Henry wrote very persuasively - > > SPOILER WARNING > > > > > > > > > One of the things I resent about the secrecy surrounding THE CRYING GAME > is the way that it exempts the film from serious critical debate. I finally > saw it this weekend, after avoiding the "secret" til now, and was not startled > or amazed. I did see it coming from the outset, more or less. What frustrated > me was the way that Del's character fit so smugly within the entire history > of self-pittying gay men in the cinema -- a throwback to BOYS IN THE BAND. > S/he is so frustrated by who he is, feels so sorry for his social life, that > he will hook up with anyone who shows him the slightest bit of kindness. Please. > If this isn't an unattractive and frankly homophobic treatment of alternative > sexual choices, I don't know what is. I was interested in watching Fergus's > shifting responses, the breaking down of bareers, etc. but why did we have to > portray Del as so fundamentally pathetic? Or, is there not a element of > mysogyny here as well -- if Del looks like a woman, why not give her all the > worst traits of traditional femininity? I don't mean to be hypersensative, > but I would have thought that a film which gets all kinds of Kudos for taking > issues of sexuality seriously might have advanced beyond a 1950s vintage > stereotype. > But is Dil gay? Has he made an "alternative sexual choice"? Or is he a transsexual? If the latter, his despair at being trapped in the wrong gender is for me at least easier to understand and accept. John Izod