‘The borhap boys are destroying toxic masculinity’ is the latest in a string of celebrations of mediocrity that I am forced to read over and over in the Rami tag just because Ben Hardy and Joe Mazzello are baiting y'all with fanservice. 🙄
Listen, Rami’s been doing that for years if you’ve seen any of his work. The majority of the characters he plays are not hyper masculine, and he makes a point to play them with vulnerability. He is not afraid to be affectionate or feminine in his roles either.
Rami almost got fired from NATM because his role as Ahkmenrah was too ‘dandy’ (i.e. effeminate, gay). The War at Home may not have been a great show, but he played one of the very few gay characters of middle eastern / west Asian descent on T.V.
That was all at the beginning of his career, at a time where the roles he took on could make or break him. Now, he continues to take on roles that are atypical of masculinity. Papillon redefined a classic escape movie into a love story of sorts between men.
He talks about how brutal scenes that men are supposed to embrace (e.g. war, violence), make him feel awful or sad to the point of sobbing. He’s talked about how sexually violent scenes are something he never wants to do. etc.
Rami’s not afraid to talk about the beauty of men loving men, and men being friends with men. He wanted to do more with Freddie’s relationship with Jim Hutton. He’s also said fuck you to people who went to the movies with a homophobic attitude.
He gushes about the support he gets from the men around him including directors Sam Esmail and Spike Lee and actors including Joe Mazzello and Charlie Hunnam. He is not afraid that the love and affection he shows challenges his masculinity.
He shows love and affection to most people he meets. He hugs and kisses both men and women, and he’s been calling them ‘love’ and other affectionate terms for longer than he’s played Freddie Mercury.
The way he talks about Freddie Mercury is another thing entirely. He’s explicitly said he’s in love with the man. He loves his mannerisms, and he’s tried to incorporate the affectionate side of Freddie into his everyday life because it actually feels good!
This isn’t a comment on Rami’s sexuality, which I’m not making any assumptions about. This is to say that Rami is always making the choice to challenge what it means to be a man or to be masculine, but some of y'all have not paid attention.
That’s what we should be highlighting and celebrating in the Rami Malek tag. Not the fact that two guys from Bohemian Rhapsody have made a joke out of flirting with each other for fanservice. That’s not brave.
That’s not what challenging toxic masculinity looks like.
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