The Wrong End of Time by John Brunner is a science-fiction novella published in 1973, which I picked up at a thrift shop for a dollar. I expected it to be rather heteronormative, but there are surprisingly a lot of mentions of gay people in it. They are not always good, and there are some very problematic portrayals of minor gay characters later on in the book, but I found one "homophobic" joke particularly interesting.
The story is set in a future world, in which America has become so paranoid of the Soviets that it has completely shielded itself from the rest of the world with its defense systems, and in which every car has a gun mounted on the dash board because even the citizens are paranoid. A Soviet agent smuggles himself into the country, trying to do something to bring about world peace before an alien race blows us all up because of our barbarism.
And yet it is not just from the Soviet agent's point of view. There is a man named Danty, whose profession is unknown, who somehow witnesses the agent come ashore. He seemed to have foreknowledge of this event, but doesn't seem to work for the government, because he does not alert anyone of what just happened. He seems to be a "reb," the future label for a loathed loafer. He also seems to have some sort of clairvoyant power, as well as power to influence others psychically. (Perhaps he is working with or for the aliens, somehow?)
Danty witnesses the Soviet agent come ashore and drive off with a man who met him with a car. Danty does nothing to stop it, or to tell anyone about it. He even, perhaps with his psychic abilities, turns off the defensive system that might catch the agent. He leaves it off, even though he doesn't know why he does so. (Perhaps some outside power or spirit influences him--again, the aliens?)
Danty then seems to influence a passing driver on the "superway" to stop for him, even though picking up hitchhikers is illegal and punished severely. The man himself is confused as to why he stopped, which makes me think that Danty had some sort of power over him.
They drive into a gas station, where they meet an attendant, in his tower, with his gun pointed at them, because this is a very paranoid world. A policeman drives up behind them, as the man who picked up Danty, Rollins, becomes sweaty and nervous. Danty comes back from the bathroom, as the cop demands his ID, and Rollins says that Danty is his friend.
The patrolman slapped shut and returned the redbook. "Okay," was all he said, but under his voice, clear as shouting, he was adding: So, a couple fruits most likely. I should arrest that kind on suspicion? I'd be at it all day. Anyway, they'd jump bail and head for a state where it's allowed.
This cop despises gay men enough to call them "fruits" unironically and totally non-jokingly, and yet he just made two very good arguments against anti-sodomy laws in the space of a few seconds. (And now that I look at it again, it seems that Danty read the cop's mind.)
A hardened, bigoted cop is just too weary, busy, and fed up with the non-effectiveness of anti-sodomy laws to enforce them. That's...actually pretty enlightened.
There may be problems with that joke I just don't see (please leave a comment about your thoughts, if you want), and the author later portrays people meant to be gay in a very unflattering light, but after thinking it over, I kind of like what happened here. The cop's, and what seems to be the author's, bigotry...works in favor of the "fruits."
The joke is also on Rollins, who is also homophobic, as Danty is amused by Rollins' blushing as he figures out what the cop is probably thinking.
The author, the late John Brunner, seems obsessed with homosexuality in this book. It is portrayed negatively, as a symptom of decadence and promiscuity, yet it is constantly there--especially towards the end, mentioned directly what seems like every few pages. It seems that Brunner was working through some stuff, and this book is a fascinating look into his mind.
Unfortunately for Brunner, he seems to have died with his internalized homophobia unresolved, as I could find no indication on the internet that he ever accepted himself enough to be with a man, or even stop marrying women. There is no indication, either, that he was in fact bisexual, and happened to fall in love with women. But now I am also curious to read some of his later stuff, to see whether he was still fixated on something he ostensibly didn't like.
There is so much homophobic/homoerotic content in this book, and I will be reviewing all of it. And even if he never came out publicly, I really hope that Brunner was able to accept himself privately (if you read this book, you will see how obvious his fascination really is). At least, in a way, it is good that he cannot potentially hurt anyone with his homophobic beliefs anymore...hopefully, I should say, with the fact of his writings living after him.
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