Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

West_b0und OP t1_jd5gl7n wrote

Reply to comment by RitzySchnitzel in I don’t like Giovanni from Giovanni’s Room (by James Baldwin) by West_b0und

Ahh, that’s a thought that never occurred to me before. Contextually, that does make sense… I’m pretty sure he makes the misogynistic comments I was complaining about in the middle of a conversation about Hella. I suppose he was criticizing David’s willingness to marry her, despite also being with him?

6

RitzySchnitzel t1_jd5luma wrote

Yeah, my recollection is that Giovanni attempts to be blasé about David's relationship with Hella, but deep down he is incredibly jealous and possessive. This is fueled not only by his insistence that one is either gay or straight, no in-between, but also his status as "the other woman." No doubt, Giovanni is a very flawed and complex character. But while his comments are certainly misogynistic, I think his crime is bisexual erasure, not true-blue misogyny.

6

West_b0und OP t1_jd5pqav wrote

You’ve convinced me. While I don’t approve of the content of his comments, now that I understand WHY he said them a little better, I think I can give him more of the benefit of a doubt. If my partner more or less told me that he prefers to be with someone else, despite the very intimate nature of our intimate relationship, I would also be pissed… and probably would not speak very well of them.

5