• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox
  • Sophia Bush’s girlfriend ‘proud’ the actress has opened up about coming out as queer
  • Mel B declares she’ll ‘always be open’ when it comes to her sexuality!
  • Megan Thee Stallion being sued for ‘forcing cameraman watch her having lesbian sex!’

Sundance Film ‘Beach Rats’ Takes on a Gay Teen’s Sexual Awakening, Cruising and Romance

Andy Towle January 25, 2017 Leave a Comment

Beach Rats

The new film Beach Rats, about the sexual awakening of a Brooklyn teen, has some “great gay sex scenes” according to The Daily Beast's Kevin Fallon, and addresses “cruising” in the real world, which, according to the film's director, is alive and well.

Writes Fallon:

“[Eliza] Hittman's film was inspired by a photograph, one that is inherently of today's day and age of digital culture: a dimly-lit selfie taken by a teenage boy meant to arouse its eventual recipient. Out of that photo, British breakout Harris Dickinson was cast, and the model-turned-actor delivers one of the most grueling, sensual, and captivating star turns at Sundance.”

Hittman says the film, “a story about the tension of masculinity and heteronormativity set in the present,” should resonate differently in a post-election world.

An interview with Hittman by Sundance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoiI3D1kcdw

The Daily Beast interview with Hittman and Dickinson touches a lot on the film's sexual moments.

Hittman says that despite the fact that her lead character talks with men online, gay cruising IRL is alive and well:

I think some of the challenges were when people were initially reading this script. They said, “This feels kind of dated. Do people still cruise?” “Uh, actually, they do.”

There are a lot along the water, along Jamaica Bay. It was a little hard, I think, pre-election to get people to realize that there is still a lot of violence that erupts in an isolated area when you introduce any kind of otherness. I think that, in a way, the themes of the film didn't feel totally relevant to people when we were trying to make it a year ago. But I think now the film is starting to touch upon things that people are more aware of post-election.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BNjLyClAzdf/?taken-by=harrisdickinson&hl=en

 

Dickinson, who is straight, says he did his best to get inside the character:

I think when I read the character, his sexuality wasn't really a question for me; it wasn't a deciding factor. It didn't really matter. Whether he's gay or not isn't really a decider. It's a struggle that a lot of people have to go through, so I can't really speak for that demographic. I can only try to represent it…

…You know, I can't possibly say that I endured the same struggles as someone who's had these struggles with sexuality. I've noticed that I entered the mind frame of it, and tried, so I suppose I put myself in a situation where I was going through the motions, and, yeah, I did learn more about it. Since I was young, I've had friends who struggled with sexuality and are now out, in the open, and their parents know and everything, but I've seen it—I've seen my friends go through it—so it's not a completely foreign subject; not something I was unaware of as a problem.

Dickinson spoke about his experience at the film's Sundance screening as well:

“Going into it, I wasn't sure…what statement about sexuality it would make. I feel like I've gained an extreme amount of empathy for that struggle and I feel like I've understood more so the relationship between sexuality and class and where you live – if you're living in a masculine environment or a traditional environment.”

Dickinson's performance got a rave from Variety: “His Frankie is at once maddeningly impenetrable and desperately vulnerable, snarling some responses and mumbling others as if in apology for his very existence; it's a performance that nails typical teenage switchbacks and insecurities with an active, unshakable terror over who he might turn out to be.”

Read the full Daily Beast interview HERE.

video
play-rounded-fill
Link

(photo: Sundance)

Topics: Actor, Film/TV/Stream, Living | Loving, towleroad More Posts About: Beach Rats, Eliza Hittman, Film, Harris Dickinson, movies

Related Posts
  • Liz Hurley defends lesbian sex scene in new movie that was directed by her son
  • ‘Oppenheimer’ sweeps up at Oscars
  • LGBTQ Pro Wrestling Documentary ‘Out In The Ring’ Wins Best Canadian Feature at Inside Out Toronto Film Festival
  • Mel B declares she’ll ‘always be open’ when it comes to her sexuality!

    Mel B declares she’ll ‘always be open’ when it comes to her sexuality!

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Mel B will “always be open” when it comes to her sexuality. The Spice Girls singer, 48, who reunited with her bandmates including the group's ex-singer Victoria Beckham for the fashion …Read More »
  • Megan Thee Stallion being sued for ‘forcing cameraman watch her having lesbian sex!’

    Megan Thee Stallion being sued for ‘forcing cameraman watch her having lesbian sex!’

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Megan Thee Stallion is being sued for allegedly creating a hostile work environment and forcing her cameraman to watch her having lesbian sex. The 29-year-old ‘Savage' rapper faces the salacious claims …Read More »
  • Mean Girls star Jonathan Bennett recalls the moment his life ‘changed forever’

    Mean Girls star Jonathan Bennett recalls the moment his life ‘changed forever’

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Jonathan Bennett's life was “changed forever” by his role in ‘Mean Girls'. The 42-year-old actor starred as heartthrob Aaron Samuels in the 2004 cult classic – which followed Lindsay Lohan, Rachel …Read More »
  • Sir Elton John sent Lance Bass gift basket to celebrate coming out

    Sir Elton John sent Lance Bass gift basket to celebrate coming out

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Sir Elton John sent Lance Bass a gift basket after he came out as gay. The 44-year-old NSYNC star revealed the legendary singer showed his support when Lance decided to reveal …Read More »
Previous Post: « What the Mexico City Rule Means to Women Around the World
Next Post: Queer Eye, Black Site Prisons, 1984, Madonna, Mary Tyler Moore, Sergei Millian, Louis Tomlinson: HOT LINKS »

Primary Sidebar

Most Recent

  • Sophia Bush’s girlfriend ‘proud’ the actress has opened up about coming out as queer

    Sophia Bush’s girlfriend ‘proud’ the actress has opened up about coming out as queer

  • Mel B declares she’ll ‘always be open’ when it comes to her sexuality!

    Mel B declares she’ll ‘always be open’ when it comes to her sexuality!

  • Megan Thee Stallion being sued for ‘forcing cameraman watch her having lesbian sex!’

    Megan Thee Stallion being sued for ‘forcing cameraman watch her having lesbian sex!’

  • Mean Girls star Jonathan Bennett recalls the moment his life ‘changed forever’

    Mean Girls star Jonathan Bennett recalls the moment his life ‘changed forever’

  • Sir Elton John sent Lance Bass gift basket to celebrate coming out

    Sir Elton John sent Lance Bass gift basket to celebrate coming out

  • Relationship status influences heterosexual women’s sexual prejudice towards lesbians

    Relationship status influences heterosexual women’s sexual prejudice towards lesbians

  • JoJo Siwa had a challenge transitioning to new grown-up image

    JoJo Siwa had a challenge transitioning to new grown-up image

  • Liz Hurley defends lesbian sex scene in new movie that was directed by her son

    Liz Hurley defends lesbian sex scene in new movie that was directed by her son

Partner Links

  • OMG, WATCH: Google’s Veo 3 turns the “Distracted Boyfriend” meme to life in new AI video
    Google‘s Veo 3 has summoned the fires of Hell, wasted oceans-full […]
  • Two-time Tony winner Donna Murphy publicly support LuPone-bashed Audra McDonald and Kecia Lewis
    I’m a tremendous Patti LuPone fan as readers of this blog […]
  • On the Rag, Vol. 859
     This week's rag 'n' mag roundup features Vlad Parker, Ashley Parker, David […]
  • OMG, WATCH: Charli xcx wants a Final Destination series with ‘It Girls’
    @charlixcx just a thought.. ♬ original sound – Charli XCX Charli […]
  • OMG, new music: Lorde releases video for ‘Man Of The Year’
    The second single from the forthcoming album is “an offering from […]

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd

About

  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy
[towleroadmr] [towleroadtn]

Footer

Ptown Hacks 2018

Read

  • Travel
  • Film
  • Law – LGBT Rights
  • Columns
  • Specials

About

  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 · Log in

×
×