You know how I know you're gay...

1991 masterpiece - Point Break


I was recently having a discussion with a friend of mine about movies on TV (TNT specifically, I think), and the inevitable title came up:
Point Break.

Now, those regular readers surely know the story of Point Break and its relative cinematic greatness. For the uninitiated, here's a quick run down.

Keanu Reeves (undercover FBI bank robbing expert) + Gary Busey (wisened/conspiracy buff FBI agent from the late 60s) + Lori Petty (forgettable, yet androgynous, love interest) + Patrick Swayze (Spiritual leader surfing bank robber) = action, surfing, skydiving, and the most blatantly homoerotic film to be invisibly homoerotic to millions of viewers.

What's that last part, again? Point Break is gay?

That's right, people (and Joe Hobbs, specifically), Point Break is gayer than that gay-ass volleyball scene in Top Gun.

I know it may seem incredible, but there may not be a better example of movies that have this man-to-man love story embedded in it. To be certain, many (like MANY) cop movies have this same theme.

• For example, just about every cop movie from the 80s/90s forward has one relentless cop in pursuit of the ultimate bad guy:
  
• This cop will stop at nothing to catch that villain.
  
• This cop probably has an estranged wife/girlfriend or a failed marriage because of his devotion to his job.
  
• And I bet he spends a lot of time in the movie marveling at how clever, ruthless, and successful this villain is (i.e. sexy).
  
• When the two finally meet, it's like love at first sight. There is a mutual respect for one another, because they are two sides of the same coin (i.e. soul mates).
  
• I bet there's even some dialog between the two like: "I'm gonna get your ass!" or "I'm gonna fuck you!" or even "I'm gonna fuck your ass!" [and if you don't believe me or think I'm exaggerating, just check out Lethal Weapon 2].
• Some movies even take the above concept so far as to give this super villain the biggest gun (!), which the super cop covets (envies), and then basically when the two meet in the end, they duel with their guns (tummy sticks) and the winner pretty much screws the loser to death.

Point is, homoeroticism in the cop/action genre is nothing new. What was new with Point Break is how obvious they made it!
Let's run down a few things:

• Patrick Swayze's character's name is "Bodhi". Now, I know that Bodhi is short for Bodhisattva, and that makes him a spiritual leader, but c'mon...Bodhi=Body, and he spends enough time in the movie with his shirt off to make this a legitimate claim. Along with that, Keanu Reeves spends enough time in the moving staring at Partick Swayze's shirtless body that it's not that big of a stretch at all.

Bodhisattva don't surf - or look like Patrick Swayze.

• Lori Petty's character, "Tyler", is an androgynous outsider that Johnny Utah has to ingratiate himself with to get inside the surfing world. She looks like a boy and her name is Tyler. That's pretty obvious, too, is it not?
  

Even in the movie's "sex scene", Lori Petty looks like a dude named "Tyler".

• Keanu Reeves character, Johnny Utah, is a former college athlete that got hurt and couldn't go pro (i.e. failed masculinity) so he became an FBI agent and pursues bank robbers (trading in the masculinity of football for the masculinity of a badge and gun).

"Whoa." - every Keanu Reeves reaction. Ever.

• Reeves and Swayze are far too good looking (better than Lori Petty and Gary Busey, for sure) to not fall for each other.

Blow Dried v. The Wet Look - you trying to tell me that's not gay?

• Why do Bodhi and Utah fall in love anyway? Bodhi is attracted to Utah's naivete, athletic prowess, and impressionable character when it comes to surfing/life (I think that makes Bodhi the "top" or "pitcher"). Utah is attracted to Bodhi's graceful control of the water, his athleticism, and overall, his love and perceived mastery of risky behavior (like surfing, bank robbing, night football, and skydiving). So that would make Utah a "bottom" or "catcher".

I believe I can fly - with the help of Patrick Swayze.

Now, there are some specific moments in Point Break that illustrate it's homoeroticism better than I could ever hope to do if I was screenwriter W. Peter Iliff:

• countless looks of longing from Utah to Bodhi, from Tyler to Bodhi or Utah, and from Bodhi to Utah creating a most interesting love triangle.

"Looking at things is good acting." - Steven Spielberg

• the scene where Utah is chasing Bodhi from a bank robbery, but Utah's knee gives out (oh, that masculinity failure again!) and Bodhi escapes. Before Bodhi escapes, he turns in his Reagan mask (veiled AIDS-era reference?) and looks Johnny deep in the eyes, and Utah looks back a penetrating (no pun intended) look. Johnny knows the bank robber is Bodhi, Bodhi knows he has betrayed his love for Utah. And what happens next? Utah can't shoot Bodhi - he lets him escape. Then, after the act (here, an apprehension) isn't consummated (again with that failure in masculinity), Johnny Utah unloads his gun into the air (empties his government-issue phallus, that is) and screams in agony/ecstasy for an uncomfortably long amount of screen time.

"AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" - Keanu Reeves

• the scene in the plane where Bodhi leaves with the only parachute and tells Johnny "I know you want me so bad it's like acid in your mouth." [author's note: I remember laughing out loud the first time I saw this scene...I could not believe they got away with that!].
• continuing the above scene, Utah succumbs to his riskier side (masculinity coming back, I see) and follows Bodhi out the plane. They tussle in the sky for a minute or two (becoming intertwined, I might add), and once the parachute opens, they land on the ground and writhe under the chute (sheet) and moan in agony/ecstasy for an uncomfortably long amount of screen time. Pretty easy to make the argument that this stands in for a sex scene between the two.

I told you Swayze was the pitcher.

• Finally, at the end of the film, with the impending arrest of Bodhi at Bell's Beach in Australia, Johnny Utah does not apprehend him, but let's him go, into the biggest wave in cinematic history. Two interpretations here, I think: 1) if you love something, set it free; and 2) Utah allows Bodhi to continue his high-risk behavior (AIDS, anyone?) and chooses to no longer be a part of it, thus Bodhi is consumed by the wave (the physical manifestation of AIDS, perhaps) [thanks to my brother, Nate, for this interpretation].

"You wanna go back to my place?"

And there are others.
The point is (see what I did there?), that it's not that much of a stretch to see this film through that lens. It's also not much of a surprise.

Now, this doesn't mean you're gay if you like Point Break, and it doesn't mean you're straight if you don't. It just makes a seemingly innocuous Keanu Reeves vehicle a lot more interesting. So next time it's on TNT, make sure you check it out. You'll at least laugh out loud when you see these things so much more obviously.