Butler and James

An interesting concept from James Butler's Imitation and Gender Insubordination is that "outness can only produce a new opacity; and the closet produces the promise of a disclosure that can, by definition, never come". The idea that we are always coming out into an enclosure expecting "fresh air and a light of illumination" but never getting it is also seen in Uncle, by G. Winston James. The idea of "coming out" is originally having a secret, or being closed off, but being open and letting known that "secret". This can be seen in Jake and his secrets of what he and Vince do and how he feels inside about his uncle. And even though he wants to tell his uncle about everything when he feels like his uncle knows about what he and Vince have been doing, he still feels scared, not being able to take the breath of relief. The idea that he had been doingU something bad, something that he didn't want others to find out about, is the closet Jake is hiding in, and when he even has the thought of coming out of that particular closet, he still does not feel the relief that he expects.

Another interesting concept from Imitation and Gender Insubordination that can be seen in Uncle, is the idea that "identification and desire can coexist" and Freud's theory on psychic miming as a response to loss. Jake identifies himself with his uncle based off of his desires for his uncle. Jake realizes his desires for and who he is from his uncle. When his uncle stood above him and Jake felt like his uncle was ridiculing him, Jake felt small and thinks back to the times Vince bullied him. But when his uncle called him a big man, Jake feels big, and identifies himself as being better than his brother. And also, Jake finds his identification in his uncle in the last scene, when he realizes that he might have lost his connection with Uncle Paul. He tries to find Uncle Paul in himself and he does this at the very end, saying "'Please, please...Satan'", in a way, asking Satan to allow his dick to do "the magic trick", thinking that through that, he can get the connection he had with Uncle Paul back.