Since we're on the subject of
mincing villains this week, we thought we'd put together a list of filmdom's worst examples of gay or gay-seeming baddies (Xerxes, you're already an dishonorary member). I'm sure folks will have some more to add -- share your suggestions in the comments!
Jame Gumb (Ted Levine) -- Silence of the Lambs
We talked about this one a few weeks back, and after reviewing the film again it's pretty shocking how ugly this character is -- and how much of that ugliness is tied to his sexuality and gender identity. Pretty much the most graphic example of the strange perception that gay men (or is it transsexuals? The film is too busy grossing us out to worry about the details) are hysterical, murderous creatures who hate their bodies and women alike. A giant step backward, either way you slice it -- and it swept the Academy Awards.

- Brandon and Phillip (John Dall and Farley Granger) -- Rope
Based on real-life killers Leopold and Loeb, Brandon and Phillip are two superficial, society-climbing apparent lovers who have nothing better to do than to kill a schoolmate, stuff him in a trunk, and then serve his family dinner over his cooling body (didn't the Queer Eye guys do an episode on that?). Allows for some incredibly loaded dialogue that managed to sneak the sexual nature of the relationship past the censors, but otherwise a curious portrait of gay men that links their sexuality to wanton murderousness.
Prince Edward (Peter Hanly) -- Braveheart
Historically incorrect and downright rude, noted bigot Mel Gibson's version of Prince Edward was as mincing and offensive as they come -- one scene even depicts Edward and his lover (dressed in drag) prancing about the palace with a servant holding a full-length mirror so that they can admire themselves. Is this really what straight men think that gay men do to entertain themselves? Please -- drinking alone and complaining to your cats is far less exhausting, and doesn't require any hired help. Much like 300's Xerxes, this Edward ignores historical fact (that Edward was actually quite rugged) in favor of creating a hateful character that small-minded bigots like the director can easily compartmentalize and openly detest.
- Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre) -- The Maltese Falcon
Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) came up against some mystery and some sistery in this noir classic -- Peter Lorre's mincing treasure hunter Joel Cairo, to be precise. While the character was straightened up quite a bit for the screen, this hissing queen is still undeniably meant to be a queer counterpart for the macho hero, whose disgust at Cairo's obvious sexuality is quite apparent and quite intense. Much has been noted about the fact that Spade slaps Cairo instead of punching him, which codes the character as feminine, gay, and weak.
- Waldo (Clifton Webb) -- Laura
Manipulative and incredibly bitchy Waldo (who preys upon heroine Gene Tierney) was originally scripted explicitly scripted as a homosexual, although ultimately his sexuality was buried and his actions blurred (to the point that many viewers interpret his actions as those of a spurned lover, not a controlling queen). Still, this arch villain represented a culmination of the noir era's sissy baddies, which stood for everything perverted that decent society needed to destroy.
Doctor Praetorius (Ernest Thesiger) -- The Bride of Frankenstein
The seething, slimy villain of gay director James Whale's classic horror film was played by a closeted and married actor, and the titular Bride was herself married to a closeted gay man (Charles Laughton). What a set that must have been! Praetorius is basically the end-all of gay-seeming supervillains, and the film's attack on the institution of marriage is pretty hard to ignore. Whale set out to make a camp comedy follow-up to his classic horror film Frankenstein, and with the help of Praetorius, he succeeded in spades -- were it not for the undercurrent of dark humor in the film, this character would have been much more difficult to tolerate.
- Bruno (Robert Walker) -- Strangers on a Train
Openly bisexual Farley Granger once again found himself submitting to the wiles of a predatory Hitchcockian gay man -- this time in the form of obsessive Bruno. As far as sissy villains go, this one at least is lacking the stereotypical affectations that generally make up these characters. Still, a complete nutjob.
Any more suggestions? We'd love to hear them!
Submitted by
on Mon, 2007-03-05 20:22.
Great post Brian! Wish I'd thought of it. I too am going to have to disagree with the inclusion of Jamie Gumb, though. Scary as hell, but hardly a sissy. And while his gender identity issues may have been a driving source of his villainy. He isn't reviled/feared by others in the movie specifically because he's gay.
I'd swap him out for this one (or 2 actually): Remember the despicable, mincing Bond villains Wint & Kidd from Diamonds are Forever? They'd be on my list.
JFK
THE MAN HAS A POODLE NAMED PRECIOUS.
No, seriously -- his sexuality and gender identity are directly connected to his psychosis -- and the fact that he dresses in women's clothing, tucks away his genitals and dances in a mirror, and practices asking people if they want to &#^@ him is clearly meant to suggest that he's queer, at least in a very superficial sense of the word. I think his sexuality is definitely used as a "horrific" element to scare the audience.
I thought of putting Wint and Kidd on there! Great suggestion!
Jame Gumm now and forever! Of course, the best untold story of Silence of the Lambs and the infamous Jame Gumm "tuck n' dance" scene is that arby's bought product placement for it. By accident I am sure. But still. Love to have been a fly on the wall at THAT marketing post mortem meeting.
Other gay sissy villains:
King Mufasa (Jeremy Irons), the gay sissy villain in Lion King.
Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd from Diamonds are Forever, the gay sissies who set out to kill Bond.
OK, First of all, the horror of Jame Gumb was not that he was gay, but the lengths he went to in madness to try to become a woman. Second of all, Prince Edward and his lover Phillip weren't in drag, they were being fitted for ornate, long tunics...a very comon type of clothing at the time. They just were very fancy for men's tunics. And lastly, Dave, you mean SCAR. Mufasa was the farther and was voiced by James Earl Jones. Scar wasn't realy a sissy either, if your going to include him, you might as well include Zorg from Fifth Element, Jafar from Aladin, Prince John from Disney's Robin Hood...oh wait, he really was a sissy...
I know that at least in the book, Silence of the Lambs, it is explicitly made clear that Jame Gumb is not a transexual; instead, he is a disturbed individual that feels alien to his body and makes a decision that he will skin women to make a women suit. I am not for sure if the movie made it clear that he would not be considered transexual according to t any psychologist. Of course, that does not mean that the audience would not perceive him to be transexual.
On another note, these villians are some of my all-time favorite characters. I loved the character Bruno. The interesting thing about the villians being gay is that it adds sexual interest between characters, giving it another level. Hitchcock stated that he liked to film sex scenes like murder scenes and murder scenes like sex scenes. Anyway, a cool villian is suave, cultured, and sophisticated, and, according to the stereotypes, this is often interpreted as gay.
Another character that needs to be on the list is one of many George Sanders's characters.
I was going to say Jafar from Aladin.
Interestingly, there IS a non-stereotypical same-sex character in POCAHONTIS (along with the mincing sidekick of the villain). Watch the best friend of John Smith (Mel Gibson). He's CLEARLY in love with Mel's character, so much so that he causes the whole war between in the Indians and the white folks, once it becomes clear that John is in love with Pocohontis.
It's subtext, but it's pretty clear subtext when you see it that way.
But hey, at least they have a "butch" gay guy, even if he's evil.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Mulan. Lots of coded gender/sexuality related issues there.
I always though Scar from "The Lion King" read as gay. In one scene he examines his nails, he shows no interest in lionesses until the realization that a king must have an heir, an elevated pinky finger and limp wrist, more of a lioness shape than the barrel-chested Mufasa, etc.
Some quotes:
Scar to Simba: "I shall practice my curtsy."
Simba: "Uncle Scar, you're weird."
Scar: "You have no idea."
Although a lot of Disney characters fit the bill, too. Jafar (Aladdin), Judge Frollo (Hunchback of Notre Dame... I swear it was an animated version of Bea Arthur in drag), Prince John (Robin Hood), Kaa (The Jungle Book), etc.
hey, my post disappeared!
did i offend?
RJ, agreed, that's what i said in my post (which was the first comment) that has disappeared.
the movie did make it clear. like i said, i can't remember the exact lines but hannibal tells clarice that he wasn't a true transexual and he had unsuccessfully applied to gender reassignment and then switched his M.O. to woman suits. i think it's in the scene when he clues clarice in to the fact that buffalo bill "covets" what he can't have.
and the book goes into more detail as well.
so i guess maybe what you're saying Brian is that the idea that gay=villian is true when watched by the unwashed masses but not by those who can actually listen to dialogue and follow the guy's pathology and not focus on his sexuality/gender dysphoria. and i dont mean for that sentence to read as snarky, because like i said in my first (missing) comment is that i recognized the character of jame gumb as pathological and not an evil, slashing transexual/queer.
gotta talk about Tim Hardaway