Homoeroticism American Me Analysis

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Thoughts on Homoeroticism As I began thinking about homoeroticism, it seemed to me to be the proverbial "elephant in the living room", as it were, in our society. Everyone is always focused on and looking to what men are doing (of course, they are the standard, no?), and we all seem to feel something and wonder what it is that we are noticing, when all the while, it is right in front of our faces. It seems to be a uniquely human capacity, to look straight on at something and our vision be completely obscured by our fears, our socialization and/or our own refusal to accept the truth. Homoeroticism. The word alone is something that we want to stay away from. There’s that elephant again. And when it comes to thinking about men with men…well,…show more content…
This film is saturated with homoerotic moments, both men on men, as well as men on women. One scene that is rather potent is that of a particular gang of inmates having made some pruno, with the intent to share it with one of their enemy’s son (who is unaware of his father’s standing with this gang), who was incarcerated with them. So several members of this gang invite this other inmate to drink pruno with them and they all meet up in the kitchen after everyone had left. The pruno is shared by all and the one guy who has been invited is getting rather drunk, at which point he is slugged in the stomach and grabbed by three of the gang members and stretched over a large bin like structure, his hands tied on the opposite side. His pants are then pulled down, and one of the gang members is seen with a tube of what appears to be Vaseline, squeezing it into his palm. His face is then shown in agony as the one gang member rapes him, while the other gang members, standing around the structure watching, cheer on. This is not homosexuality we see. This is an act of power. This is rape. This is homoeroticism. These men perpetrating this act, is homoeroticism. Their prowess is homoeroticism. Their power, their enjoyment, their watching, their oneness in the act of it all, is homoeroticism. But who of us has seen this in this light before? I think I could not see it for the elephant in the room. There are also other…show more content…
And part of that includes fears of all sorts, especially the unknown and unseen. We are so subtly trained by the subliminal messages in our society, we don’t even know that we are. It is through instructors such as yourself, classes like this, and opportunities abounding in eight weeks, which can not only change your perspective, but change your life. Let’s send the elephant back to where he belongs…his jungle, not

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