Destination Tokyo is

very good propaganda. I remember -- as a child in the 50s -- there was lots of postwar racism. A boy in my 1st grade class couldn’t stop talking about killing ‘Japs’ and constantly drew planes dropping bombs on them. Destination Tokyo claims “Nips” abuse women as “females are only good for work, or to have children” and little Japanese boys are taught to be knife wielding killers at age 7. The is typical racist propaganda — white Christians pretend that they treat women better than brown Muslims do, when in fact both religions have long traditions of persecuting females. But remember this: any movie with a ‘message’ is also a lie. All the sailors on Cary Grant’s submarine are good men (not a knight errant among them)— they all love their mothers, or girlfriends, or spouses -- one even locks his cabin door once a day to listen to a record of his wife saying ‘I love you.’ Such unmitigated corn can be forgiven as long as we remind ourselves of the deft skill being employed to manipulate us. World War II wasn’t all that family friendly — quite the opposite— married couples were separated, women started to assert their independence — and men had a foolproof excuse for promiscuity (‘I might die tomorrow!’). Of course Destination Tokyo thinks war is a grand thing, that it makes men more sensitive — i.e. makes them talk about God and death. Young Tommy (Robert Hutton) doesn’t even shave yet -- but asks his mate: “If we got conked off do you think we’ll see our parents in the hereafter?” The closest thing to reality on this seaworthy vessel of virtue is John Garfield — who plays Wolfie — the class clown. He shows off the girl doll he takes to bed saying:“The doll and I want to be alone.” The fact of the matter is that navy ships in World War II were hotbeds of homosexuality. Some ships had a cruising area buried deep in the hull. This is of course never talked about. Men would hang out there late at night and get blowjobs or whatever. One sailor volunteered as ‘sea bitch’; he would lie in the hold of an evening — hoping to get screwed. I thought about all this while watching Cary Grant use his periscope to navigate the ship. Garfield makes a filthy sexual metaphor out of this particular submarine apparatus, yelling — when he sees a beautiful ‘dame’ —‘up periscope!’ So when Grant (a notoriously closeted Hollywood actor) presses his face into that periscope, we know what’s really going on. What kept me glued to the screen though, was that I kept thinking the submarine in Destination Tokyo was a gay bath house. It certainly resembles one — the sailors have little rooms — or cots — and stand around in various alluring states of undress, so fresh-faced —all in tremendous shape. This distracted me from worrying about whether or not they were going to hit a Japanese mine. Are you shocked? Do you disbelieve my stories about sex in the hold and ‘sea bitches’? Don’t. I am told -- by my gay friends who enjoy straight married guys -- that they're a dime a dozen, regularly offering themselves to us (unfortunately I’m not interested). Like Kinsey said, there really isn’t any such thing as ‘straight’ or ‘gay,' just a graded scale. I know this puts the fear of God in some women; quite understandably — but all of it has nothing to do with homosexuality. People are liars, period; that’s why they like movies that are lies, like Destination Tokyo. It wouldn’t be so bad if we didn’t live in an anti-sex culture. We are all extremely sexually frustrated during this pandemic, unless we a) don’t like sex or b) have a live-in sexual partner (neither applies to me ) — the rest of us are, admit it, going-crazy-with-lust. I’m so old that it’s not so much lust as a stirring of the loins — which, is believe me, quite similar and very lovely. I spent the afternoon with three young men, all of them were barely half my age. I wish I could say we were having a merry sex romp on the couch — but, in fact it was a great deal of pleasure  just to watching them bill and coo — at least, one member of a couple coo-ed a bit with another friend of mine who was not officially a part of that duo. How can this be, you say? Because some gay men actually have a civilised attitude to sex. My friend doing the cuddling with one member of a couple —well,  his boyfriend had just marched off to see the Leafs game (Go Leafs!). The sports homo is not so rare a bird,  there are far more straight-acting fags addicted to actual -- not sexual -- team play than you might think. Oh, by the way, I once had sex with my friends’ partner — the Leaf’s fan (it happened by accident, I met him at a bathhouse in Montreal, hadn't met him before, he was a top in leather, this was just my ticket, the rest is history. Back in Toronto I happened on him and his lover-- my friend -- at a bar and I didn’t recognise The Leaf’s fan from our encounter in Montreal  -- he wasn’t wearing his police cap --  he asked —  ‘Didn’t we meet in Montreal?” Now I hang out with him and his partner -- but we don't have sex. ) So by now you’ve  probably lost your way in this labyrinthian well of depravity. We should all be so lucky; we should not be sitting at home worrying if we are properly masked -- instead we should be navigating our way through the maze of desire that constitutes our real sexual natures, which, if, you were only honest about it — you’d admit -- is true. You don’t need to screw everybody you’re attracted to, but if you don’t at least screw some of them you will certainly live to regret it. Well I have no regrets, except that I never served on a submarine with Cary Grant and John Garfield. Cary’s eyes are dreamy — and he is so bloody authoritative! John ‘Wolfie’ Garfield is cute as a button in Destination Tokyo, and at the slightest provocation he rips off his shirt to reveal an expansive chest and an inviting treasure trail -- a literal stairway to heaven! I would be the ‘Tommy’ character; thin, wide-eyed and innocent, worrying about meeting God. And yes, I am proud of being deceived by movies like this. Remember those who are deceived by art are wiser than those who are not (that’s what Gorgias said). Unfortunately the same cannot be said of life.