I checked out Neighbours 2 on Netflix a few days ago, being pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t awful. Maybe my expectations were really low or maybe I’m just a sucker for Chloe Grace Moretz. Anyways, Dave Franco’s character (Pete) is revealed as gay early in Neighbours 2. I watched a YouTube video of one of the scene where Pete is about to get married and came across some comments criticizing the change to his character, arguing it is forced since his character was straight in the first one.
Yes, Pete is portrayed as straight in the first film. We explicitly see him have sex with one girl, Ted’s (Zac Efron’s) girlfriend. Like gay people, straight people can have phases too. That is the piece of knowledge missing e.g He had sex with a girl once, how can he be gay?
Pete said he was “figuring things out” earlier in college. Just like people who are straight might experiment and “figure things out” too. Some people may view being gay as a “lifestyle,” “choice” or “phase” and this “phase” can apply to one sexual encounter, multiple sexual encounters or even a serious relationship. Jay-Z’s mom came out as lesbian. Take that in, she had a husband and a son.
It isn’t as simple as “I saw him have sex with a girl, he’s straight and straight for life.” Some gay or lesbian people fear how their families or friends will react and ending up living a lie due to the homophobia around them. So they go through the motions, get a partner, have kids etc. just to fit in.
When it comes to being straight, one straight sexual encounter is enough to make it set in stone to some. I have no doubt that some of the people who argue being gay is always a “phase” also overlap with the people saying Pete has to be straight since he had sex with girls before.
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