Jarhead and the Homoerotics of Military Films

On Saturday night I went to see Jarhead with two of my friends (incidently, the same two who pestered me to see Donnie Darko and who I now blame for my Jake Gyllenhaal crush--curse you evil wenches!).

The film was a lot better than I was expecting, but I have to admit I must attribute it largely to JG's ultra-sculpted bod on frequent display for the viewer. *Warning: The following are my shameless eroticized musings about JG, so you may want to tune out.* Okay, so this pic only reveals part of what's going on...namely JG wearing another santa hat over his unmentionables--AND NOTHING ELSE! I know what I want for X-Mas dear Santa...mmmm...excuse me while I momentarily lapse back into that visual memory. Ahem. Sorry. Additionally, there is a brief but incredibly hot scene where JG is giving it to his girlfriend against this wall...and he's totally naked. I have never seen a man with a more perfect ass in all of my 26 years on this planet. And his back...again with the sculpting...it makes me want to lick him all over. *sigh*

Anyway, the film actually had a fairly interesting narrative, especially given our current moment in Iraq--one that is quite different from the Persian Gulf War, and yet eerily similar in terms of motivation. But I think what I found most fascinating about the film (other than the obvious JG hotness) was the homoeroticism of the military itself. Of course the story takes place before the "don't ask, don't tell" BS Clinton established. So JG's character has numerous initiations that require he assert his masculinity. Marine captains frequently refer to their dicks and the whole cleaning of the rifle sequences had me turned on for the sheer sexuality of the whole process. The recruits are taught early on that they have to refer to their rifle in the following way: "This is my rifle, there are many like it but this one is mine." Hmmm...can we say penis subsitute folks? This is then followed by much cleaning and stroking of said rifle. Needless to say, it was quite hot.

Then we have this one particular scene out in the desert where, under the heat of the scorching sun (like some Playgirl-esque beer commercial waiting to happen), the marines start undressing as they mime fucking and sucking one another. This is of course supposed to humiliate their commanding officer in front of the news reporters and generated good laughs from the audience, but at the same time there's a certain ironic realism to the whole situation. The guys are all feeling sexually frustrated because they're separated from their wives and girlfriends for a long time (lots of references to this) and you get the sense that some of them wouldn't mind turning to their comrades for a little lovin'. Incidently, there are no female officers in the film which I found rather interesting. I don't know the gendered details of the Persian Gulf War, but surely there were some female officers? This of course added to the obvious homosocial and at times homoerotic bonding between the men.

So this had me reflecting back on other military/war films I've seen, which isn't all that many since I don't tend to enjoy them. But I was forced as a child to watch The Dirty Dozen with my dad, and I distinctly recall a certain special something going on between Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson. Indeed, since most of these types of films focus on a small band of male friends trying to survive, it's almost impossible to ignore desire when death is all around. I'm not saying characters in these films are gay per se, but I think that war places men in interesting kinds of bonding situations in these narratives that often resonatese with a certain homoerotic undercurrent. And I find that really interesting and hugely ironic given the rabid homophobia within the military itself.