Wrestling flick ‘Vision Quest’ is totally ’80s, totally homoerotic—and has a totally awesome Madonna cameo
Welcome back to our queer film retrospective, “A Gay Old Time.” In this week’s column, we revisit 1985’s coming-of-age sports story Vision Quest—remembered for its homoeroticism and its major pop star cameo.What is the line between queerness and homoeroticism?
Can a movie—or any piece of media for that matter—be considered queer if it’s filled with imagery blatantly aimed at the gay male gaze, but lacks any overt queer characters or storylines?
Can we claim something that obviously appeals to our desires and interests, but doesn’t include us?Are sweaty naked athletes and a Madonna cameo enough?This week we’re diving into the 1985 cult sports drama Vision Quest, a movie that attempts to address all these questions—with some answers more satisfying and concrete than others.
It’s a movie that screams 1980s in almost every regard: the costume-y fashion choices, the needle drops full of synths, the blatant sexuality that dances between provocative and problematic, and a shameless display of masculinity that is homoerotic and homophobic, usually at the same time.Vision Quest follows high schooler Louden Swain (a very young and very in-shape Matthew Modine), who is part of the school’s wrestling team and has set himself the goal that will give meaning to his life: he’s going to lose enough weight so he can fight two categories under, and go against the best wrestler in the area.
