Was ‘The Bikeriders’ not homoerotic enough for you? Check out this ’64 biker flick that’s actually gay
The Bikeriders opened in theaters, the story of a young man named Benny (Austin Butler) torn between his marriage to the fiery Kathy (Jodie Comer) and the outlaw motorcycle club he’s a part of, the Vandals, led by the enigmatic Johnny (Tom Hardy).Based on a collection of photographs of actual biker gangs, writer-director Jeff Nichols (Mud, Take Shelter) aims to tell a story of shifting countercultures in ’60s and ’70s Midwestern America—but it’s hard to think of anything else when you pick up on the sizzling homoerotic tension between Butler and Hardy’s characters!Maybe we’re just living in a post-Challengers world, but, come on, The Bikeriders is basically a queer love triangle drama, too, right?Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.*Caution: Minor spoilers ahead for The Bikeriders.*Well, yes and no.
On one hand, sure, there’s a very obvious gay metaphor in a story about a group of outcast men who wear lots of leather, ride around town on “crotch rockets,” and openly scoff at women who try to encroach on their tight-knit social circle.Our protagonist, Benny, really feels like he can let loose and be himself around these guys.
However, as the world around him evolves, and the Vandals fall further into a lifestyle of crime and violence, his wife Kathy understandably objects.
But remove the crime element and what do you have? A man stuck between heteronormativity and a life where he’s more open and unbound by the rigid rules of society.
