Re: RARA-AVIS: Maltese Falcon

From: Nathan Cain ( IndieCrime@gmail.com)
Date: 21 May 2008


Spade beat up Joel Cairo and Wilmer because they pointed guns at him. It is obvious in the film (both the Bogart one and the earlier version) that Cairo, Wilmer and Gutman are homosexual. It's fairly explicit, but it's not like Spade took an aluminum baseball bat to the pride parade or anything. That said, Spade is not particularly heroic. Also, I never realized what Gunsel meant. Interesting.

On Wed, May 21, 2008 at 2:09 PM, Aaron Finestone
< microbrewjournalism@gmail.com> wrote:
> My friend got me into the Maltese Falcon. After reading the book twice and
> viewing the movie three times, I have realized that the story has a sublte
> but deeper theme. Sexuality. Gay sex. Straight sex.
>
> An article is Wikipedia
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maltese_Falcon>reveals the key--the
> gunsel. Joe Cairo was obviously gay, but the gayness
> goes beyond Cairo. Sam Spade repeatedly refers to Wilmer as "gunsel." I
> thought the term related to gun. Since the Maltese Falcon was filmed, the
> term has come to mean a petty crook and gunman. It turns out that an older
> meaning of the word is a young gay man who takes care of (or services) an
> older gay man. That term explains a lot.
>
> In the movie, Sam Spade abuses and demeans Wilmer. Sam Spade takes pleasure
> in beating up Joel Cairo. In the movie, Sam Spade shows an evil grin while
> hassling Wilmer and speaking to Joel Cairo. It originally occurred to me
> that Caspar Gutman may have been gay, but primarily he was a wealthy
> collector and probably a lawyer. Now it all comes together. Wilmer was the
> gunsel for Gutman. Even if the relationship was not sexual, Wilmer was more
> than a body guard. The relationship of Wilmer to Gutman is about bonding.
>
> The story is full of sexual tension. The promiscuously heterosexual Sam
> Spade beating up the gay Wilmer and Joel Cairo. The competition for the
> Black Bird between the flaming heterosexual Brigid O'Shaughnessay and the
> gay Caspar Gutman. The straight team of Sam Spade and Brigid O'Shaughnessy
> versus the gay team of Joel Cairo, Caspar Gutman and Wilmer.
>
> Caspar Gutman is the most interesting character. I like his laugh and how he
> avoids answering questions. Imagine him on a witness stand. Maybe Wilmer and
> Cairo follow him for the money--but maybe for more.
>
> Then, there is the sexual tension around Sam Spade. Sam Spade is unfaithful
> to a succession of women--- Effie, Iva and Brigid (who he sells out to the
> cops)---all in 90 minutes of film.
>
> Beating up people because they are gay is evil. Sam Spade is evil. Unlike
> other Bogart characters, there is nothing heroic about him.
>
> Does anyone have any thoughts on the sexual angle of the Maltese Falcon?
>
> --
> Gra
>
> AARON FINESTONE
>
> Visit my websites:
> www.microbrewjournalism.com
> www.themightyzed.com
> www.usshermitage.com
>
> and my blogs:
> babagafish.blogspot.com
> themightyzed.blogspot.com
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>



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