Speaking of
John Astin, his adopted son Sean, born in 1971, was a reliable teen idol through the 1980s, with iconic roles in
The Goonies (1985),
White Water Summer (1987), and
The War of the Roses (1989). (Meanwhile his brother
Mackenzie was starring in
The Facts of Life).
But Sean's gay subtexts began in earnest with starring roles in
Memphis Belle (1990), a "boys alone" movie about a World War II airforce squadron (with Matthew Modine, Tate Donovan, and D. B. Sweeney).
In the beefcake-heavy
Toy Soldiers (1991), about boys alone in a private school.
In
Where the Day Takes You (1992), as homeless drug addict Greg, who is partnered with Little J (Balthazar Getty).
And in
Encino Man (1992), about college student Dave (Sean) and his slacker buddy Stony (Paulie Shore) unfreezing a cave man (Brendan Frasier) trapped in the ice.
In the late 1990s, Sean was mostly involved in boy-meets-girl-comedies and heterosexist actioners, but he returned to gay subtexts in a big way in
The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003): his Sam Gamgee was achingly in love with Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), in spite of the marrying-a-girl conclusion.
Today he is a little beefy, but he can still fill out a Speedo.
Although he is a supporter of gay marriage, Sean's only gay character, in
Stay Cool (2009), was a homophobic stereotype, a swishy hairdresser named Big Girl.
I liked him in the goonies, and he was great in Rudy, but my favorite film with him is Memphis Belle, another movie with an all guy cast.
ReplyDeleteWasn't their a gay joke in Goonies? Something about why the gangsters murdered two guys before the kids show up at the restaurant.
ReplyDeleteI did not like the way he was bullied by Kevin Bacon in White Water Summer.
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