Matt Damon's character, in 'The Departed', is homosexual.

I"d like to start with my rebuttal to PRO"s round 2 arguments. REBUTAL TO ARGUMENT 1 The PRO arguments do not meet the burden of proof. In his first two examples he tries to argue that Matt Damon"s character acts like a heterosexual in order to hide his homosexuality. This is quite convenient to say the least and it means that his "proof" is nothing more than hearsay. REBUTAL TO ARGUMENT 2 It is normal to be surprised when your girlfriend communicates to you that she is unexpectedly pregnant. Also, impotence is not an indicator of sexuality. It affects about 5% of men his age [1]. Since both Matt Damon and his girlfriend believed he was the father, it"s plausible that although they had a troubled sex life that his impotence wasn"t catastrophic and that they did engage in sexual intercourse. REBUTAL TO ARGUMENT 3 I"m not really sure how using homosexual slurs indicates that the originator is a homosexual. It is more likely that the originator is homophobic. Also, it"s more likely that Matt Damon"s character had a strong response when confronted because his facade was up; he was discovered. This likely meant that he would be killed or imprisoned. REBUTAL TO ARGUMENT 4 The realtor is not an important character so we should not be relying on him to determine an important plot concept. Also, the realtor"s first question was if Matt Damon was married (presumably to a woman). Therefore, his first impression was that Damon was heterosexual. FINAL REBUTAL: Unfortunately, while I was gathering research for my argument I did find the website that you plagiarized from. It can be found below at [2]. This is a major violation of DDO rules and conduct. I will let the voters decide the penalty. It should be at a minimum the surrender of conduct and source points. CON ARGUMENT The greatest argument against this implication is that it could not be a movie theme because there is no transference across the plot and other major characters. No other character struggles with sexuality. In fact, all the other major characters are extremely strong in their sexuality. One theme that does transfer across the plot and other characters is: IDENITY. Specifically: the masculine identity and the father-son relationship. Consider this: there are two factions. The "good guys" are Martin Sheen and Leonardo DiCaprio, a father and a son. Sheen almost sort of adopts Leo during the movie. The "bad guys" are Jack Nicholson and Matt Damon. Nicholson has indeed adopted Matt as his son and prot"g". MASCULINITY The homosexual slurs are coupled with the repeated use of slag words for women"s body parts. These terms are used to attack the character"s masculinity. A common theme for masculinity: the importance of marriage for masculinity. Alec Baldwin"s character sums it up well: "Marriage is an important part of getting ahead. It lets people know you"re not a homo. A married guy seems more stable. People see the ring, they think "at least somebody can stand the son of a bitch." Ladies see the ring, they know immediately that you must have some cash, and your cock must work." This is reflected many times in the movie including by the realtor. He first asks Matt if he is married, when he discovers he is not he assumes he"s gay (lacks masculinity). Damon continuously acts like a womanizer in order to present himself as a masculine character and perhaps to disguise his problems in the bedroom, his problems with masculinity. The "good guys" are successfully masculine; they act like men. They have successful love lives. When required, they act with courage. Martin Sheen sacrifices himself to protect DiCaprio. DiCaprio stays with his mother until her last fleeting moments. He confronts his uncle and refuses support. At the end of the movie he confronts Damon. The "bad guys" are unsuccessfully masculine. Damon has problems in the bedroom and leads an unsuccessful love life. Neither Damon nor Nicholson are married. They do not act with courage. Jack Nicholson snitches on other criminals. When confronted by the cops he flees but is killed by Damon. Damon attempts to flee from DiCaprio and continually lies to protect his identity. In the end, he is confronted by Wahlberg and killed. FATHER & SON The "good guys" are successful at having a father & son relationship. Leo spends time with his father. He respects his father and his father is regarded as a good and courageous man. This is evident when Nicholson says, "You know, if your father were alive, and saw you here sitting with me, let's say he would have a word with me about this. In fact, he'd kill seven guys just to cut my throat, and he could do it. That's maybe something you don't know about William Costigan, Sr." In the end, the audience is left to believe that Leo has impregnated his girlfriend and the specifically told that the baby is a boy. Martin Sheen has a son that he is very proud of, who is off studying law at Notre Dame. The "bad guys" are not successful at having a father & son relationship. Damon is abandoned by his father. He is not able to impregnate his girlfriend. Nicholson also has trouble impregnating his girlfriend. It is evident that they are trying when his girlfriend is seen reading a "how to get pregnant" book. Martin Sheen describes Nicholson"s fathers regard to his son when he says: "and your father called you the tumor." In the end Nicholson is killed by his adopted son Damon directly after Damon says: "What, like a son? To you? Is that what this is about? All that murderin'... and f&^*%n'... and no sons?" There are other themes in this movie and the identity theme occurs on many levels: criminal vs cop, privileged vs poor, etc. I only outlined this theme because I felt it would shed light on some of the arguments PRO brought up. I believe he has described the correct symptoms but his diagnosis is wrong. I am looking forward to the next round. [1] http://www.healthcentral.com... [2] http://filmanalysisandinterpretation.com...