My Own Private Idaho Campfire Scene

 

In the film My Private Idaho, Gus Van Sant explores the genre of "New Queer Cinema". In the campfire scene at (starting at 50:50), the main character Mike, a narcoleptic, gay street hustler, tells his friend Scott that he loves him. His confession is something that the viewer expects, but I think the great thing about the scene is setting that was chosen and the way the scene was acted out.

Mike’s declaration of love is done during the campfire, which in a way makes the scene a little more sensual. Campfires are mostly seen as a place that secrets are told and that people open up to one another. This is what happens in the movie. However, what I like about this scene is the dialogue and the way that Mike tells Scott he is love with him. Mike throughout most of the movie is sort of scene as the person who need to be taken care of  (which is mostly done by Scott). His meekness makes him loveable. So in this seen when he tell Scott he love him, although he does it in his meek sort of way, he is actually forward. Up to this point in the movie, this is the most “masculine” quality shown by Mike, being that up until this point he was taking most of his cues from Scott. In this scene he shows a sort of forwardness and aggressiveness that wasn’t show before, he is reaching for what he wants. In this scene, I think Van Sant did a good thing by showing Mikey this way, because then Mike is no longer a one dimensional character. It shows that Mike although loving and meek, does have wants and desires whereas before we saw hi as someone who just goes with the flow. Not only this, the scene adds dimension to Mike, with out it being over dramatic and over the top.