Less Than Zero: They Sucked the Gay Out of It (part 1)

Let me say first and foremost that the 1987 adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ freshmen novel Less Than Zero is sans homosexuality. It’s like this essay’s title states: they sucked the gay right out of the story. I’m certain almost every homosexual instance is replaced by heterosexuality so Middle America would watch – it didn’t work and I’m pretty sure the film was a financial failure. It’s not surprising too since the characters in Ellis’ novel are thoroughly disgusting people; they’re rich but nonetheless disgusting. That’s not even prevalent throughout the film, which draws a clear line between likeable characters and villains. The book doesn’t work this way, with every character containing a plethora of negative character traits: selfishness, self absorption, vanity, gluttony – you get the point.