Queer’s ending is so confusing it might leave some people massively disappointed. Luca Guadagnino is a filmmaker whose work is both aesthetically pleasing and deeply thought-provoking. A director who specifically understands the Gen Z zeitgeist and what it’s hungry for, in my opinion. And while his previous work like Call Me By Your Name and more recently Challengers prove this statement outwardly, I think Queer explains it best in a non-expressive way. Based on William S. Burroughs’ novella, the 2024 drama takes a deep dive into the Queer scene of 1950s Mexico City and the loneliness that comes with queer identity. I say comes with rather than came with because I think the state of mind that the main character Lee is in is deeply relevant even today. Lee’s character is directly based on Burroughs and his dark conquests in the 50s. While I haven’t read the book, through research I learned that the book was left abandoned because of how painful it was to write after Burroughs’ recent break-up. The film pays homage to the book and expands on the story a little bit. I think it is best described as a surreal romance about loneliness and freedom. So, let’s dive into some of the themes and symbols we get to experience through this perplexing film and what that epilogue means.
Spoiler Alert
Why Does Lee Live In Mexico?
Seeing as it is the 1950s, you can imagine how homosexuality is deeply frowned upon in America. Historically, it was easier for white men to move to places like Mexico City, where they wouldn’t be looked down upon, and homosexual “gringos” seemed to have almost a decent status in the non-white communities. While Lee seems to be open and courageous about his proclivities, it becomes rather clear how ashamed he is early on through his various addictions and the way he rambles on while trying to get men much younger than him to sleep with him. His sexual conquests are always nearly half his age, and I guess for Lee it’s a matter of pride that he can get these younger, much more handsome men to go to bed with him despite his uncouth personality. Lee’s self-hatred is his biggest enemy, and this can be explained in one of the symbols near the end of the movie, which I will get to in a bit.
As the movie progresses, it becomes more clear to us as an audience that the overconfidence, the sex, the rambling, and the drinking are all signs that Lee needs help, but more importantly, he needs love. In Queer, Lee often fades and becomes translucent; this translucent self is often doing what he really wants to but is too ashamed to. This is also probably why Lee is so desperate to get his hands on the telepathic drug “yage.” What is a more obvious representation of “I want you to hear what I’m really saying” than an obsession with a telepathic drug? With Yage, Lee would finally be heard.
What Does “I’m Disembodied” Mean For Lee?
Like I mentioned earlier, we see a translucent version of Lee often in the film, and this version is a general reflection of Lee’s true feelings rather than his outwardly tough-guy self. In a dream sequence, we see Lee with a woman, whose naked legless torso is floating over a table. When Lee touches her, she says, “Aren’t you queer?” to which he replies, “I’m not queer; I’m just disembodied.” I suppose Lee knows that he’ll never be able to express his true self because of all the shame and hatred, so the best way to express how he truly feels is by calling himself disembodied. A ghost in a shell who is incapable of receiving true love because of his self-hatred. Sure, Lee doesn’t hide that he is homosexual outwardly, but he hides behind his addictions and his rambling, which clearly shows us how much he really doesn’t want to be where he is. Lee’s subconscious knows that all he needs is love, but he’s always looking for it in the wrong places. But, it’s true Lee loves with all his heart, even if he isn’t fully able to show it.
What Does The Centipede Mean?
The first two acts of Queer are pretty straightforward and show us that Lee is after a young man called Gene who doesn’t really seem to be queer. When Lee musters up the courage to talk to him, it almost feels predatory in nature, but Gene’s cold personality proves the opposite. The nature of this relationship isn’t determined by the generational difference between the two men; in fact, they’re nearly the same in terms of their identity but express it in completely opposite ways. Gene’s shame is so profound that he is determined to look as un-queer as possible. While in “Call Me By Your Name” the age gap relationship is depicted as highly romantic, an awakening, if you will, in Queer it’s a closed door. It doesn’t help Gene break out of his shell; it’s more like the right person at the completely wrong time, and as much as these two people actually want to love each other, they just don’t know how to.
Anyway, it’s from the 3rd act that things start to feel really strange, and it takes on a completely different genre. In the same dream I mentioned earlier, we then see Lee take a step and turn into just feet, another way he’s disembodied, and there’s a centipede almost embedded on his ankle. The centipede is seen many times in the film, first on a necklace on one of the guys Lee sleeps with early on in the film. Lee never sees this guy again. The centipede can be a symbol of many things; for some, it symbolizes growth, and for others, it’s all about synchronicity, with the way it moves all its legs in such synchronization. This is relevant to the film because Lee and Gene are never in sync. All Lee wants is for them to be in sync like the centipede, but instead, Gene might become a faded memory like the first guy. The centipede is also apparently a symbol of “hidden” things. It is something everybody fears because of its venomous sting. Maybe in a way, to Lee, Gene is a beautiful hidden gem, but when he leaves him, he’ll be stung by poison. You can’t really call their relationship toxic, but there is something unnerving about it; it’s because it’s almost like they’re using each other, but for what reason nobody can truly understand, except maybe their inner selves.
What Does The Prison Dream Mean?
When Lee goes unconscious after trying to talk to Gene and doesn’t get attention from him at a party, he has a dream, or rather a nightmare. In Lee’s dream he first gets a knife sharpened. When the guy’s done, Lee turns around and walks away to find a baby lying at the base of the stairs. When he looks up there’s people dressed in prison uniforms, including Joe, who invites him to a door, but Lee sees Gene and the dream’s over. This dream could be about Burroughs’ time in prison and his estranged relationship with his son, but in the context of the movie, I can’t help but think it’s a cry for help from Lee. Maybe being with Gene is like being locked up, and Joe’s trying to keep him away from that. Maybe the baby is Lee himself, at the base of the stairs because he thinks he’s the bottom of the barrel.
What Happens When Lee And Gene Take Yage?
The joy on Lee’s face when Gene agrees to go to South America with Lee is delightful, but this also comes with its caveats. Gene wants independence, and Lee is happy to give it to him, so they make a deal for how much sex they can have in a week while travelling together. During their travels, Lee goes into withdrawal, and Gene has to watch him shivering under the scorching sun. I feel like Lee gave up the drugs on purpose so he could fully immerse himself in the yage, but then he does go to the doctor to get a legal dose of opium, so I might be overthinking it. During the withdrawal, Lee sleeps in Gene’s bed because he’s freezing. He holds onto Gene for dear life, and for reassurance, Gene entwines his legs with Lee’s. In this scene, Gene’s the little spoon (for lack of a better word), and Lee’s the big spoon. Now remember this for the end of the film.
After getting his few cc of opium tincture, Lee is back to being a seemingly happy man. He even goes out to swim with Gene, and when they’re in the water together, it seems they’re at their most natural. In a way, them in the water is a stepping stone to what’s coming next. It’s also the most intimate the two of them are outside of bed, so maybe it’s the flow of the water or the excitement of what’s coming next that pushes them to try to be as close to each other as possible. This is also before they actually go all the way in bed, but then Lee tries to be close to Gene again over breakfast and gets physically pushed off. “A breach of contract,” as Lee says, but we all know it’s just Gene’s fear of accepting he’s gay.
When the duo takes Yage after that whole thing with Dr. Cotter, Lee and Gene initially don’t feel anything. Then out of the blue, they puke out these sack-like things, which then burst, revealing both their hearts pumping on the floor. It’s a little bit ironic that they get closer together with their hearts out, but I think it’s because, with their hearts gone, they’re also fearless. With the yage in their system, both their physical forms disappear from this world, and it is their telepathic communication, or should I say sync, that we get to see. When Lee and Gene start to dance together, they blend into each other, almost becoming one, the thing they’ve been failing to achieve since the start. With the fear gone, they’re finally able to accept the love they have for each other. They meld into one another, showing us just how alike they are while still being their own individual selves. All Gene’s been wanting is freedom, and here he gets it, but it’s momentary. In the next moment, when the yage wears off, they’re back to being distant; they’re back to being the man who wants vs. the man who is eager not to want. When Gene tells Lee to go to sleep, you can hear the regret in his voice. He doesn’t want him to go away, but he is forced by his fear to push him away. When Cotter asks Gene to take the drug again, he immediately says no. He’s repulsed by the idea of his “free” self. He’s afraid of what that might mean for him. He is after all not queer, but disembodied.
What Does The Epilogue Mean?
Queer’s final act is a chapter titled “Epilogue: Two Years Later.” It begins rather optimistically, like a fresh start for Lee, with some great music, and I think we can say that Lee’s stopped taking the drugs but maybe occasionally drinks the yage to keep himself ungrounded, eh? He learns from his friend Joe that Gene left with another man 6 months earlier to South America. He apparently mentioned spending time with Lee, but Lee never heard from him. The scene then cuts to the same hotel room from much earlier in the movie where Lee slept with a random man. This hotel room is dully lit, and Lee, like a voyeur, looks into a model version of the hotel and sees himself. I want to say this is a result of the Yage, and he’s able to reflect on his past so clearly because of the drug.
The dream sequence begins with Lee seeing the ouroboros, a snake eating its own tail. The ouroboros is a symbol of rebirth, a cyclic life-to-death situation. Take a second to wrap your head around this with me; I think the snake is meant to be Lee himself because he’s looking inward at this moment, correct? So, when the snake sheds a tear, it is almost a way of Lee saying, “I’ve given up in this life, but maybe in the next, I’ll really get to be with Gene for good.”
In the next moment, Lee sees Gene sitting on the bed in front of him. Gene then places a glass on his head, and Lee takes out a gun and shoots it; only it hits Gene in the forehead and kills him. Lee immediately grabs Gene and gives him what seems to be a goodbye kiss. In Burroughs’ real life, he was arrested for having accidentally killed his wife in the same way. They were addicted to drugs and alcohol, so this dream sequence is simply a reflection of his life’s regrets. But, if I ignored this context completely and just saw it from the point of view of Lee alone, then I think this scene is a way of Lee letting Gene go fully. Only when he’s dead can he really move on. Then Gene disappears, and when Lee stands up, so does everything in front of him. Gene’s the centipede that grew, while Lee got left behind. When Lee tries to open the door, he disappears, and we’re left in an empty room. Back to disembodied, I guess, this room shows how empty Lee feels on the inside.
In Queer’s ending, Lee’s in the same room, but it seems like many years have passed. There are highrises in the background, a much bigger plane, and the room’s very well lit, unlike before. The room began in red, passionate; it then became dark green when Lee was sick, and now it’s bright green, no more in the shadows now that Lee’s old. Lee lies down on the bed, and this time a young Gene joins him instead of the other way around and becomes the big spoon (I told you it’d come back). He holds him tightly, and this time their legs seem to be more in sync. The film’s ending is rather sad because Lee never got to be with the love of his life. We don’t even know what happened to Gene after he left Lee, but he definitely regretted it. Queer’s ending sequence is a blur of colored lights flashing on the screen. They’re bright, like the rainbow; I guess a sign of hope that Lee gets to see when his eyes finally close and his cycle ends. I don’t think Queer has a happy ending; it’s not even hopeful. In fact, it leaves you with dread wondering what it would’ve been if Lee and Gene had just stayed together in the forest.
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