'Every villain is only as great as his hero", and I am the villain of the story'
Lex Luthor
I've not loved every actor who has taken on the role of Lex Luthor, but one of my favorite portrayals was that of actor Michael Rosenbaum in Smallville. I know that Homoeroticism is in the eye of the beholder, and maybe seen more by gay viewers, but to me, there was quite a bit of it in Smallville.
In part, it was because Clark was played by former Abercrombie and Fitch model Tom Welling, and shirtless so often. Some of those scenes with Welling as Clark, shirtless and tied up were certainly meant to get a reaction from viewers. I previously posted about Clark's vulnerability and how homoerotic some of the scenes seemed to be. (Leaps & Bounds) I also posted about the Smallville 'nude' scene, which featured not Welling's butt, but the butt of a future Property Brother. (HERE:)
There was something distinctly homoerotic about Lex and Clark's relationship in Smallville, that I believe goes beyond just my imagination and wishful thinking. I think in part, it was intentional, maybe from the writers, but in large part due to Rosenbaum and how he played the role. Although Lex had girlfriends on the show, I challenge most of you to name one. Lex's primary focus on the show, maybe verging on obsessive, was hot young Clark.
Rosenbaum was brilliant in the role, and as dastardly as his deeds could be, he also played Lex, as many did before him, with more than a dash of tongue and cheek. In addition to having Clark has his focus, there were scenes where Lex seemed to treat Clark like property, even subtilling flirting with him from time to time.
I also found Rosenbaum also to be very gay friendly, even flirting with the audience about Lex's sexuality. He seems pretty secure in who he is and gave the role his all. It doesn't hurt that the actor also seems to LOVE dropping trou and showing off is butt as almost any, and every opportunity.
I also think there was something that came seeped through with the casting of openly gay actor John Glover as Lex's father Lionel. It was anything specific really, just another small piece of the show's homoerotic puzzle.
Although Rosenbaum didn't seem to need any particular reason to moon a crowd, one of my favorite Michael moonings came from the 2014 film Back in the Day. (below) In the film, his character gets into a moon off with another driver.
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