When I look at a movie like Lawrence of Arabia I see a lot of similarities between it and any
number of big studio films made in the modern era. It’s epic in scope and in
length. It’s filled with awe inspiring visual and big action sequences. It is
historically based, but not particularly deep, insistent on keeping viewers on
a short leash so as not to turn anyone off. Perhaps some of that last
observation would not have been true for audiences fifty years ago. Maybe the
ways in which Lawrence of Arabia is
presented as a difficult and not entirely honorable character were especially
complex in 1962. At the time his possible homosexuality and masochism could
only be subtly alluded to.
