This episode confirms it for me, Phil Letardo is gay. He claimed Vito disgraced his family, and now he refers to Vito's wife as a mere distant cousin, so it wasn't about honor. As shakesphere said "I think thee protest too much" Phill killed Vito out of his own self hate.
Other things that make me think this are; Phill literally walked out of the closet at the motel Vito was hiding out at in the scene where Vito is whacked. Also when Tony is talking to Dr Melfi about Vito and Homosexual activity in prison Tony says you get a pass for that. When you put that together with the frequent references to Phill having served 20 years inside. Not too mention the scene where Phill and his wife are consoleing Vito's wife and a bodybuilding competition comes on the tv and Phill yells shut that off. Perhaps I am reading into this too much, but it was the scene where Phill walked out of the motel closet that got me putting the rest together.
Re: Latent Homosexual
2Phil literally coming out of the closet made me think that too, and I also thought about the self loathing, but I didnt really think they would ever take it anywhere. Its still interesting to think about.
Re: Latent Homosexual
3What about Nancy Sinatra asking if Phil and Tony are going "home together?" Another allusion to Phil's possible homosexuality?
Re: Latent Homosexual
4Maybe it was set up by the exiting from the closet, but Phil's hand gripping the edge of the bed during the attack made me wonder...ALOT.
"If it weren't for New Orleans, America would just be a bunch of free people dying of boredom."
Re: Latent Homosexual
5If there's another homosexual plot-line in this show I'm jumping off a bridge.
Re: Latent Homosexual
6Phil telling Butchie, "I'm not gonna lay down no more", makes me think that he probably was sodomized in prison. He may or may not be gay, but he was probably someone's b*tch for years.
Re: Latent Homosexual
7lol.. phil is not gay.. gays are not accepted by these guys. Phil coming out of the closet was a reference towards Vito being a homo, which I thought was funny as hell. "Laying down" is not supposed to be taken literally, he meant he isn't going to just let people walk all over him. Anywho, I'm with the guy who said he'll jump off a bridge if another guy gets comes out.
Re: Latent Homosexual
8And it wasn't meant literally out of Phil's mouth. Phil's been everybody else's b*tch until now.focker wrote:"Laying down" is not supposed to be taken literally,
Re: Latent Homosexual
9I don't think it means he is necessarily gay. If anything, it might allude to the fact that he participated in homosexual acts while in prison; catching not pitching. That would give more weight to his rampant homophobia.
Re: Latent Homosexual
10I'd say Pork Store is on the right track. Like, I'm sure, many (most?) who have served extended sentences in prison, it's very likely that Phil participated in homosexual acts. There's no doubt that Phil is over-the-top in his homophobia, and it seems fairly likely to me that most of that stems from the shame and self-loathing he feels about said acts. So while he's not necessarily gay, he clearly has issues with the topic which would seem to stem from his time in prison.