Is Marlowe a Racist (or even homophobic)?

[Paul Mackin]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Carvill" <johncarvill at gmail.com>
To: "Paul Nightingale" <isread at btinternet.com>
Cc: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2009 11:50 AM
Subject: Re: Is Marlowe a Racist (or even homophobic)?


> Well, you've altered the subject and thereby widened the accusatory
> field. Fine. I already said that Marlowe is not a racist but admitted
> the question of his attitude to homosexuals is a different, more
> complex matter.
>
> And we have already mentioned examples of Marlowe - and Bogart -
> displaying 'non-PC' attitudes. Wanna call Bogart a racist and a
> homophobe now? I hope not! Would you remove that scene from the film
> of The BIg Sleep where Bogart flips his hat brim up and puts on that
> vaguely 'gay' act?
>

Or, equally, how could the sentence in the book have been rewritten, in 
order to make it less objectionable?

 If you can weigh a hundred and ninety pounds and look like a MAN WHOSE 
SEXUAL ORIENTATION IS NOT THE GENERALLY APPROVED ONE AND WHO IS COMICALLY 
PLAYING THAT PART,   I was doing my best.