Handsome Devil (2017), and the break down of Masculine Stereotypes within sports.

Handsome Devil (2017), is an Art House drama Directed by John Butler. The film is a coming of age teen LGBTQ feature, which you will come to realize is one of my all time favourite genres.

It is a comedic tale of two teenagers who are both outcasts but in completely different ways,  and their budding friendship demonstrates that you should never judge a book by its cover.

I'm holding it in the realms of films such as Perks of Being a Wallflower (which is one of my all time favourite books / film adaptations),  and I bloody loved it. I found the characters charming and relateable, and as I go on to discuss I especially love the focus on 'masculinity' and what it means to be a man. So here stands my SPOILER WARNING.

The film does an amazing job of highlighting masculinity in crisis and the problem within male sports. I think the most important aspect of this film is how it highlights homophobia within the very masculine sport, rugby. Masculine’ as to be defined as showing masses of aggression against / towards other males. The school is one consumed by the love for rugby, they practically worship it. The teammates mock and tease Ned because he isn’t interested in the sport (or more plainly not interested in proving his masculinity), by calling him gay which is a demonstration of the masculine/feminine stereotype. That if he is male and not interested in ‘masculine’ ideals, then it must make him gay.

Conor is a character that breaks this down to its core and demolishes it. He is an assertive male, very masculine in appearance. He is strong, muscular and is heavily into sports and is the teams star player. He is the complete opposite of Ned, who is petite and interested in music and literature. If you are to play by the standard rules of stereotyping and stigmata’s then you would assume that Ned was gay, and Conor was straight (spoiler alert) – wrong. The way the film flips this on its head and shows the effects of homosexuality within sports is super important, and isn't one which we see often. At the end of the film when the team choose to stick with him anyway and put aside all their negative and homophobic feelings  is such a powerful moment. The fact that they are all rejecting the normality, and accepting that just because he is gay it doesn’t make him any less of a good player.

 Another aspect to the film that I love is how Ned and Connors relationship never builds into anything romantic. I won’t lie I was really hoping that there would be a kiss at the end, but I am definitely glad that there wasn’t. It made it seem even more important? The fact that Ned never says he isn't gay, and never says he is is something important. It doesn't matter if he is gay or not, because that isn't the issue the film is highlighting. I honestly really admire that they kept it about friendship, as I suppose the romantic route would've been the most obvious. But I think it makes their relationship even more authentic and memorable.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this film and would give it 4.5 /5. This was definitely the way I wanted my viewing habits to start this year, more like this please! I think if you are someone who likes a film with a retro feel, that focuses on character development and the struggles of coming of age for teenage boys then this film is for you - and I would 100% recommend it.

XOXO, EMMA.