Mysterious Skin was released in 2004 and centred on two young men - Brian Lackey (Brady Corbet) and Neil McCormick (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) - who were both sexually molested by their Little League coach when they were younger. The movie follows them into young adulthood, where they both deal with the molestation in different ways; Brian is an introvert who thinks the entire episode was an alien abduction while Neil grows up to be a major tool with a penchant for turning tricks. The film is rather uncomfortable as we see the coach begin his slow seduction of the naive and unaware Neil and what affect this "relationship" has had on him leading into adulthood. Steely and callous, Neil acts like a tough guy who is impervious to harm, but as he leaves his small town behind to pursue life in New York, he quickly gets knocked off of his pedestal more than a few times. Neil makes our list, because he's one of the best written and brilliantly layered characters (of any sexual orientation) in film as he's a character that acts like he's in control when it's obviously apparent he's still devastated by the fact that his molester abandoned him after stealing his innocence. There's no denying that a lot of credit goes to the talented Joseph Gordon-Levitt who is one of the best at emoting on-screen; able to physically express what can't be said in words, showing Neil broken but too stubborn to throw in the towel. He makes you despise Neil and his douchebag behaviour, before you making you sympathize with him.
Tommy Bobby Watanabe is an aspiring American novelist, stage actor, playwright, former LGBT rights activist, and has three years of independent professional wrestling experience and has been a big fan since 1998. An avid horror movie buff and comic book aficionado, TBW is honored to be featured on WhatCulture with some of the Internet's most talented writers and looks to spread his own knowledge and wit to WhatCulture's loyal readers.
