Boxers or Briefs: A Gay Look at the Evolution of Underwear in the Movies

“Most of the time it was to show a character’s vulnerability,” Ehret says. “Or it was shedding clothes at the gym, which had to do with male camaraderie.”

But what was considered merely realistic to a straight man could be intensely erotic to a gay or bisexual one, especially someone not used to seeing much of the male form on screen.

The Glorious, Revealing Years
Almost every man in the movies wore briefs in the seventies and eighties, from Brad Davis in Midnight Express (1978) to Aidan Quinn in Reckless (1984), Michael O’Keefe in The Great Santini (1979) to Keanu Reeves in Parenthood (1989).

Even major stars had no qualms about donning form-fitting briefs, including Clint Eastwood in Play Misty for Me (1971), Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future (1985), Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie (1982), and Mel Gibson in The River (1984).

The scenes where Richard Gere dances around in his ratty briefs in Looking For Mr. Goodbar (1977) truly have to be seen to be believed. And when Dan Aykroyd received oral sex from the ghost in Ghostbusters (1984), he was wearing — you guessed it — tighty-whities.

Parenthood

“If you see a woman in lingerie [in the movies],” Duralde says, “the implication is that she’s inviting the sexual attention of men. The question is, is the same thing true for a guy in his underwear?”

In the seventies and much of the eighties, for the most part, the answer was no. It’s impossible to watch Jeff Goldblum in his briefs in The Fly (1986) and not be struck by how incredibly revealing they are, but also wonder exactly what the filmmaker was up to. Is the scene supposed to be erotic? More likely, the filmmakers are merely contrasting the actor’s virility — and Goldblum definitely looks more fit than he’s probably ever looked in his life — with the physical transformation that takes place after the housefly DNA begins to take over his body.

The Fly

Tom Cruise in his Underpants
No one has done more for underwear in the movies, or benefited more from being in his underwear, than Tom Cruise. And most of the time, briefs have been his underwear of choice, from the highbrow movies like The Color of Money (1986) to the lowbrow early films like Losin’ It (1983).

In fact, Tom Cruise’s breakout performance in Risky Business (1983) included what is perhaps the most famous underwear scene of all time. Is the scene supposed to be erotic? Possibly, but only in an innocent, seemingly uncalculated way. The scene is simultaneously the gayest thing ever put on film while somehow managing to be not gay at all.

Next up! Tom Cruise in his underwear — again and again and again!