Appreciate this a great deal. And it reminds me of a quote I stumbled upon in book research. In the '70s, the sociologist Klaus Theweleit suggested that the men of the proto-Nazi Freikorps were motivated more than anything by a fear and distaste of women and their growing participation in society. Many of them would go on to form the nexus of the future Nazi Party, including SS chief Heinrich Himmler; his rival Ernst Röhm, the head of the Storm Troopers and a closeted homosexual; and Rudolf Höss, who would eventually become commandant of Auschwitz.
Absolutely - that's a deep vein. There's a fascinating/disturbing way in which queerness shows up in the film; all three tales include threesomes or foursomes with a lot of homoeroticism in them. Conventional monogamous hetero sex is depicted as either dull or passionless or violent/dangerous. To me this points to the tense homoeroticism of fascist movements, in which the Leader is depicted as the uber-manly Alpha, who is then adored and emulated by his male followers in ways that are themselves quite passionate.
Appreciate this a great deal. And it reminds me of a quote I stumbled upon in book research. In the '70s, the sociologist Klaus Theweleit suggested that the men of the proto-Nazi Freikorps were motivated more than anything by a fear and distaste of women and their growing participation in society. Many of them would go on to form the nexus of the future Nazi Party, including SS chief Heinrich Himmler; his rival Ernst Röhm, the head of the Storm Troopers and a closeted homosexual; and Rudolf Höss, who would eventually become commandant of Auschwitz.
Absolutely - that's a deep vein. There's a fascinating/disturbing way in which queerness shows up in the film; all three tales include threesomes or foursomes with a lot of homoeroticism in them. Conventional monogamous hetero sex is depicted as either dull or passionless or violent/dangerous. To me this points to the tense homoeroticism of fascist movements, in which the Leader is depicted as the uber-manly Alpha, who is then adored and emulated by his male followers in ways that are themselves quite passionate.
Oof. Appreciate this framing so much, even if it's uncomfortable....