Cillian Murphy In In Time (2011)

👏👏👏

“It’s like that, is it?”

“This was gonna happen to you one of these days.”

Bojack Horseman (2014 - 2020)

i could watch them running forever

Ok, another hot take about The Queen's Gambit:

It's a known trope in movies or series with a male protagonist to put his love interests into the stereotypical, exaggerated categories of a 'mother', often represented by a dutiful wife, a 'slut', who is attractive and independent, and a 'virgin', who often isn't an actual virgin, but represents childlike innocence and is sexually unavailable. A combination of all three is then found in The One, a perfect, albeit unrealistic, woman.

In 'The Queen's Gambit', where Beth assumes the role of the leading man as I discussed earlier, Harry, Benny, and Townes assume the three female roles for Beth on a very surface level. These characters are men, yet exhibit the typical characteristics. However, they still have enough complexity to escape the confines of the trope, still drawing interesting contrasts between each of them without falling into banality.

Harry, the 'mother' or dutiful wife, as Beth's love interests is more of a steady companion than a riveting affair, he wants to nurture her, help. He doesn't say as much as he would like to, is submissive and rather quiet, almost boring, but loves her and worries about her. He worries about her too much to look at her destroying herself. He believes himself to be too weak, is too passive to fight. Now, as 'dutiful wife' he would just bear it until she herself decides to ditch him, but it's not what Harry started as, it's not his full character. In his first game with Beth he showed himself as a stereotypical male baffoon, which, when he chooses to leave her later, despite still having feeling for her, an act as similar to a divorce as giving up a game, proves rather to be an exaggerated display of his inherent pride. It's not cowardice, it becomes a virtue when he realizes the truth that Beth doesn't love him romantically and that he has no future in professional chess playing. To take a step back from this, defeated in what he cared about most, and still go forward his own way with a job and studies is a form of gentle bravery and keeping face. He is proud enough to not let himself be ridiculed, is proud of his life choices. It's obvious when he talks with Beth in the school parking lot. He cannot be reduced just to his role in Beth's life.

Then Benny, as the 'slut', has a long history of affairs. He is shown at first as cocky, overconfident and fully aware of the effect he has on people. Women warn Beth about him, but she cannot resist him. His role is exactly the role of the 'slut' in a male-led movie, where the main character falls for a dangerous skillful seductress. And just like it often goes, the main character is the one to become the 'slut's' weakness. Benny lets Beth have him eventually, when she dominates over him in chess and matches him in her cockiness. It's her conquest. It would be the moment in which the slut turns into a repenting converted sinner, having been defeated at her own game. Except Beth's triumph is short-lived, because Benny has more to him than just being her conquest. It doesn't change his values, his core personality. Chess are the most important to him. It's a shock to see him as unapologetic as he was before and a difficult realization for Beth that her conquest didn't force Benny into submission. This would still fall into 'slut's' behavior if not for the fact that Benny just genuinely wants Beth to succeed beyond winning (with) him. He genuinely cares about her and has feelings for her that don't disappear even when she decides to leave him. He's in love, but it doesn't turn him into somebody he's not. When he calls her later it's clear he has sensitivity and vulnerability to him, but it's not a dramatic change, it must have been something he already had, and that's why Cleo, even though she must have been infatuated with him and rejected, cannot hate him. He's sympathetic despite his flaws.

And Townes. The 'virgin'. He's charming and treats Beth with unusual respect, compared to other men, when they first meet. He seems perfect with how he doesn’t impose himself on her, how he is friendly, but keeps distance that makes her feel comfortable. He seems honest, innocent, Beth idealizes him. This by itself doesn't make him the 'virgin' for Beth, but combined with his status of being in a relationship with a man does (it's heavily, but tastefully implied). He breaks out of the mold the easiest, because of his behavior in the hotel room and his conversation with Beth in the last episode. He isn't as pure as he initially seemed, weirdly attracted to Beth in a way that made him keep the truth about his relationship from her in a situation that could have turned more erotic if he hasn't been caught. He lead her on, confused with his feelings that he later identified as fondness for a beautiful talented friend. Losing her trust and a chance for friendship hurt him, but he only has himself to blame. He's flawed. Him calling other men he knew cared about Beth for help was his way of redeeming himself.

Now, combining their strengths would make an ideal man, so only together they become what Beth needs, as shown in the last episode with them providing support. The polyamorous side of me ships Beth in this polycule. Yet, for a monogamist, neither of these men is a suitable partner for life due to their various shortcomings and that's why Beth can only have them as friends. The trope is subverted one last time with how she never finds The One, but accepts herself as a full independent individual.

Colin Morgan as John Armstrong in The Crown, 3.04

Colin Morgan in Testament of Youth