"Sodom" commences with the highly symbolic scene of 20 year-old footballer (my people call it soccer) Will being the victim of a homoerotic prank by his teammates during a trip. He is heavily made up, stripped of even his socks, and handcuffed face-front to a lamp post on a relatively quiet street.
This image prompts the first of many societal observations; the comment this time is that it is amazing that all-male organizations such as fraternities and sports teams that outwardly project aggressive masculine heterosexual images often involve at least copious naked horseplay and regulalry impose actual sexual domination on group members.
A related aspect of this supports the gay fantasy that at least 50-percent of men desire sex with other guys; personal and societal pressures are the culprits regarding sublimating these urges into what they can consider acceptable outlets such as team showers and fraternity hazing.
An amusing personal experience regarding the hang ups of guys who identify themselves as fully straight involves a high-school friend. This guy being a star wrestler and enjoying running naked in the gym hallways should have been a tip off back then.
This buddy shared several years ago that he sees a dominatrix every week. Further pressing prompted confessing that these sessions involve a strap-on. Pointing out the enhanced pleasure and humiliation benefits of being on the receiving end of the real thing prompted a "he doth protest too much" freak out.
Our regularly scheduled post continues with well-off 30-something man Michael discovering Will on his way home after an evening out. A team effort gets a still cuffed Will partially covered and into the apartment of Michael. Some of the aforementioned eroticism enters the picture in the form of a fully dressed Michael having a drink with a barely dressed and shackled Will. As expected, this leads to completely consensual sex with the restraints intact,
Micheal and Will sharing not-so-intimate details of their lives after having sex reflects the odd truth of old-school gay hookups, It is amazing that a guy will volunteer every small detail related to sexual activity within minutes of meeting a potential "buddy" but will not even share general information about his work or where he grew up.
Will literally and figuratively gets an out but quickly returns for another erotic scene, The rest of the story that comes out is that Will is not. The story that is familiar to most gay men is that Will has a history of messing around with a buddy, is engaged to a woman, and has mixed emotions.
The initially revealed story of Michael reflects both the rushed nature of gay relationships and the sad experience of many couples all along the Kinsey Scale. Many years with a soulmate lead to things getting stale; this prompts Michael to look for love with too many faces in all the wrong places. This leads to the soulmate becoming the one who got away.
The sweet portion of "Sodom" has the connection between the boys seemingly being strong enough for Will to realize the wisdom of "to thine own self be true" and to seriously considering uprooting his life to build one with Michael, This relates to several experiences that many of us have,
Any positive new relationship is exciting and can produce a high; a strong connection greatly enhances that sense. On top of that, travel magically increases the impact of any experience and can make the impractical seem feasible.
For his part, the prospect of a life with Will makes Michael believe that there is a way that he can recapture his past happiness.
One spoiler is that "Sodom" not being a Hollywood movie and young and cute Will not being doe-eyed or completely hairless prevents the road to a happy ending from encountering more bumps. Will coming down from his high and starting to think more clearly creates some doubt regarding his willingness (no pun intended) to upset the Adam's apple cart in ways that include telling his teammates where he spent the night and informing his fiancee that he cannot marry her because he now plays for the other team.
The final round of commentary in this post begin with the sad statement this time that staying in the closet has such a long tradition because it allows many men to adequately have their cake and eat it as well. The collateral damage from that is that the "other woman" is denied the desired relationship.
The rest of the story is that one cost of the tremendous advances in gay rights is the form of angst of guys like Will and men like Michael who fully embrace the idea of literally or figuratively putting a ring on it. NONE of the advancements should EVER be reversed, but this requires that guys who suppress their desire for intimacy with guys man up and choose a side in a manner that minimizes the emotional pain of those whom this affects.
No comments:
Post a Comment