CW for homophobia and cisnormative language
Anyway, I watched the movie twice. Once, I was alone. The second time, I was showing it to my roommate with my other roommate poking her head in every so often. The main thing that both of them had to say about the movie: "It's gay".
When I watched it alone, I only sensed gay vibes in like one scene that I'm gonna be talking about. However, my roommate looked at every scene and thought it was gay, even when they were just standing there. She's a lesbian so she's probably better at picking that stuff up than me. Of course, it's a movie about an all boys Catholic school with a majority male cast so it's bound to seem slightly homoerotic.
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| Okay a little more than slightly |
Are any of the characters actually gay? I don't know, and author Robert Cormier is dead so we can't ask him. When I was reading the book it did not seem homoerotic at all, but I'm also not the best at picking up on gay tension and my roommate wasn't reading over my shoulder to tell me. It should also be noted that in the book it is mentioned that Archie is interested in girls, and both the book and movie show that Jerry too likes girls. However, the book and movie are not one and the same so I can't really use that in my analysis of the movie.
If we're gonna talk about homoeroticism and the use of sexuality in The Chocolate War (1988) then the first thing I want to talk about is the girl that Jerry is interested in named Lisa. She's not a major character and only has a few lines but she is important in analyzing Jerry's psyche. Near the beginning of the movie she talks to Jerry as he is waiting for the bus. She calls him out for staring at her and her friends, taunts him about how he's not really living while he just stands there and takes it. However, her taunting doesn't seem cruel but rather flirtatious and Jerry is charmed. He later dreams about kissing her and this cements her as clearly an object of his affections. She represents freedom and rebellion to Jerry, something he lacks in his life, as well as illustrating how Jerry is coming of age and developing interest in girls. The most important takeaway I want you to get from this paragraph is that she uses taunting to express sexuality and Jerry responds well to it.
Later in the movie, this scene is sort of reversed and acted out between Archie and Jerry. Archie has taken Jerry to a Vigils meeting to interrogate and intimidate him into selling chocolate. Archie is very touchy-feely with him, and gets all up in his personal space. Like when he was being taunted by Lisa, Jerry again just sits there and takes it despite being visibly uncomfortable. Here, Jerry is being taunted again, but it is the opposite of how Lisa did it. She taunted him upfront to express her sexuality and interest in Jerry. Here, Archie uses sexuality and an interest (probably feigned) in Jerry to taunt him. If that makes sense?
This scene isn't so much saying that Archie is gay but rather showing how he uses threats of sexuality to intimidate his targets. These are Catholic teenage boys in the 1980s and have been indoctrinated into homophobia. Nothing is scarier to them than a gay man expressing interest or the thought that they themselves might be gay. Archie understands this and uses it to his advantage and to exert his power over his classmates. Further demonstrating Archie's understanding of homophobia, he has Janza use homophobic slurs to enrage Jerry enough to get him to agree to a fight.
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| He's left handed, I thought Catholic schools didn't allow that?? |
And it seems that Archie gets into Jerry's head by doing this. A little later in the movie, Jerry has a dream about the people he knows with their voices switched around. The first person he sees is Archie speaking in Lisa's voice. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it doesn't feel like a coincidence that Archie, a boy who used sexuality to taunt Jerry, is speaking in the voice of a girl that Jerry is sexually/romantically interested in. The words "you're missing a lot of things, Jerry" are spoken, an echo of what Linda said to him earlier. It seems to imply that the wires got crossed and Jerry may be having confused sexual feelings for Archie as well and is 'missing out' by refusing to explore that. I'm gonna talk more about this specific dream later in the next post I write. The movie doesn't hint at anymore interest from Jerry's side after this scene but I thought it was worth mentioning.
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| Idk why the subtitles say 'woman' when it's clearly Lisa but whatever |
That brings us to the next question: Is Archie gay? My roommate certainly thought so. My answer is that I don't know. For these next few points keep in mind that certain stereotypes about gay men are often used in media and does not reflect real life. One stereotype about gay men is that they are effeminate. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being effeminate, but it is often mocked and used as shorthand to imply a man is gay. Archie doesn't display typical 'masculine' traits. He disdains sports and enjoys eating chocolate, which is typically stereotyped as something women love. He is polished and owns a really nice coat, showing that he takes pride in his looks as opposed to his more 'rugged' classmates. He shuns violence and can't hold his own in a fight, preferring psychological warfare instead. This doesn't automatically make a man gay but this is a movie written by people that may hold the idea that it does. There are other small things that might imply Archie to be gay, such as earlier in the movie telling Carter to sit back and let 'some pretty little freshman' sell his chocolates for him. Moreover, late in the movie Archie calls Jerry up on the phone and speaks to him without a shirt on. Though their conversation isn't sexually charged this still adds a layer of homoeroticism to the scene. Of course if you read my last post then you know it seems like Archie only owns the one outfit so maybe he just didn't have another shirt to put on.
Regardless of whether or not the writers intended for Archie to be gay he is still not traditionally masculine which is a common theme in media for male villains. Of course, he's not exactly overly effeminate and still has what some consider to be 'masculine' qualities of being powerful and intimidating. Likewise, Jerry our hero is not exactly a super macho rugged man though he is a football player. He's quiet and generally a peaceful guy until he's pushed too far. It should be mentioned that both boys display a mix of 'feminine' and 'masculine' traits.
Does that mean that The Chocolate War is homophobic? I don't know. Maybe. It wouldn't be the first time a film gave the villain gay undertones. Archie isn't the only villain however, as Carter, the president of the Vigils, is still a bad guy and more conventionally masculine. Brother Leon is also a villain and I wouldn't classify him as being either particularly masculine or feminine but I'll talk more about him in the next post. On the hero's side is Roland Goubert who, despite being a football player, is a sensitive and gentle soul and a loyal friend to Jerry. Moreover, it can be argued that Jerry has bisexual feelings as well. There's no clear cut answer as to what the director was trying to say.
The book lacks this homoeroticism, or at least I didn't notice any when reading it. It is stated that Archie likes to pick up girls but never has the time and when Janza asks him if Jerry really is gay Archie assures that he's not because if he was he wouldn't get so worked up at being accused of it. I don't know where his logic is coming from but whatever. Either way, Archie is in tune with how homophobia works and uses that to his advantage.
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| Look how nice Archie's coat is though |
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