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Bonus Video! The gayest moments in Rock Hudson/Doris Day rom-coms
🕑 Added 2023-11-26 17:00:06 +0000 UTCAs I'm sure you're aware, Rock Hudson is probably best known for the romantic comedies he made in the 1950s and 1960s with Doris Day (and a bunch of other actresses). But something kind of peculiar about these movies, which are all about heterosexual romance, is how often they slip queer subtext into the stories. And sometimes it's not even that subtextual! This week we're looking at some of the gayest moments of his many rom-coms, from shared a bed with a man to pregnancy misunderstandings to the time his therapist literally told him to stop hiding in the closet.
Backup link in case the video doesn't play: https://youtu.be/InVmJRjqMIM
Comments
Matt Baume
Haha oh lord, that's amazing. Just goes to show how people really do see what they want to see!
Paul Bernard
So my mom worked in a University overseeing graduate students in the 90's, and one time she and one of her long term TAs were arguing whether some couple in the news at the time was real or just celeb gossip. The TA (arguing for the relationship being real) said in all seriousness "It's one of those Rock Hudson/Doris Day things" and my mom just died. She had to stop and explain A)Rock deceived Doris in every movie, and B) he was gay.
Matt Baume
According to George Chauncey, the phrase was juuuuust starting to appear around the time this movie came out. I think it’s likely to have been familiar to the gays who worked on the film, but not the straights.
Trevor
Your comment about Rock’s character literally being in the closet made me wonder when “in the closet” became a widely used expression. I haven’t found a specific instance where it became popular but seem to remember it started being used more commonly 40 years ago.
