Top Five Mainstream Movies That Feel Really Gay

<< Blog | Editorial Features Thursday, June 6, 4:07 PMThu, 6 Jun 2024 @ 4:07 PM by Bustin Theroux

It's Pride Month, so it's the best time of the year to watch super gay movies. But aren't some "non-gay" movies kind of...gay? Surely, I'm not alone in watching a mainstream film meant for straight dudes to love and thinking "this is actually pretty gay". I mean, right?!

Some of these beloved bro movies do have gay subtext in them...and some of them might be my imagination. But who cares? My imagination is a fun place to be, so here are five films that feel really gay.

Top Gun

The film seems super macho on the surface is a super cool movie about fighter pilots. The fighter pilots all seem to love bro-ing out with each other. Like...they really love it. The minute-and-a-half beach volleyball scene proves as much as these sweaty shirtless men play with each other.

This theory took hold back in 1994 when Quentin Tarantino delivered a monologue about it in the movie Sleep With Me. You can watch his monologue here, but he says Top Gun is the best script ever written. He says it is a story about a man's struggle with his sexuality. He says Ice Man's crew represents homosexuality and Maverick is torn between them and his female love interest. When she dresses "like a man", he falls for her. Huh. Maybe there's something there.

300

Here's another super macho movie that feels, well, kind of gay. King Leonidas leads his Spartan army of 300 men into battle with the invading Persians. The movie is filled with action - shirtless action - and super buff boys. The super buff boys wear leather cod pieces and barely anything else at all. Really gay costuming! Plus leading man Gerard Butler goes nude once, baring big buns in a shadowy scene.

Midnight Cowboy

Midnight Cowboy is a gritty, beloved movie that does take place in the world of sex work. The only X-rated film to ever win an Academy Award, Midnight Cowboy is universally considered a great film. That is why the central relationship seeming so gay is so cool to me. Everyone just accepts this "close friendship" between these two men who live together and care for one another.

Jon Voight is a sex worker from Texas who lands in New York and meets Ratso played by Dustin Hoffman. Voight to be weeding through some sexual confusion and trauma which he puts aside to take care of the sick Ratso. Theirs is a tender relationship whose boundaries feel...a bit blurred. They live and act like they're full-on married and it's adorable!

Point Break

Surf's up, dudes. Kathryn Bigelow's surfer bro movie makes surfers seem like outlaws. Hot outlaws. Patrick Swayze is a bad boy wave rider, but his bare muscles will have you wanting to ride him. Keanu Reeves co-stars and the two have a bond - and some very tight wetsuits. Keanu shows his buns as does James Le Gros, but that's not what makes it seem gay.

Keanu and Patrick are rivals, but there seems to be earnest respect and love for each other. It's like they pine for one another in several sexily shot scenes. Not only that, but the film is often considered a sexual awakening for many gay people. I get it!

Spartacus

A classic American film set in ancient times that focuses on the story of a slave who led a revolt against Rome. Kirk Douglas stars as the titular Spartacus, but the star-studded cast features Laurence Olivier who has always been rumored to have been bisexual in real life. The scene in which his character hints at that with his servant may have helped those rumors grow.

Stanley Kubrick's epic film is considered one of the greatest American movies ever made and a conversation regarding bisexuality is just icing on the cake.