate and explore their sexual fantasies, bringing them together into a community across various barriers which isolate them. Slash, by translating politics into the personal, gave them a way to speak about their experiences and commitments. Some members of the Gaylaxians have embraced slash as a form which can also express their fantasies about the series and their desires for its future development. Science Friction, a Star Trek: The Next Generation slash zine distributed at the 1992 Gaylaxicon, specifically presented itself as a response to the failure of the letter-writing campaign: "Our motto is: If Paramount can't give us that queer episode, just make it so!" Henry Jenkins, “Out of the closet and into the Universe”.
The Star Trek fandom was the first to really start addressing issues of slash and how it represented the fantasies of its female community. Many other TV shows also achieved this female appreciation such as Starsky and Hutch, Blakes 7 and Battlestar Galactica but still slash had not been recognized in relation with films. Slash has primarily been associated with the world of TV shows and more specifically sci-fi and fantasy shows. This may be due to the type of individuals that are attracted to such shows already being more open to fantasy and therefore more open to indulge in their own desires. As well as this, sci-fi/fantasy series can offer more characters therefore more character development for its fans to concentrate on and offers a longer running time with more scenarios to involve characters in. But things are changing and movie fandoms are becoming far more slash friendly. Maybe it is because women are now more open about their sexual fantasies and more willing to express what they find erotic.
There have been gay icons in film for many years. Stars such as James Dean have been adopted by the gay community but slash fans are not interested in gay stars. What they want is to see depictions of love and sex between men. Maybe it is the still slightly homophobic nature of Hollywood that denies movie slash that has kept knowledge of slash fiction quiet, but no matter what people know or don’t know about slash it is clear that it has become highly popular and a far more noticeable part of fan culture.
From this the questions arise: ‘What makes a film Slashable?’ and ‘How can what has been talked about in relationship to TV show fan culture be applied to Hollywood film?’ Using specific examples, I will attempt to answer these two questions. I will address issues of turning subtext into text and how old TV shows that were slashed have been re-made into films that recognize and show the slash. I will also look at how films have been made so that any homoerotic element that would have been there has been written out so it is no longer historically accurate but will not upset homophobic viewers. This leads me onto my first case study, Troy by Wolfgang Petersen. Troy details the events that take place in Homer’s book, The Iliad. It is the story of the Greek war against the Trojans after the young Trojan prince, Paris, steals the beautiful Helen away and the various heroes that stood on each side: Hector, Achilles and Patroclus. This film was a prime example of re-writing a historical text to exclude something Hollywood would not want to promote: the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus. It was implied in the book that they were lovers. The film instead offers them up as cousins to explain their closeness as well as introducing a female character as a love interest for Achilles.
It is a known fact that during Greek time homosexuality was not viewed in the same way as it is in today’s society. Men would often have young boys as lovers until these boys grew to men . Also, homosexuality was promoted within Greek armies. Warriors were encouraged to have a male lover on the battlefield as it was thought they would be more likely to fight for a lover than a simple comrade in arms. The relationship between Achilles and Patroclus was one of the most famous relationships in Ancient Greek society; their bond has been admired and respected. Yet this homoerotic relationship was not something a Hollywood studio wanted to depict in their film and was therefore changed to suit how it would be looked upon in today’s society. Even with this knowledge many slash fans still see something to Achilles and Patroclus relationship of “cousins”. They show enough of a bond and closeness for these two characters to be slashed. Slash fans know there was meant to be something more so it is not that far a stretch of the imagination to think of these men as lovers rather than cousins. From the first time you see them spar, two handsome men chasing each other round Greek ruins obviously both familiar and comfortable round each other; you can read a more homoerotic element to the characters. The way Patroclus admires and looks up to Achilles and the way in return Achilles feels protective and mentoring towards Patroclus shows they are very close so even without any overtly homoerotic tones slash fans can still read far more into the characters.
However Achilles/Patroclus is not the favorite pairing amongst Troy slash fans. The slash pairing for this film that most fans write fiction about is in fact Hector/Paris. However, these two characters are not only brothers, but Hector is married and Paris is the reason for the war in the first place as he fell in love and ran away with Helen. So how is it possible to slash these two characters? It is the very nature of slash fans to re-imagine and recreate according to their desires. Hector and Paris make a desirable pairing due to the nature of their relationship. They are close to one another, they respect and care for one another, they fight for one another and they protect each other. This relationship can be explained as brotherly love but this is no barrier for slash fans. Since slash fans have a desire to see one taboo relationship (homosexuality) many do not view a taboo such as incest as offensive. Slash fans see two attractive men that share a bond of love which can be re-interpreted according to the slash fan’s desires. It is this reason that also allows slash fans to overlook and, a majority of the time ignore the female characters. Hectors wife and Helen herself are simply put out of mind so as not to intervene in the world recreated in slash fiction.
There are three major scenes in Troy that prove to slash fans the nature of Hector and Paris’s relationship. The first is the boat scene where Paris first tells Hector he has taken Helen with him back to Troy. This scene includes the line “do you love me brother?” spoken by Paris to Hector. The use of the word love shows just how strong the feelings are between these brothers. Paris craves his brother’s love as strongly as Hector later gives him his love. At first angry with his young brother when Hector learns that Paris is willing to return to Sparta with Helen to face certain death for what he has done, Hector cannot deny his brother. Hector is prepared to face his brothers actions knowing it will lead to war but he would rather face that than see his brother killed.
The second scene that had the attention of slash fans was what is known as “The leg hug scene”. Paris has challenged Menelaus to the right for Helen but after realizing he is no match succumbs to fear and crawls to Hectors feet holding onto his brother’s leg for dear life. Menelaus shouts for vengeance and the right to kill Paris but as he strikes Hector replies “he is my brother” and kills Menelaus first. Hector proves his love for Paris when he kills to protect him as he would rather break the promise for Paris to fight Menelaus alone than see his brother killed. The other part of this scene is the very fact that Paris clings to his brother’s leg. It is an intimate connection; their bodies joined at that point, their emotional connection made physical. It is very clear from this scene that Paris is not a warrior; he is a lover not a fighter and though he tries he never stood a chance against an older and more experience warrior like Menelaus. Hector is a fighter; it is up to him to fulfill his role as the older brother and, to a slash fan, his role as lover needing to protect the person he loves. Hector is older and more experienced and loyal to his younger brother and it is these character traits that also define their roles as lovers, Hector is the “aggressive” while Paris is the “passive”.
The third scene is also the last time that Hector and Paris appear on screen together in a final tender farewell to each other. Hector goes to face Achilles after he mistakes him for his “cousin” Patroclus and killed Patroclus. Hector says his goodbyes to his family before this battle, not knowing if it is indeed his last. This scene is one of beauty and tenderness as he kisses Paris’s forehead, holding his face in his hands. This is a moment normally shown between lovers rather than brothers, such a tender and personal show of love and devotion. This scene shows the conclusion of the two slash relationships Troy has established. Achilles, after retiring from the battle, returns after the death of Patroclus by Hectors hand. He is so grieved by the passing of his “cousin” that he wants nothing more than revenge on Hector for taking away the person most dear to him. Hector, who fights for honor and to protect those he loves, accepts this challenge but is killed by Achilles forever parting him from Paris.
Dont forget to follow me @lonedreameryaoi and the Let Zoe Spoil You facebook page
I am also on Pinterest http://pinterest.com/
“Slash fan fiction, to give it its proper title, describes scenes between existing media characters (or real people such as musicians, actors and sports stars) that are usually homoerotic, often explicit and almost exclusively written by young, heterosexual females” Elisabeth Easther: Metro Paper.
“Slash fan fiction, which posits same-sex relationships between the (mostly) male series protagonists, originated with Kirk/Spock fan fiction in the 1970s; the term slash derives from the "/" employed to denote a specific romantic pairing (Jenkins, Textual Poachers 186-7). Slash fan fiction has been discussed by a number of academic writers (cf. the work of Henry Jenkins, Constance Penley, Camille Bacon-Smith, Patricia Frazer Lamb and Diana L. Veith). It has been described as "romantic pornography," as a critique of traditional masculinities, because quite often traditionally "feminine" traits such as nurturing and the open declaration of feelings are extended onto the male characters, or as a utopian vision of a continuum of male homosocial and homoerotic desires, because the most popular formula of slash writing sees two men who were formerly best friends suddenly discover their physical attraction to each other.” Susanne Jung, Queering Popular Culture: Female Spectators and the Appeal of Writing Slash Fan Fiction University of Tübingen, Germany
Slash fiction as well as fan art only depicts same sex relationships, the characters you are slashing will be either be both male or both female. Most surprising about this phenomenon is that the majority of Slash is in fact written by women. This opens up an idea that does not often get talked about; the idea that women do fantasies about male on male sex. It is common place to find that men fantasies about women and lesbianism but people are only just beginning to realize that women have similar fantasies about men and homosexuality. One of the major aspects of Slash is that it is done because women find it erotic. Slash may be about a wish to see homosexual relationships but it is because of desire we want to see this. Slash offers women a chance to indulge in their own sexual fantasies, if film will not offer women depictions of what many find erotic then slash becomes a very important and fulfilling option to women.
Although slash is only just being recognized it can be traced back to the 1960’s especially within the Star Trek Fandom . One of most popular fandoms was that of the Star Trek community and it was with this community where slash was first seen.
“Slash, or K/S fiction, represents a long-standing tradition in the women's fan-writing community which poses ways of con¬structing homoerotic fantasies employing the series characters. Slash, as many writers have now noted, represents a powerful form of resistant reading, an active appropriation and transformation of dominant media content into forms of cultural production and circulation that speak to the female fan community's needs and interests. Slash has proven empowering to its female fan readers and writers, helping them to articulate and explore their sexual fantasies, bringing them together into a community across various barriers which isolate them. Slash, by translating politics into the personal, gave them a way to speak about their experiences and commitments. Some members of the Gaylaxians have embraced slash as a form which can also express their fantasies about the series and their desires for its future development. Science Friction, a Star Trek: The Next Generation slash zine distributed at the 1992 Gaylaxicon, specifically presented itself as a response to the failure of the letter-writing campaign: "Our motto is: If Paramount can't give us that queer episode, just make it so!" Henry Jenkins, “Out of the closet and into the Universe”.
The Star Trek fandom was the first to really start addressing issues of slash and how it represented the fantasies of its female community. Many other TV shows also achieved this female appreciation such as Starsky and Hutch, Blakes 7 and Battlestar Galactica but still slash had not been recognized in relation with films. Slash has primarily been associated with the world of TV shows and more specifically sci-fi and fantasy shows. This may be due to the type of individuals that are attracted to such shows already being more open to fantasy and therefore more open to indulge in their own desires. As well as this, sci-fi/fantasy series can offer more characters therefore more character development for its fans to concentrate on and offers a longer running time with more scenarios to involve characters in. But things are changing and movie fandoms are becoming far more slash friendly. Maybe it is because women are now more open about their sexual fantasies and more willing to express what they find erotic.
There have been gay icons in film for many years. Stars such as James Dean have been adopted by the gay community but slash fans are not interested in gay stars. What they want is to see depictions of love and sex between men. Maybe it is the still slightly homophobic nature of Hollywood that denies movie slash that has kept knowledge of slash fiction quiet, but no matter what people know or don’t know about slash it is clear that it has become highly popular and a far more noticeable part of fan culture.
From this the questions arise: ‘What makes a film Slashable?’ and ‘How can what has been talked about in relationship to TV show fan culture be applied to Hollywood film?’ Using specific examples, I will attempt to answer these two questions. I will address issues of turning subtext into text and how old TV shows that were slashed have been re-made into films that recognize and show the slash. I will also look at how films have been made so that any homoerotic element that would have been there has been written out so it is no longer historically accurate but will not upset homophobic viewers. This leads me onto my first case study, Troy by Wolfgang Petersen. Troy details the events that take place in Homer’s book, The Iliad. It is the story of the Greek war against the Trojans after the young Trojan prince, Paris, steals the beautiful Helen away and the various heroes that stood on each side: Hector, Achilles and Patroclus. This film was a prime example of re-writing a historical text to exclude something Hollywood would not want to promote: the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus. It was implied in the book that they were lovers. The film instead offers them up as cousins to explain their closeness as well as introducing a female character as a love interest for Achilles.
It is a known fact that during Greek time homosexuality was not viewed in the same way as it is in today’s society. Men would often have young boys as lovers until these boys grew to men . Also, homosexuality was promoted within Greek armies. Warriors were encouraged to have a male lover on the battlefield as it was thought they would be more likely to fight for a lover than a simple comrade in arms. The relationship between Achilles and Patroclus was one of the most famous relationships in Ancient Greek society; their bond has been admired and respected. Yet this homoerotic relationship was not something a Hollywood studio wanted to depict in their film and was therefore changed to suit how it would be looked upon in today’s society. Even with this knowledge many slash fans still see something to Achilles and Patroclus relationship of “cousins”. They show enough of a bond and closeness for these two characters to be slashed. Slash fans know there was meant to be something more so it is not that far a stretch of the imagination to think of these men as lovers rather than cousins. From the first time you see them spar, two handsome men chasing each other round Greek ruins obviously both familiar and comfortable round each other; you can read a more homoerotic element to the characters. The way Patroclus admires and looks up to Achilles and the way in return Achilles feels protective and mentoring towards Patroclus shows they are very close so even without any overtly homoerotic tones slash fans can still read far more into the characters.
However Achilles/Patroclus is not the favorite pairing amongst Troy slash fans. The slash pairing for this film that most fans write fiction about is in fact Hector/Paris. However, these two characters are not only brothers, but Hector is married and Paris is the reason for the war in the first place as he fell in love and ran away with Helen. So how is it possible to slash these two characters? It is the very nature of slash fans to re-imagine and recreate according to their desires. Hector and Paris make a desirable pairing due to the nature of their relationship. They are close to one another, they respect and care for one another, they fight for one another and they protect each other. This relationship can be explained as brotherly love but this is no barrier for slash fans. Since slash fans have a desire to see one taboo relationship (homosexuality) many do not view a taboo such as incest as offensive. Slash fans see two attractive men that share a bond of love which can be re-interpreted according to the slash fan’s desires. It is this reason that also allows slash fans to overlook and, a majority of the time ignore the female characters. Hectors wife and Helen herself are simply put out of mind so as not to intervene in the world recreated in slash fiction.
There are three major scenes in Troy that prove to slash fans the nature of Hector and Paris’s relationship. The first is the boat scene where Paris first tells Hector he has taken Helen with him back to Troy. This scene includes the line “do you love me brother?” spoken by Paris to Hector. The use of the word love shows just how strong the feelings are between these brothers. Paris craves his brother’s love as strongly as Hector later gives him his love. At first angry with his young brother when Hector learns that Paris is willing to return to Sparta with Helen to face certain death for what he has done, Hector cannot deny his brother. Hector is prepared to face his brothers actions knowing it will lead to war but he would rather face that than see his brother killed.
The second scene that had the attention of slash fans was what is known as “The leg hug scene”. Paris has challenged Menelaus to the right for Helen but after realizing he is no match succumbs to fear and crawls to Hectors feet holding onto his brother’s leg for dear life. Menelaus shouts for vengeance and the right to kill Paris but as he strikes Hector replies “he is my brother” and kills Menelaus first. Hector proves his love for Paris when he kills to protect him as he would rather break the promise for Paris to fight Menelaus alone than see his brother killed. The other part of this scene is the very fact that Paris clings to his brother’s leg. It is an intimate connection; their bodies joined at that point, their emotional connection made physical. It is very clear from this scene that Paris is not a warrior; he is a lover not a fighter and though he tries he never stood a chance against an older and more experience warrior like Menelaus. Hector is a fighter; it is up to him to fulfill his role as the older brother and, to a slash fan, his role as lover needing to protect the person he loves. Hector is older and more experienced and loyal to his younger brother and it is these character traits that also define their roles as lovers, Hector is the “aggressive” while Paris is the “passive”.
The third scene is also the last time that Hector and Paris appear on screen together in a final tender farewell to each other. Hector goes to face Achilles after he mistakes him for his “cousin” Patroclus and killed Patroclus. Hector says his goodbyes to his family before this battle, not knowing if it is indeed his last. This scene is one of beauty and tenderness as he kisses Paris’s forehead, holding his face in his hands. This is a moment normally shown between lovers rather than brothers, such a tender and personal show of love and devotion. This scene shows the conclusion of the two slash relationships Troy has established. Achilles, after retiring from the battle, returns after the death of Patroclus by Hectors hand. He is so grieved by the passing of his “cousin” that he wants nothing more than revenge on Hector for taking away the person most dear to him. Hector, who fights for honor and to protect those he loves, accepts this challenge but is killed by Achilles forever parting him from Paris.
Dont forget to follow me @lonedreameryaoi and the Let Zoe Spoil You facebook page
I am also on Pinterest http://pinterest.com/