Arts Superbad: The Good, the Bad, and the Faggy?
posted by on August 20 at 11:44 AM
Like millions of Americans, this weekend I went to see Superbad, the sweetly raunchy teen comedy from the folks behind Knocked Up, starring the hilarious kid from Arrested Development. Like virtually everyone else who’s seen it, I thought it was terrific, and any niggling little problems I had with the movie (why did one of the few encounters with an actual vagina have to end with a bloody stain?) were disspelled by the film’s carefully maintained style. From the goofy cops who delight in blowing up their car to the pencil-drawing dicks that appear over the closing credits, Superbad is a total adolescent-male fantasia, and the most effective aspect of the movie, for me at least, is how it digs into the romance of straight-guy friendships (the guys’s awkward morning-after conversation killed me).
Then I stumbled upon Time magazine’s review of the film, in which Richard Corliss identifies a mysterious subliminal drive behind the straight-guy romances of Judd Apatow (writer/director of The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up) and Seth Rogen (writer of Superbad, star of Knocked Up):
Why don’t Apatow and Rogen just do the honorable thing and tell the world they’re gay? It would save them a lot of time wasted pretending their movies are about young men growing up and finding the right young woman.
In his (also negative) review of Knocked Up, Corliss points out that the best chemistry in the movie exists not between the parents-to-be, but between Seth Rogen’s character and his soon-to-be brother-in-law, played by Paul Rudd. Then, in regard to Superbad:
What I identified as guy-necology in my review of Knocked Up blossoms into gay-necology here…In Superbad, the quasi-gay subtext is so obvious, it’s the love that dares to shriek its name.
Juh? One of the cornerstones of the romance between the best friends of Superbad is their shared enslavement to Pussy, and I’m tempted to say the lives of both Superbad’s best friends and Knocked Up’s best brothers-in-law might’ve been easier if they had been legitimately homosexual. Instead, they’re trapped in the glorious tragedy of heterosexuality, where men need the very thing that confuses and frightens them the most—women.
This is, admittedly, a crassly adolescent view of male-female relationships, but adolescent isn’t the same as closet-queer…or is Corliss trying to tell us something?
"I'm Jay and this is my Hetero Lifemate, Silent Bob."
"I'm Jay and this is my Hetero Lifemate, Silent Bob."
Cal: [David and Cal Playing a video Game] You're *gay* now?
David: No, I'm not gay I'm just celibate.
Cal: I think? I mean, that sounds ga- I just want you to know this is like the first conversation of like three conversations that leads to you being gay. Like... there's this and then in a year it's like, "Oh you know, I kinda wanna, ya know, get back out there but I think I like guys" and then there's the big, "Oh I'm I'm a g-gay guy now".
David: You're gay for saying that.
Cal: I'm gay for saying that?
David: You know how I know you're gay?
Cal: How? How do you know I'm gay?
David: Because you macramed yourself a pair of jean shorts.
Cal: You know how I know *you're* gay? You just told me you're not sleeping with women any more.
David: You know how I know that you're gay?
Cal: How? Cuz you're gay? and you can tell who other gay people are.
David: You know how I know you're gay?
Cal: How?
David: You like Coldplay.
I totally agree with you, David. I grew up surrounded by boys and remain so in my adulthood, and the things that Judd Apatow brings to the screen are the closest thing to my (straight lady) experience of straight men and boys.
Also, LOVE the kid who played McLovin!
i can see both sides. i can relate to the close male friends who were not gay, and understand the confusion resulting from such strong emotional but not sexual feelings.
but watching superbad, i couldn't help but think the dick-drawing guy might have been overcompensating when discussing pussy so much. especially considering the way he looked back when going down the escalator...
I usually despise movies like this, but I took a chance on the previews and LOVED IT! This is one of those really rare cases where the movie is MUCH FUNNIER than the previews. Usually the previews show the 10 funny spots and that's it, you end up thinking the whole movie is that funny and it usually isn't. But this time the movie is 100 times better than even the previews!
The gay thing was minor, not really a notable deal but a nice addition that was just right for these two.
GO SEE IT!!
Corliss' weird take on teh gay notwithstanding, I found SUPERBAD to be just about the most gay-friendly movie of the summer -- even though the movie's action is, as you say, David, centered around getting cozy with vaginas.
Refreshingly, the writers avoided lazy comedy in managing to inject tons of gayness into this movie without stooping to fag jokes.
If you want to see what I mean, it's on my blog today as well: 'Superbad': The Summer's Greatest Movie About Guys Who Love Guys.
Is being a Chaz Mudede about gay subtext the trendy thing to do now?
in today's new yorker, though, david denby mentions the gay subtext too.
I too was pleasantly surprised at how funny "Superbad" is. We laughed our asses off throughout the entire movie...and that is a rare, rare thing.
I kind of touched base on this with earlier comments. Both times I viewed the movie (July 24th, and now last Saturday) the entire male audience in the theater started 'ewwwing' and 'zomg brokeback 2' during the end of the movie. It was, needless to say, repugnant.
The idea of two male high school friends bonding in an entirely humorous manner (at the end of the movie) is simply gay. They're gay, because they love each other. That's gay. And being gay is obviously disgusting.
Now let's all 'ewww' the shit out of this movie to prove to all of the dark faces in this theater that we're totally straight, and by that, totally not gay.
P.S.
The guys who were all 'brokeback mountain 2' about the ending were the same guys talking to the screen (out loud) during Evan's semi-somewhat 'sex' scene, telling him to 'do it, pussy' and what-have-you. I was relieved to notice that the type of guy who would (still) be homophobic is the type of guy who would (still) have no problems fucking the shit out of a (completely) drunk chick. That's class, guys. Good for you. Now go die of Cancer, you pathetic piece(s) of shit.
Being the only out gay at my high school (at least after age 15) my friends were mostly straight guys, and I can tell you, male/male intimacy doesn't have to involve cocksucking or the like. Guys will always be closer to their guy friends than any woman they date, fuck, or marry, because guys will always give you shit over the superficial, to show they love you, and never get you shit over the fundamental, also to show they love you. It's largely what made my coming out so painless, and also why after living with two girls for a year, it was fucking awesome to spend a summer surrounded by straight guys who were chanting, "Bros before ho's!" while chugging down pitchers of beers.
David, David, David.
Not everyone can be McLovin.
Just accept it.
P.S.: not everyone is that straight, either. that's also cool.
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