The Irrepressible Sexual Subtext of ‘Street Fighter’

Street Fighter II had something for everybody. If you were like most kids who grew up losing their lunch money feeding arcade machines in the ‘90s, you had a favorite Street Fighter character or two. If you were an arcade kid going through puberty in the ‘90s, Street Fighter likely contributed something to your sexual awakening in some way. Chun-Li made everyone in the world realize they were into thick thighs; Ryu and Ken were Marvel fit before the MCU was anybody’s wet dream; Zangief is a bear, Vega is a twink, and Blanka is a furry. The entire roster is a Republican man’s idea of masculinity, filled with shirtless dudes with rippling muscles and an overflow of testosterone. The only fully clothed man in the 12-person 1993 lineup is M. Bison, and he wears a cape and a red version of the cap of Tom of Finland. Street Fighter has always been super duper gay, and CAPCOM knows it. Not only does CAPCOM know it, but Street Fighter the movie relishes it and wears it proudly. Street Fighter is one of the gayest movies in a year with Masters of the Universe and Heartstopper Forever, and it’s fabulous.

Street Fighter is an MTRCB-rated PG, so it’s really family-friendly, but it’s suffused with so much homoerotic subtext that only those completely lacking in self-awareness would miss it. Like, say, dancing to “YMCA” with a double fist pump and constantly talking about good-looking men and their physiques and still thinking you’re a straight man’s idea of an alpha male. There’s a PG-version of Chun-Li (Callina Liang) walking into the shower scene that’s an homage to the gratuitous nude scene of the 1994 animated movie, but it’s really just a segue into more homoerotic hilarity. The film opens with Ryu (Andrew Koji) psyching himself up for a championship fight to 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up?,” which is a queer anthem from an all-lesbian band, and it ends with The Weather Girls’ “It’s Raining Men.” Ken (Noah Centineo) is a partying superstar who surrounds himself with women, but it all feels like performative overcompensation, including his half-hearted come-on to Chun-Li during their first encounter. Ken has a more tender and loving relationship with his best friend and manager Dan Hibiki (Andrew Schulz), a gag character who’s a parody of Ken and Ryu. The fact that Dan is in the movie at all is CAPCOM’s wink and a nod to fans that it’s in on the joke.

If Mortal Kombat II back in May took itself seriously, Street Fighter isn’t afraid to laugh at itself and embrace its own stupidity. It makes no attempt to make a coherent plot or explain things like shooting fireballs or furry Brazilians (probably an oxymoron in this context) raised by electric eels. M. Bison (David Dastmalchian) has a machine that absorbs ‘hado’ energy, and audiences aren’t expected to understand the science. People get thrown through concrete walls and live, people explode into purple dust, and Ryu makes terrible pigeon soup ramen. Nothing makes sense, and it’s totally okay because the game didn’t make any sense. Street Fighter makes fun of the fact that the game had a bonus stage where players beat up cars. CAPCOM knows it was stupid, but it also knows we all enjoyed the hell out of it.

Flashbacks are animated, as if to remind audiences not to take anything seriously. This might be live action, but it’s really just a cartoon, a glorified wuxia with actors in costumes that look cheap on purpose. It’s an homage to the camp of the 1994 live-action movie with the late, great Raul Julia. That Legendary and Paramount cast Dastmalchian instead of someone with a more imposing physique is a direct homage to Julia and even references his most iconic, most meme’d line. Street Fighter is a pastiche of all the games and movies that have come before it, a self-parodying adaptation that makes fun of the property and of itself. The film understands Street Fighter’s place in pop culture and, more importantly, its role in developing everyone’s kink. When Don Sauvage (Eric André) starts kissing and then licking Cammy’s (Mel Jarnson) army boots, it exudes Step On Me energy; when a Chun-Li admirer seems to climax while watching her kick butt, it ends with a masochistic strike between the legs and a thank you; every time M. Bison does something sadistic, his eyes roll back in perverse pleasure; there’s even a foot washing scene that’s uncomfortable and weird for everyone, and that’s the entire point. Street Fighter is uncomfortable, weird, and really, really kinky. Heck, Dhalsim’s (Vidyut Jammwal) undulations aren’t meant to be sensual, but given this Street Fighter movie’s underlying DNA, it may well be some sort of yoga kink.

There’s a sexual, often homoerotic subtext to fighting games that satirizes the excessive machismo of combat sports. When fighters face off during weigh-ins, they get in each other’s faces, trying to intimidate the other for the cameras, but it almost always just comes off as super gay. It satirizes a culture of performative masculinity that’s laughably unaware of how gay it looks, like doing push-ups in a sauna in jeans while another man air bikes. Street Fighter is fun because it makes fun of itself but never its audience, which it expects to be along for the ride. Fans already know how crazy and silly Street Fighter is, and when the film acknowledges how unhinged the property is, it only gets better from there. Street Fighter is sexy, funny, silly, and packed with wuxia-style action. It’s a fun ride for the whole family, and fans everywhere should get a real kick — or kink — out of it.

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