While “Bros,” starring Billy Eichner and Nicholas Stoller, is not the first gay rom-com, it is the first one to be produced and released theatrically in an R-rated format by a major studio. The LGBTQ+ community has mixed feelings about how that factoid is being used in the marketing, but the accomplishment is nothing to scoff at when one considers how many unapologetically gay ads and posters of the movie are everywhere, or just how many theatres the movie will be screened in across the U.S. this weekend (possibly reaching out to audiences who wouldn’t normally see queer media).
However, it begs the question of what “Bros” is aiming to accomplish in terms of mainstream culture. One of co-writer Billy Eichner’s objectives for the movie was to provide a fresh form of LGBT narrative to the general public. The movie contains openly queer performers who play their appropriately LGBT parts, focusing on grown “forty-something” adults who have already moved past “coming out,” and actively depicts the daily existence of contemporary gay culture in New York City.
The main thing is that these characters have sex! Many of it. “Bros” is profoundly and admirably shameless about gay sex. The fact that the romcom subverts the long-standing practise of mainstream comedies making homosexual sex the homophobic punchline and reclaims it as something sweet and vulnerable is actually one of its greatest accomplishments.
There are mild spoilers coming if you haven’t seen “Bros” yet.
For a long time in comedy, gay sex has been a punchline
Who doesn’t enjoy watching Nora Ephron movies and eating their feelings away? Despite “Bros” having a great deal of respect for the studio comedies that came before it, it isn’t afraid to throw some of them under the bus. When Bobby (Billy Eichner) and his manly and straight-passing love interest Aaron (Luke Macfarlane) go on one of their first dates, Bobby asks Aaron what his favourite movie is, and Aaron responds, “The Hangover.” Bobby, who is neurotic and arrogant, launches into a tirade over the homophobic comedy in the movie. In this instance, “Bros” prompts viewers to reflect on the other comedies that came before it in which queerness was only used for laughs.
Gay sex, and especially the act of anal intercourse, has long been the target of mockery in the film industry. Only via the prism of “don’t drop the soap” jokes do “Get Hard” and “Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay” depict the fear of males going to prison. In a scene in Seth Rogen’s “The Interview,” the protagonist hides a toy missile up his nose. This year’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” albeit not a studio comedy, had a running joke with characters jokingly utilising buttplugs.
The numerous examples alone might support a whole thesis, and despite the fact that these scenes’ intents range from violently homophobic to dangerously naive, they all add to the unsettling notion that gay sex is something to be truly ashamed of.
Bros challenges society’s perception of gay sex
According to Harry Styles, a former pop singer who is now an actor, “so lot of homosexual sex in cinema is two guys going at it, and it kind of pulls the compassion from it,” therefore the sex scenes in his next film, “My Policeman,” are different. There is something to be said about how Styles’ statement represents an attitude towards gay sex in the mainstream: that gay sex is not love, it is rough and immature. Unfortunately, Styles is terribly mistaken about gay sexuality in cinema (see “God’s Own Country” or “Weekend”). Perhaps this explains why it is an absurdist act in heteronormative comedies.
When Bobby and Aaron engage in one-on-one sex for the first time in “Bros,” it is the result of a minor disagreement that swiftly escalates into a wrestling bout. After having sex in the park, the protagonists return to Bobby’s place to let all the sexual frustration these two emotionally distant guys have inflicted on each other out. No, “Bros” does not violate the restrictions of its R-rating, but it does demonstrate the diversity of gay sex.
The interaction is tough, but it’s not predatory or ugly; rather, there is a true sense of trust. The scene’s intensity is unconcerned with pleasing a heterosexual audience as Bobby is thrown into the bed and Aaron flexes while Bobby kisses his biceps. Since sex is vulnerable and these men typically want to be anything but vulnerable, it doesn’t even need to make anyone feel at ease.
Bros finds humanism in gay sex
The “joke” of gay sex is reframed into something more accessible and humanistic, and this is where the humour enters the picture. By demonstrating to the audience that sex is already a ridiculous act, “Bros” reclaims the presumption that gay sex is absurd. It is by nature two individuals acting out their fantasies on each other, or, as the movie makes clear, there’s always room for more, and when taken out of context, it may look rather embarrassing. Aaron takes a kinky interest in Bobby’s feet, and Bobby appears to be in ecstasy admiring Aaron’s body. It is presented as humorous because it is humorous. Our sexuality is a doorway into the most intense, painfully human impulses we have. This does not exclude it from being raunchy, sexual, or even private and romantic. Gay sex is cleverly positioned in “Bros” as having the capacity to be everything at once.
Despite being directed by a straight man, “Bros” boldly features the voices of Eichner and producer Guy Branum, both of whom are openly gay. The movie has a tremendous deal of self-awareness and a keen understanding of history, giving the romcom a surprising degree of depth even if it is unquestionably from the white, cisgendered gay perspective. The film positions itself as a thoughtful but also enjoyable addition to the studio comedy canon whether it is de-mystifying the act of gay sex, inspiring its LGBTQ+ audience to share their own stories, or interrogating queer diaspora. That is the true value of this movie’s existence in the mainstream.
Now playing in cinemas is “Bros.”
