Is the talented mr ripley gay

No one knows the real Ripley, including Tom himself, and the same can be said for each version of him on different media. Still, Dickie tells Ripley to stay at first, proving that this infatuation is clearly not one-sided. Tom Ripley, aka The Talented Mr Ripley, is a chameleon of sorts — a scam artist who shifts and changes according to the grift at hand, not to mention his own dark impulses.

Scott, known for his nuanced portrayals of complex characters, is an openly gay actor.

But by the end of episode two, it becomes very clear why the conversations are taking place. It doesn’t even seem to cross his mind because he is too preoccupied with figuring out how to get the life that people like Dickie have. And why does he still let Ripley stay now after his feelings for Dickie have become so obvious, and worrying, even?

He always has been and always will be, regardless of how that queerness is labelled or whether that intention was even there or not. Instead, he chooses this opportunity to flat out deny his own queerness, which is an interesting response, to say the least.

To be fair, anyone with eyes can see it, but it's unusual for these discussions to revolve so openly around Ripley. And yes, Barry Pepper's Ripley still counts in Ripley Under Groundalthough the less said about that film in general, the better. Literally reading between the lines, the sexuality of Tom's new incarnation is actively referred to by characters within the story this time around, even if Ripley himself doesn't want to hear it.

Ripley himself is usually closeted anyhow and actively resents this side of himself, so it's easier to bury these notions with a character who perceives himself in that way. Tom's latest incarnation, Zaillian's Ripley, understands this better than perhaps any version has since Matt Damon asked Jude Law if he could get in the bathtub with him twenty-five years ago.

Is Tom Ripley Gay : Ripley is a American psychological thriller film written and directed by Anthony Minghella, based on Patricia Highsmith 's novel

But Zaillian's Ripley has been made in a different era at a time when queer representation is far more varied and inclusive than it's ever been before. Tom argues that Marge is jealous of them and the time they spend together. Tom Ripley doesn’t really seem to give a lot of thought to whether or not he is gay or whom he’d like to have sex with.

One thing we do know though is that regardless of who's writing him or who's playing him, Ripley is queer. The episode ends with Dickie walking in on Tom parading around his room, wearing Dickie's clothes while having imaginary conversations as Dickie himself.

He's willing to leave though, he says, refusing to get in the way of their relationship. That's even true when said crimes are inextricably wrapped up in homosexual desire. Patricia Highsmith did deny that Ripley was gay but that he didn't have a sexuality, he'd sleep with anything as long as it served his agenda.

Tom is already obsessed with being — and being with — Dickie at this point, an experience many queer men might relate to, although not to this psychopathic extreme, of course. Scott's casting in the role of Tom Ripley is significant, as it can potentially bring a more authentic and subtle understanding of the character’s sexual identity.

Afterwards, Greenleaf confronts Tom, but he's not angry per se. And not just because the new series stars Andrew Scott, the first out gay man to play Ripley with some much-needed authenticity. In the book, Ripley's sexuality is ambiguous.

Marge had already clocked Ripley as queer, says Dickie, yet that begs the question: why has Dickie not kicked Tom out already if that's a problem? In truth, he was a sociopath. The homoeroticism of 's The Talented Mr Ripley was palpable, especially for queer audiences at the time, but harmful tropes that demonised gay characters were particularly prevalent back then, so there was still some reluctance to make the subtextual gay horniness actual text.

Ripley spoilers follow. The obsession Scott's Ripley develops for Dickie Greenleaf, the man he was hired to bring back to America, is given more space to breathe across these eight episodes compared to a regular movie runtime, delving deeper into the spoken and unspoken elements of queerness that pervaded the original text.

This is the s, after all.