House of Cards : Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

After he finds out she slept with Tom he approves the affair. He tells Claire that Tom sees her in a way he doesn't. I know they sleep in separate bedrooms, and it seems he's just not into Claire romantically. He certainly didn't have any problem with Zoe Barnes.

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

Perhaps Claire won't let him take her from behind the way Zoe Barnes did.
Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more!

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

I was wondering that too. When she was in the bathtub and asked him to get her a towel, he looked away as she was getting out. I don't know what married man would do that, unless he was disgusted with something.

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

I found that odd too. They have been married so long they should be way past the point of politeness or modesty. It actually seemed like he was turned off by her body. Even though they make a formidable team and have a great bond, they are basically room mates.

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

I believe he did this out of respect as they were in their mind kind of "separated", unofficially. They have ended their romantic partnership, but that was only a part of their true partnership, which they have chosen to continue.

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

Claire was playing with Frank in the bathroom scene. (Wonder how long she waited in the bath for him to come in?) She asked him for a towel so she could show him what he was missing.

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

It baffles me too.

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Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

Kevin Spacey being gay is very much up for debate and interpretation.

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?


Kevin Spacey being gay is very much up for debate and interpretation.


Frank Underwood being gay is very much up for debate and interpretation.

Kevin Spacey is quite obviously gay but so what.

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

I've seen it all along that Frank is gay. He only went with Zoe because he gets off on dominance and he liked to hurt her, like when he told her that he was her "father" while screwing her. And, yes it was from behind.

The only time they showed him very happy in a romantic way was with his old friend from the academy. Never once in the series have Frank and Clair kissed each other romantically, when not in the presence of others. They do it only for show. I'm sure she has been his beard for years, and she understood it long ago.

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?


I've seen it all along that Frank is gay. He only went with Zoe because he gets off on dominance and he liked to hurt her, like when he told her that he was her "father" while screwing her. And, yes it was from behind.

It may or may not be relevant that in the original British series, Mattie Storin (whom Zoe was based on) was the one who wanted to call F.U. "daddy", in and out of the bedroom. And the sex was never physically abusive; she clearly had an Oedipus complex.

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

That's interesting! And since you bring it up, was the original Frank in the British series gay, or bi? Also, how do you compare the two, quality wise.



A simple mind is a tidy mind.

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?


That's interesting! And since you bring it up, was the original Frank in the British series gay, or bi? Also, how do you compare the two, quality wise.

There were no homosexual or bi-curious encounters at all in the original, and F.U. ("Francis Urquhart" in the British version) had a total of three lovers, as I recall - all female, and all with his wife's full knowledge and consent. His wife eventually does take their bodyguard as a lover for herself, but this seems to be without her husband's knowledge.

As for how the British F.U. compares with the American F.U., the British one is more refined. The backgrounds of the two are distinctly different in two aspects:

1a. Francis Underwood came from nothing and worked his way up, and was a Democrat
1b. Francis Urquhart, as I recall, had always been well off and was a Tory (the American equivalent would be Republican)

2a. Francis Underwood, while having graduated from a military academy, had no combat experience - which did not go uncommented by his opposition.
2b. Francis Urquhart was a war veteran, and his actions as a veteran would come back and haunt him, greatly contributing to the ending.

Both F.U.s exude charm, but Underwood is more gritty than Urquhart. And while Urquhart does kill in person same as Underwood, Urquhart is older and not nearly as physically intimidating. Also, scenes like Underwood goading that AFT spokesperson into hitting him - nothing of the sort happened in the British version. Such tactics would be far too crass for Urquhart, whose most direct moments were lacing O'Neill's (Peter Russo in the American series) cocaine with rat poison and throwing Mattie (the British Zoe) off the roof of a building.

The thing about O'Neill, though, is that while Underwood carefully orchestrated Russo's rise and fall, Urquhart did not intend for O'Neill to fall. Urquhart simply decided to kill O'Neill when it was clear that he was going to be no more than a liability, and a dangerous one at that. As he mixes the rat poison with O'Neill's cocaine (while O'Neill is passed out drunk), Urquhart speaks into the camera, to us: "This is an act of mercy. Truly. You know the man now, you can see he has nowhere to go." Also unlike the American series, this murder was done with the full knowledge of his wife.

F.U.'s wife is much colder in the British series, but F.U. is colder in the American series. After killing Mattie, Urquhart keeps feeling pangs of guilt. As a veteran in his youth he had also murdered two young men, an act which also seemed to haunt him in his dreams. For the other people he killed, however, there seemed to be none.

Even the intro sets a completely different tone in the British one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F7YwXaIpr4

Pompous, yet friendly - certainly not remotely ominous.

I am glad the American House of Cards goes its own direction, because otherwise I would always keep comparing it to the British version, which I saw first. As it is, the American House of Cards tells its own story. I just hope they do not lose sight of the end, because this is a series which absolutely ought not go on indefinitely.

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

Excellent analysis! Even though I have not seen the other one, I take your word for it! Very interesting comparisons.

Did you think that the ending of the original was timely? Or did it overstay its welcome? I wonder how many seasons of the American version we will have, and if it goes on longer than it should.

Keep enjoying Frank Underwood and his pals! ;)



A simple mind is a tidy mind.

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

IMHO British series rarely outstay their welcome, in fact they have the opposite effect to leave you wanting more.

a) They are shorter series and tend to be written by one person rather than by committee.
b) British TV and the BBC in particular didn't used to be so driven by ratings and money (although sadly this is changing)
c) Writers, particularly if they are actors as well, seem to be braver and will end a programme after two seasons, rather than milking that cow for all it is worth.

I can think of the obvious classic of Fawlty Towers, the more modern The Office and then Life on Mars as examples of shows that, if they were not British, would have had the ability to go on and on, slowly killing heir legacy.
What has happened in most, but not all cases like this is that the series gets picked up by the US TV stations eager to cash in and the series rarely have the same quality as the original.

Even a "Long Running" quality series like Inspector Morse, Foyle's War and Lewis only tend to get to the mid-30s which is what would be two US equivalent series.

I can think of dozens of UK series that have, say 10 / 12 episodes that I would love to see more of, but it just ain't gonna happen.

'tler

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

It's all just part of the strange dynamic they have. Ultimately, they are the only two people in the universe that really matter and everyone else is to be used for their amusement, comfort or convenience. IMO

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Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?


It's all just part of the strange dynamic they have. Ultimately, they are the only two people in the universe that really matter and everyone else is to be used for their amusement, comfort or convenience. IMO
This.

These are two psychopaths, or powermongers, or how you want to see /call/whatever it.

Claire specifically said Frank never asked her to marry him. He just put the ring on her finger, already knowing she would agree.

---
A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me.

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

I think you've nailed it when you say they are psychopaths. Studies of psychopaths show that they are often bisexual. Although it is not for the same reasons a normal person is bisexual. Psychopaths are bi because sex is about power for them and being bisexual gives them twice as many people to have power over. In fact Frank even mentions in season 1 that "sex is about power". Every relationship for a psychopath is about what the other person can give them. Frank perfectly fits the definition of a psychopath, so being bi makes sense.

Just to make it clear, I am not saying bisexuals are psychopaths. I'm saying that psychopaths are often bisexual.

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

I think Frank is fully gay. The old school buddy from season one? The three some with meechum which didn't show Claire doing much of anything? When he held Tom's hand tenderly in season 3? Frank definitely loves Claire and knows she is his equal partner, but their connection goes beyond even sexual desire and that's what makes it so dynamic.

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

Frank is bisexual and on the straight side of it. That threesome with Meechum was instigated by Claire and was in the making at least two episodes in advance. From there she could tell he was attracted to Meechum even before he knew it but hadn't indulged in that side of his sexuality in a long time because of his increasingly important position and their plan for future public power. They have a weird open marriage that seems more like a business relationship where the end goal is power and prestige and love is secondary.


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Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

Frank and Claire are not equally attractive: Claire is smooth, slim, somehow edgy while being a classical beauty, and Frank is a common, medium-height, not very handsome man with a visible belly. Gregory House used to say: if Claire is 9/10 and Frank is 5/10, and they're a couple, there's something interesting going on. We know what it is: they're a project. They can at their best be friends when being married, but are they?

Frank, when he was banging Zoey in the 1st season, once said that everything in life is about sex except sex, because sex is about power. Let's take this hint: what are "power relations" between Claire and Frank right now? First, let's go back to the moment when Claire was frustrated and decided to leave Frank. She was desperately trying to make Frank *beep* her which didn't happen. The sexual relation seemed impossible.

He needs her to stay and cooperate with him, because she's the ability to gain love of the people. So Claire made Frank to make her his running mate. When Frank came into a bathroom where Claire was at the time having bath, he wanted immediately to go out but she asked/permitted him to stay. She has the power to decide also because she doesn't desire him at all, she has full autonomy and he respects that. For now the autonomy is cooperating. But we well know that too much autonomy ends up with secession and war. Especially that she made a room for a "spiritual guide" (Tom Yates).

The question "Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?" is wrong. Frank doesn't need to be attracted to Claire, it's her who is not attracted to him. Why is that?

Frank's problem is that he's not really a man but a frustrated, manipulative child with enormous assets. Who desires such a person?

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

Interesting but I disagree. many women are attracted to men who do not quite meet the standards society has placed for what is physically attractive. And aside from that, Claire seems to have wanted Frank at least a few times and he as the one who said no. Further as the OP pointed out, he stated that he does not see her in a [sexual] way

I would say my memory is not what it used to be. But I don't remember what my memory used to be.

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

Since each one have known the other to the very core in their 30 years of relationship and aware that it is filthy rotten, they disgust each other to the point that it is impossible to be attracted sexually as it would be like trying to make oneself hit it off with a decayed corpse. I dont think they did anything with each other in those 3sums. It is just a business partnership for them now not unlike Clintons'

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

Nope, he is not into Claire, their marriage was more like an arranged marriage.

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

the entire show and all his motives revolve around his repressed homosexuality, obviously.

season 5 will hit on this and we will all realize what the house of cards truly was.

Re: Is Frank Not Attracted To Claire?

They have the most interesting relationship I've seen. It transcend sex at this point.

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