Sunday, February 18, 2007

"Braveheart" and Homophobia

The movie, Braveheart, is based on the Scottish struggle against English rule in the 13th century. Braveheart was written, directed, and produced by Mel Gibson. Sid Ray, both an author and editor of various medieval books, wrote an article for Pace University called, “Hunks, History, and Homophobia: Masculinity Politics in Braveheart and Edward II.” Ray illustrates how Gibson twisted the history regarding the life of Edward II to make him seem as though he were an insignificant homosexual male. Indeed, it is true that Edward II was a homosexual, but he was definitely not as insignificant as Gibson portrays him to be in Braveheart. Ray presents us with the facts as he explains the real qualities of Edward II. Rather than being a careless, young homosexual fool as Gibson makes him seem to be, Edward II was a strong warrior who led thousands of troops in England. He was a very strong, tall, masculine man; however he lacked all of these physical and mental qualities in Braveheart. Ray believes that Gibson failed to portray the real characteristics of Edward II, because he (Gibson) wanted to stress upon Edward’s homosexual qualities so that he seemed to be unimportant and effeminate. Gibson’s character, Wallace, contrasted greatly with Edward II in the film. Wallace seemed to be more masculine because of his physical and mental strength to go into battle. Not only that, but Gibson, as Ray explains, portrays many of the characters’ masculine qualities through the words that they use. For example, at one point of the film, as Ray mentions, Wallace says that Scots make spears “twice as long as a man” to defeat the English. Next, Hamish, Wallace’s friend, says, “Some men are longer than others.” Ray explains that, “This word play emphasizes that winning involves active sexual agency.” As Ray demonstrates, Gibson illustrates the inferiority of gay men by using such words that imply the idea that heterosexual men are more masculine than homosexual men due to the phallic signification included in various scenes such as the one described above. Overall, what Ray wants his readers to notice is that Gibson includes his own homophobic views in his film, which portray homosexuals as being weak and insignificant.

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