The History Boys
Aug. 28th, 2007 01:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lls_mutantI'm just curious, am I the only one who was annoyed by parts of The History Boys? (It came up on ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
remusxsirius, which is why I'm mentioning it. My MRFH review is here, but the relevant snippet of the review is this:
The other thing that bothered me was the expression of homosexuality in this. I am absolutely fine with the fact that Hector was a homosexual pedophile (um, in a non-condoning sort of way). It was a very interesting character choice, and I thought it made for some very complex issues in terms of dynamics between him and the boys. I could understand when Irwin, who was a very young teacher, was very attracted to a student that was blatantly hitting on him. (And when I say blatant, I mean flashing neon lights.) But what broke the camel's back was when at the end, Posner, a student who came out during the movie, made a comment about being a teacher and being very tempted by his students. Every homosexual character in this movie was exhibiting pedophilic tendencies.
Seriously, am I the only one bothered by this? I could have understood one — maybe two — of these characters. And Duckie and I did have an argument about whether or not Irwin could be qualified as a pedophile, given that he must have been about twenty-four and Dakin was probably eighteen, and Dakin was making the very, very obvious advances. But see, here's the thing. I like men. I'm very inclined towards men. And yet, I don't remotely lust after the kids in my youth group. (In fact, one word: EWWWWW.) I am strongly suspecting that many adults, regardless of their sexual orientation, feel this way. They want equals, whether it be for a night or a lifetime. Sure, there's something to be said for a hot young stud — I've drooled over Josh Hartnett enough that I can't deny that. But actually wanting to act on it, especially when that person is in a position where you have power over them… most people I know would not be overly tempted. (Either that, or they all lie to me.) Anyway, the fact that there were three firmly homosexual characters and all three struggled with underage temptation… that bothered me. Way to perpetuate a stereotype.
I mean, I did like the movie. I thought it had some VERY interesting things to say about education, and I especially liked the dichotomy of Hector as a pedophile and as a teacher that, academically, the boys really respected. I thought that was quite fascinating. But I guess I didn't think it was all that and a bag of chips.
I see Heroes should be making it to our mailbox soon. YAY! I didn't watch the first season, because I had a hard time seeing it or something and by the time I knew I wanted to watch, I was too far behind. (Plus, watching on DVD is SO much nicer, especially since a.) no commercials b.) we can watch the next episode the next night, and c.) schedule-wise it's great!) But I'm dying to see it- I've heard so many good things about it. But first, I think we're going to finish Season 5 of Buffy (we only have 1 more disc, hallelujah- I see where it really did go downhill, where's the funny?), Season 5 of Scrubs (won't take long), and rewatch Season 1 of Rome before we watch Season 2, which we haven't seen.
And I'm DYING for Lost to start again, especially now that they have their end date! (I think having an end date will really improve the show, because of pacing issues.)
Hmmm. Suppose I should get writing. Big awkward reconciliation scene between two emotionally repressed men. This ought to be fun :P
remusxsirius, which is why I'm mentioning it. My MRFH review is here, but the relevant snippet of the review is this:The other thing that bothered me was the expression of homosexuality in this. I am absolutely fine with the fact that Hector was a homosexual pedophile (um, in a non-condoning sort of way). It was a very interesting character choice, and I thought it made for some very complex issues in terms of dynamics between him and the boys. I could understand when Irwin, who was a very young teacher, was very attracted to a student that was blatantly hitting on him. (And when I say blatant, I mean flashing neon lights.) But what broke the camel's back was when at the end, Posner, a student who came out during the movie, made a comment about being a teacher and being very tempted by his students. Every homosexual character in this movie was exhibiting pedophilic tendencies.
Seriously, am I the only one bothered by this? I could have understood one — maybe two — of these characters. And Duckie and I did have an argument about whether or not Irwin could be qualified as a pedophile, given that he must have been about twenty-four and Dakin was probably eighteen, and Dakin was making the very, very obvious advances. But see, here's the thing. I like men. I'm very inclined towards men. And yet, I don't remotely lust after the kids in my youth group. (In fact, one word: EWWWWW.) I am strongly suspecting that many adults, regardless of their sexual orientation, feel this way. They want equals, whether it be for a night or a lifetime. Sure, there's something to be said for a hot young stud — I've drooled over Josh Hartnett enough that I can't deny that. But actually wanting to act on it, especially when that person is in a position where you have power over them… most people I know would not be overly tempted. (Either that, or they all lie to me.) Anyway, the fact that there were three firmly homosexual characters and all three struggled with underage temptation… that bothered me. Way to perpetuate a stereotype.
I mean, I did like the movie. I thought it had some VERY interesting things to say about education, and I especially liked the dichotomy of Hector as a pedophile and as a teacher that, academically, the boys really respected. I thought that was quite fascinating. But I guess I didn't think it was all that and a bag of chips.
I see Heroes should be making it to our mailbox soon. YAY! I didn't watch the first season, because I had a hard time seeing it or something and by the time I knew I wanted to watch, I was too far behind. (Plus, watching on DVD is SO much nicer, especially since a.) no commercials b.) we can watch the next episode the next night, and c.) schedule-wise it's great!) But I'm dying to see it- I've heard so many good things about it. But first, I think we're going to finish Season 5 of Buffy (we only have 1 more disc, hallelujah- I see where it really did go downhill, where's the funny?), Season 5 of Scrubs (won't take long), and rewatch Season 1 of Rome before we watch Season 2, which we haven't seen.
And I'm DYING for Lost to start again, especially now that they have their end date! (I think having an end date will really improve the show, because of pacing issues.)
Hmmm. Suppose I should get writing. Big awkward reconciliation scene between two emotionally repressed men. This ought to be fun :P
