Re: mr. antolini & other thoughts
Jessica Lynn Becker (beckerj@uwec.edu)
Thu, 04 Dec 1997 19:25:06 -0600
first of all, i do not believe that mr. antolini's gesture was part of a
supressed homosexual urge. secondly, even if it was, is that so wrong?
okay, so maybe i don't completely believe that the gesture was 100%
platonic, and that maybe mr. antolini had some emotions for holden that he
was suppressing to a large degree. i do believe that if holden had not
reacted the way he had then there would not have been anything more...mr.
antolini most likely would have been happy to play with holden's hair and
nothing more.
i think the beauty of homosexuality is that you learn it is possible to love
everyone in a platonic way or a sexual way and in some cases even find a
happy medium between the two. i used to have a friend who was a drag queen,
and before he became a backstabbing bitch (xcuse me for venting) he could be
very sweet at times. i don't doubt for a second that he loved me, although
it was more than platonic love and less than the sexual attration i felt for
him. we used to sit around for hours, not saying anything, playing with
each others hair. that didn't mean that he had a sexual attraction to me.
and i do admit that the first time he did it it scared me because i had
never had a gay friend before so i didn't know what to think...i suppose
it's something you have to get used to.
anyway, to the point i believe that perhaps mr. antolini was bisexual and
had some feelings for holden, but it's not like holden would have been raped
by mr. antolini had he stayed. i believe he overreacted and that jds
probably had the scenario pan out that way because of society's beliefs at
the time of publication. who knows what would happen if the scene were
written today?
just a few thoughts....
jessica :)
p.s. for those who wondered, i am straight. homophobia is a social
disease: are you infected?