I watched the movie American Beauty a couple of days ago and saw how homophobia might be a sign that the homophobic might be a homosexual. So I though I’d write about it. American Beauty centers on the last year of Lester Burnham’s life. Lester Burnham, played by Kevin Spacey, is married to Carolyn Burnham, played by Annette Betting, and their marriage is picture perfect on the outside, but the perfection is only superficially. Their marriage is based on projecting one image- a picture perfect suburbia lifestyle when it is in fact quite the opposite.
Colonel Frank Fitts played by Chris Cooper, is the new neighbor who is presented as a homophobic man. He hates on and puts down the homosexual couple in the neighborhood constantly. So what is homophobia? The Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines homophobia as “an irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals.” The film American Beauty represents this behavior through the character of Colonel Fitts.
The movie American Beauty shows this kind of homophobic behavior in some way.
One of the characters in the movie is homophobic and this behavior leads him to commit a murder at the end of the film. There are many reasons for homophobic behavior, one of them is that the person displaying this kind of behavior may be a homosexual too and
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uses anger and discrimination to hide his/her own insecurities and fears. Colonel Fitts in the movie is constantly putting down his homosexual neighbors and filling his son’s head with hate ideas towards homosexuals. For example, in one scene they are in the car and the Colonel asks how can homosexuals be so shameless? Then Ricky, played by Wes Bentley, says, “That’s the whole thing dad, t...
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...el goes to see if his suspicious were correct and ends up kissing Lester. Finding out that Lester was not a homosexual and that his actions were all for nothing, he feels so ashamed of what he did and doesn’t want anybody to find out about his homosexual tendencies so he murders Lester. The Colonel shot Lester because he realizes that he himself is a gay man, living a lie; afraid of the truth, afraid of people knowing his sexual preference, afraid of losing his family, and afraid of facing himself. This just shows how homophobia can lead a person to commit something drastic like this or worse.
American Beauty takes us deep inside ourselves and invites us to lose the fear of truly knowing ourselves. If we pretend we are someone we are not, if we desperately hold on to the lies we force ourselves to live, then we only succeed in becoming more lonely and estranged.
Life for most homosexuals during the first half of the Twentieth century was one of hiding, being ever so careful to not give away their true feelings and predilections. Although the 1920s saw a brief moment of openness in American society, that was quickly destroyed with the progress of the Cold War, and by default, that of McCarthyism. The homosexuals of the 50s “felt the heavy weight of medical prejudice, police harassment and church condemnation … [and] were not able to challenge these authorities.” They were constantly battered, both physically and emotionally, by the society that surrounded them. The very mention or rumor of one’s homosexuality could lead to the loss of their family, their livelihood and, in some cases, their lives. Geanne Harwood, interviewed on an National Public Radio Broadcast commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, said that “being gay before Stonewall was a very difficult proposition … we felt that in order to survive we had to try to look and act as rugged and as manly as possibly to get by in a society that was really very much against us.” The age of communist threats, and of Joseph McCarthy’s insistence that homosexuals were treacherous, gave credence to the feeling of most society members that homosexuality was a perversion, and that one inflicted was one to not be trusted.
To begin with, ‘Down Low’ is a phrase that was coined by members of the African American urban culture during late 1980’s which defines gay men who appear to be straight (Hamilton, 2009). Many characteristics of men living on the down low include individuals (who appear as though they are straight) who are sometimes married with children, members of the clergy, elected officials, ex-convicts, and most notable in a number of low-budget and often overlooked films – straight acting thugs (Hamilton, 2009). It is almost virtually impossible to be appreciative of the drama “Angels in America” without having an understanding about the history of the AIDS crisis as well as a more extensive story of lesbians and gays in the United States of America. While men and women have engaged in homosexual conduct in all times and various cultures, it was only in the twentieth centu...
The sacred and profane are slathered all over the characters of American Beauty and their motivations. Durkheim's (1912) idea of the scared is that it is ideal that society holds itself to, the “dream.” In this case, rather than a specific religion, the characters are cradled in the religion of the “American dream.” We know that the “American Dream” is a suitable source of the sacred because “Sacredness does not require a God. Flags, national holidays, and other markers of collective solidarity are sacred in the same way— and serve the same group- binding function—as crosses and holy days”(Graham and Haidt 2011). There are several manifestations of the sacred throughout the film, taking the forms of the beautiful Angela and the successful Buddy. While we see these manifestations of the sacred, it must be remembered that the power of the sacred is that is does not have any real existence in the world. Lester, and others like him, have the idea of something higher, more beautiful, more free, and greater than what he has. “In a word, above the real world where his profane life passes he has placed ...
Discrimination has always been prominent in mainstream society. Judgments are quickly formed based on one’s race, class, or gender. The idea that an individual’s self-worth is measured by their ethnicity or sexual preference has impacted the lives of many Americans. During the early colonial period, a social hierarchy was established with white landowners at the top and African-American slaves at the bottom. As equality movements have transpired, victims of discrimination have varied. In the late 1980’s when Paris is Burning was filmed, gay rights were still controversial in society. The lack of acceptance in conventional society created hardships in the lives of transgender women and gay men.
Homophobia has been a problem for a very long time, all across the world. For example, during the Holocaust, in which homosexuals were forced to wear the “Pink Triangle”, a pink, upside down triangle, on his or her coat for identification. Of course, the pattern of homophobia is not only shown throughout world history, but American history as well. For example, sodomy laws, laws that rule certain sexual acts as crimes, were established as early as 1963. The penalty for these laws varied from state to state. Some of the punishments include: two to ten year imprisonments or two thousand dollar fines. The cruelty of these homophobic actions should not be accepted any longer. It encourages bullying, denies human beings their civil rights, and continues to foster a mentality of indifference and intolerance towards our fellow man.
The acceptance of “abnormal” sexualities has been a prolonged, controversial battle. The segregation is excruciating and the prejudice remarks are so spiteful that some people never truly recover. Homosexuals have been left suffering for ages. Life, for most homosexuals during the first half of the twentieth century, was mostly one of hiding: having to constantly hide their true feelings and tastes. Instead of restaurants and movies, they had to sit quiet in the dark and meet each other in concealed places such as bars. Homosexuals were those with “mental and psychic abnormalities” and were the victim of medical prejudice, police harassment, and church condemnation (Jagose 24). The minuscule mention or assumption of one’s homosexuality could easily lead to the loss of family, livelihood, and sometimes even their lives. It was only after the Stonewall riots and the organization of gay/lesbian groups that times for homosexuals started to look brighter.
Most societies view homosexuality as something that is morally wrong. Individuals view sexual relations between like genders as sick. For many years homosexuality has existed, so why Homophobia is related to gender socialization still exists? As a human they see things they cannot understand as wrong in society. Homophobia issues in society are the discussions when subjects like religion and morals are talked about. There are numerous agents of gender socialization in society like family, religion, school, and media. The media is the most pervasive correspondence medium depicts highly stereotyped roles for men and women. Religion is strong emphasis on gender differences with explicit affirmation of the authority of men over women. Family they
The first article by Bhugra (2010) is a compilation of many different articles and describes homophobia as an irrational fear or intolerance of homosexuality and is socially determined prejudice. Homophobia can also be defined as a socially determined prejudice as opposed to a medically diagnosed fear. Homophobic attitudes are intolerant mainly toward males most likely due to the fact that male homosexuals are more visible. Homop...
The film follows the complicated character of Marcello, a homosexual man with a traumatic homosexual experience in his childhood, which results in him becoming ashamed of his sexuality and begins to fear being shunned by society for it. Marcello deals with this shame by shutting down any homosexual desire he may have and becomes his idealized figure of normal; which at this time was a loyal and disciplined Fascist. Marcello learns how to conform perfectly by becoming a Fascist spy, but two significant people in Marcello’s life disrupt his path to becoming
It’s safe to say that Kushner’s “Angels in America”, is one of the most famous plays to explore the topic of homosexuality. Joe 's character represents
He is talking to a woman and she is telling him how his father has been to the clinic three times that month and there is nothing they can do about it any longer. He ask to speak with her supervisor which she is the supervisor. Once the woman states that her name is Shaniqua he makes a rude comment and she automatically hung up in his face. After this happens John has a negative impression of all African American women. He is discriminating against all African American women just because what happened with Shaniqua not giving his dad medical assistance. “Discrimination is a hurtful action toward a particular group of people because they belong to that group.” In another scene John is with his partner Hansen and they pull over the Thayer’s who look to be doing some type of sexual intercourse. He doesn’t pull them over, because they are performing sexual intercourse in the car but because they happen to be a part of the particular group he doesn’t like. Since his views of all African American women are changed as negative he forcefully takes his anger out on Christine by sexually harassing her in front of her husband. Her husband wants to react, but he is in a position to where he can’t do anything. Ryan knows what his partner is doing is wrong, but he has to be obedient seeing how he is a police officer. Obedience is following the demands of an authority. He talk’s his partner into letting them go rather than saying that he’s wrong and needs to
The family unit has always been a treasured and revered dynamic on television and in movies. Dating all the way back to I Love Lucy, storylines focused on the relationship between man and woman. Ozzie and Harriet introduced us to the quintessential American family—father in a suit, mother in pearls, and two exceptional children. It wasn’t until the 1970s that gay characters and lifestyles began to emerge. In 1973, An American Family, a PBS series featured one of the family’s sons revealing his homosexuality. In 1977, the television show Soap costarred Billy Crystal as an openly gay man. In the 1980s, it became trendy to feature gay and lesbian characters in ensemble casts. If you watch reruns, you can always find the token gay, that is, the really flaming homo or the butch lesbian gym teacher. The motion picture Mannequin, starring Andrew McCarthy and Kim Catrall, featured Meshach Taylor as Hollywood, an eccentric, finger-snapping homosexual. Many stereotypes such as these continued until the early nineties.
Coming to America, by far was not what I expected. However, after living here for four years, I have learned to adjust to the surroundings. I was not mentally prepared for the culture change that I was exposed to in the beginning but as days turned into months and eventually into years, I realized that I grew accustomed to the culture and eventually became a part of it. I have gotten accustomed to calculating distance by miles and not kilometers, temperatures by Fahrenheit not Celsius, weight by pounds not kilograms. I have also been influenced to see beauty in different content unlike home where thick women are considered beautiful, healthy and happily married unlike here where everyone is trying to lose weight to enhance their beauty and health. However, not even a decade in America can make me forget the extremes I experienced when I first arrived.
Homophobia is the fear of homosexuality and those who practice it (Fone, 5). Much of the negativity towards homosexuals had evolved in the nineteenth century and progressed greatly once the twentieth century and World Wars had arrived (Dadisman). Homosexuals had begun to be seen as a different category of human, separate from the rest of society, a category that disrupts society ethically, legally and morally (Fone, 5). World War I had allowed many homosexuals to join together, when they were sent overseas. Once the Second World War was over homosexual men and women began to move into their own separate communities, segregating themselves from the heterosexuals (Dadisman). Consequently, homosexuals were labeled as anti-social and psychotic people who were destructive due their sexual preferences (Janoff, 38).
“Homosexuality” was the main term used in the late 1950s until a new “gay” culture came about. This new gay culture not only meant same-sex desires but also gay selves an...