Fraternities
initiate new members through a variety of sadomasochistic
scenarios, rites of passage that bond young men but place
same-sex contact high on a list of taboos. In Defying
Gravity, directed by John Keitel, a college guy begins
the film by sneaking into his bunk bed at his fraternity after
a night of sex with a boyfriend in a rooming house down the
street. John "Griff" Griffith (played by Daniel Chilson) is
the frat guy, Pete Bradley (played by Don Handfield) is his
gay sleepmate. Although Griff is perfectly satisfied with
the arrangement, and flirts with girls as well, Pete wants
more -- a relationship. Todd does not want to become gay,
a decision reinforced by the unwritten though sometimes articulated
code enforced by his frat brothers. Due to the conflict, Pete
walks off one night down a dark alley, and Griff drives away
as a van heads down the alley. Next day, news of the gaybashing
of Pete reaches the TV screen in the frat house. Griff and
his friend Todd Bentley (played by Niklaus Lange) go to the
hospital to find an unconscious Pete. Police eager for clues,
ask questions, but Griff keeps his mouth shut. Griff's guilt
gradually overcomes him, his girlfriends and even frat brothers
realize that he is overwrought about the situation. During
many scenes he seeks advice from Denetra (played by Linna
Carter), a Lesbian who listens sympathetically but does not
intervene as Griff tries to cope with his own conflict between
his guilt for Pete and his frat-conditioned hetero identity.
Soon he tells the police what he knows, ultimately identifying
three frat brothers, who are arrested. Meanwhile, Pete's parents
arrive on the scene, encourage Griff to help, and Griff talks
to Pete, the encouragement that we are led to believe was
sufficient to bring him out of the coma. Pete recovers, the
two are reconciled, and Griff makes a commitment to become
Pete's lover. As a coming-of-age story, we see that tragedy
produced a personal transformation in Griff. However, the
story is not typical. Countless other college bisexuals exploit
their gay friends for sex, but get married and become anti-gay,
suppressing a part of their youthful memories, as Boys
in the Band (1970) dramatized so eloquently. That
gays and Lesbians want relationships more than sex is one
of the most important themes of Boys in the Band,
Defying Gravity, and many other recent films.
Society's unwillingness to give recognition to same-sex marriage,
in short, serves to discourage stable same-sex relationships
so that divorce-ridden straight society can accuse gays and
Lesbians of being sex maniacs. Gays and Lesbians virtually
have to defy gravity in order to achieve stability in their
lives. The tagline of the film is "Some pledges are for keeps."
MH
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