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I find the relationship portrayed between Mr Orange and Mr White intimate and I saw a powerful emotional bond formed between these two characters.

  1. In the opening when Mr. Orange was shot and bleeding we see Mr.White, on the verge of his tears, driving with one hand and supporting Mr Orange with another. Initially i thought that they are good old friends and hence Mr White was devastated. But that is not the case and they met only a few weeks prior to this incident.
  2. In one scene Mr White whispers something in Mr Orange ear and they giggle.

There are many other scenes like White combing Orange's hair, Mr Orange removing his wedding ring before meeting White and the most intimate and emotional scene was the climax scene.

Is this Gay subtext intentional or am I just way out of track.

Note: Quentin in one of his interviews said that "Gay subtext always makes every movie better".

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From reading the article that @Richard has linked in the comments, it is clear that there certainly is a subtext of a homoerotic nature between the two characters Mr. Orange and Mr. White. That's almost indisputable.

However I never interpreted it that way when I watched it, I just assumed it was simply the building of a mutual respect, and a mentor/mentee relationship.

However, as the article goes on to say that their relationship is similar to “wakashudo”, and knowing Tarantino's affinity with samurai culture (which he made 2 films about) it is very possible that this is the relationship dynamic he intended to portray.

Of course, like most movies, it is open to interpretation. Therefore whilst the subtext is certainly there, and it was almost certainly intended that way by the writer/director, it is also subtle enough so that it doesn't necessarily force the audience to interpret the movie that way.

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  • Like yourself, I didn't pick up the wakashudo element watching the film, but I also never fully believed that Mr. White's motivations for betraying Joe Cabot were sufficient. Not that you mention this element, I can believe Mr. White's motivation.
    – DukeZhou
    Aug 20, 2016 at 22:46

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