If Anything, ‘Oh, Canada’ Will Send You Down a Draft Dodgers’ Rabbit Hole

The scene forces a number of galling things about this man’s life into focus. For starters, the older—supposedly regretful—Fife doesn’t seem half as remorseful of dodging two different women, both of whom he procreated with, as he is of dodging…a war. And, more disturbingly, it’s difficult to tell for sure if he’s even that remorseful about cosplaying as a stereotypical gay man to do so. Despite the fact that feigning homosexuality to dodge the draft is an intriguing, and historically accurate, plot point, the film hardly lingers on that fact at all apart from Elordi’s brief, and—hopefully—purposefully offensive portrayal.

Questioning men about their sexual identity at induction centers began during World War II, according to historians. Since homosexuality was still criminalized during the Vietnam War, in many cases, men who exhibited “homosexual tendencies” were immediately disqualified from military service—thus, a number of heterosexual men did as Fife did to avoid serving, as detailed in Coming Out under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World War II. Because so many heterosexual men adopted this stereotypical effeminacy, it eventually became so difficult for recruiters to tell who was actually gay that evidence of such—arrest records or letters from doctors or psychiatrists—was required to prove it.

“As a consequence of such requirements, homosexual men were sometimes disbelieved and drafted, while heterosexual men able to obtain the appropriate letters or mimic homosexual stereotypes were deferred,” historian Justin David Suran wrote in Coming out against the War: Antimilitarism and the Politicization of Homosexuality in the Era of Vietnam.

Now, far be it from me to criticize anyone who refuses to participate in the American war machine, but I do think it would’ve garnered a bit more understanding had any historical context been presented. Of course, some lamentation from Fife over faking being gay would’ve been great, too.

Again, Elordi’s portrayal of the young Fife—especially during this scene—wasn’t any more successful in establishing empathy. In fact, I’ve never seen a straight man feigning queerness look quite so…wooden. This is the same adjective I’d use to describe his overall performance. Even when he’s receiving a handjob earlier in the film, Elordi reads bored somehow. Beautiful, but borderline dissociative. The fact that the only thing this film prompted me to do was spend multiple hours researching draft dodgers should tell you everything you need to know.

Oh, well. There is, however, a new Schrader crotch shot to gawk at. That’s right, the director—who memorably gave audiences an eyeful of Gere in American Gigolo—included a lingering frame on Elordi’s jockstrap. I guess, that’s one win for the queers here.