[quote] Was Dumas supposed to be gay in the movie?
R33 this is going to sound fucked up, but I’m so glad and relieved someone else on Earth has had the same notion at some point in time. I thought I was nuts, thinking the same.
Watching the movie for the first time (I’ve seen it several times, don’t ask), I was so confused as to why Dumas was bullying Bobby & Dinger in the specific way he was. Honestly, from the stalking, to the cruising (in bathrooms and alleys, no less), to the physical contact (grabbing ass in gym), the dialogue (“aww, is it band practice? You boys bring your flutes?”) and bizarre pet names he had for them (“cupcake”?), it really did come over so homoerotic. Then the gun standoff at the end, with th blocking and the heavy breathing and the object placement...suss. If it weren’t for the fact Dumas threatened to rape Lainey (yeah...different times), I would have assumed he was gay without a doubt.
The entirety of the first DREAM A LITTLE DREAM is weirdly gay-tinged, though—not that the homoerotic overtones are weird or wrong in themselves, just that they seem misplaced and incidental. I mean, if you think about it, the plot is driven by the premise of a young man’s consciousness entering and becoming entwined with the body & mind of an elder man, and though the script is littered with “fag!” jokes exchanged between the younger Male cast of friends no-one really remarks on this premise or makes the obvious gag about it. The teen boys in the movie are also dressed in what looks like typical outfits late ‘80s trade or gay clubkid patrons would wear, rather than schoolkids. From a certain perspective, and taking into account the history the two Coreys had in the business, it almost seems insidiously coded.
And of course, Haim & Feldman giggle and fondle and flirt with each other throughout the entire runtime, and, taking aside a handful of set-piece scenes, both largely ignore sexy tight perky glistening teen Meredith Salenger in her leotard. In the script, 17-year old Dinger’s entire life seems to revolve around his bff Bobby, and Bobby is equally bereft without Dinger beside him. This appears to be a Reality Subtext reflection of the Coreys codependent, sexually-confused and drug-addled IRL relationship at the time of filming. Quite sad in retrospect. Makes you wonder if they ever really had a decent friendship in one brief window, or if it was always dark and twisted and fake between them.
1988-1990 looks an incomprehensible time period, socially and stylistically.
